The Dirty Series 2(154)
To the seat.
To my life.
To the adventure that will never end, with Ace by my side.
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Always His
A Second Chance Romance
Chapter One
Samantha
The downtown corridor springs to life before my eyes, all of it exactly as I planned: the benches midway down each block, their curved backs beckoning, the flower beds bursting with early summer color, the new streetlamps that will cast a lovely glow in the evenings, the wide sidewalks for pedestrian access that will boost foot traffic to the shops on Main Street.
“Damn. That looks awesome.” My voice is barely above a whisper, because it’s not in at Ryder & Bloom, one of the Nation’s Premier Landscape Architecture Firms. Still, it’s within my rights to appreciate the results of several weeks of kicking ass on this project. Carson City, an hour north of here and in the middle of nowhere, is going to have a nice Main Street. It’s going to be so revitalized.
“Sam?”
I spin around in my chair to face my boss, Michelle Ryder, who also happens to be one of the partners in the firm and my personal career idol. At fifty, she’s chic and fashionable without appearing to care if anyone thinks she is, and her take-no-prisoners attitude has won us more than one contract that otherwise would have gone to one of the many other firms in the city.
“I was just finishing up rendering for Carson City. See anything you want to change?”
I ask the question casually, but everyone in the tiny firm knows that it’s far easier to ask Michelle if she wants any changes made when when she drops by. I learned that lesson the hard way two years ago. I had sent some drawings to a senior associate for final approval without one of her once-overs, and it became a major deal—people staying late, there were a bunch of extra meetings, the whole tamale.
I won’t make that mistake again.
Michelle comes over to stand beside my chair. I suppress the urge to leap to my feet, even though it’s like sitting in a queen’s presence. She peers down at the screen, then leans in and uses the mouse to zoom the image out. My heart starts beating faster. One word from her and it might add hours to the project.
There’s a heavy silence, or maybe it just seems that way to me. I scoot slightly to the left in my chair, making sure there’s enough room for Michelle in front of my station. I redirect my focus to a legal pad lying on the side of my desk, trying to appear as if I’m scanning over a list of things I had written down, even though I’m trying to decode her expressions out of my peripheral vision for any clue as to whether—
“Excellent work, Sam.”
My chest floods with warmth at her praise, but I hold myself in check. But… The “but” never comes. Instead, Michelle leans a hip onto my desk and crosses her arms over her chest. “This is final, then. What else do you have to finish up this week?”
“Just a few things for the arboretum.” The local university has contracted with us to redesign the parking area at their arboretum, one of the most famous in the nation. At least, that’s what’s printed on the sign posted out front.
She nods, her gray eyes flinty. “Pass that off to Jason. I need you on something else.”
I raise my eyebrows and lean forward a little in my seat. “Were there changes on the Thompsonville Memorial Park?”
Michelle’s mouth quirks in a smile. “No. We landed something bigger than Thompsonville.”
I smile back at her. “What is it?”
“It’s something I think you’ll be interested in.”
“Don’t toy with my emotions!” I put my hand dramatically to my heart and close my eyes like I’m genuinely suffering with this wait. Really, I’m excited…because Michelle wouldn’t be talking to me if I wasn’t going to be pretty heavily involved.
“Pack your bags, because you’re going home.”
I open my eyes and stare at Michelle, my mouth opening and shutting and it takes a moment for any sound to escape. “Wait…what?”
“We got Cerberus.”
“Really?” My voice goes a little too high. Cerberus Cement is a plant a few miles outside my hometown of Lockton—just far enough outside of it that they can pretend it’s not actually in the town, but close enough to employ a good tenth of the able-bodied men who live there. We sent a team up for a site visit a couple of months ago, and I thought we only had an outside chance on landing the bid.