Their normal maintenance guy had arrived at the store a half an hour later and assured Ella the leak wasn't a major repair and would only take a few hours. Could she have left William to handle the crisis? Probably, but considering the potential liability of losing thousands of dollars in food, she hadn't been able to bring herself to go until she knew for certain everything was back up in working order. Which meant by the time she changed at Claire's and hit the road, it was much later in the afternoon before she arrived in Chicago, instead of the earlier morning visit she'd anticipated.
While Ella had been talking to the technician about the cost of repair and what was required, Claire had taken it upon herself to call Premier Realty to inquire whether or not Kyle would be in the office so Ella didn't make a wasted trip. The receptionist told her that Kyle would be in until six, and before the girl could ask her name, Claire said a quick good-bye and hung up the phone. She'd gotten the information she needed and happily passed it on to Ella-and she was grateful that her friend had thought ahead for her. The last thing she wanted to do was make the trek only to find out that Kyle wasn't in for her to see.
Getting from Woodmont to Chicago hadn't been too bad on the interstate, but now that she was navigating the inner city at five p.m., when rush hour was at its heaviest and everyone was eager to get home-not to mention a Friday night and the start to the weekend-the cluster of cars in such a close proximity had Ella's entire body tense as she followed the directions she'd pulled up on Google Maps. The robotic female voice instructed her to make a left at the next light, and Ella must not have done it quickly enough for the person behind her, who laid on the horn, which in turn made her panic and cut in front of another vehicle, whose driver rightly flipped her off for the stupid move, because, yeah, she'd been that asshole who had nearly caused an accident.
Jesus Christ. Her heart was pounding and her palms were sweaty against the steering wheel by the time she finally made it to Kyle's office building. Nerves frazzled, she turned into the underground parking structure that immediately made her feel claustrophobic, and pulled a ticket from the machine, which then allowed the lever to rise so she could drive into the confined space. Since it was after five, she easily found a spot, and as soon as she was parked, she killed the engine, unbuckled her seat belt, and gave herself five minutes to decompress and collect her composure before she had to face her nemesis.
When she finally felt like she wasn't going to jump out of her skin, and her heart rate was back to normal, she got out of the car. She smoothed a hand down the skirt she'd confiscated from Claire's closet as she headed for the bank of elevators, more than satisfied with her choice of outfit.
When she'd arrived at Claire's house earlier and she'd looked through all her cute clothes, Ella came to the spontaneous decision that she wanted to look not just good for this meeting but exceptionally good-to show Kyle that she might be a small-town girl, but she could be just as sophisticated and sexy as any other woman in the city.
Yesterday, he'd seen her in faded jeans and a T-shirt that had to be at least five years old. Today, she intended to look like a confident woman in charge, and per Claire's suggestion, she'd opted for a bit of cleavage, a flirty skirt, and heeled platform pumps that showed off her legs. Kyle was a man, after all, and she figured a little physical distraction wouldn't hurt her cause.
She pressed the button for the elevator and actually smiled. Let the negotiations begin.
Chapter Three
The quick rapping sound on the doorframe of his office prompted Kyle to glance up from the renovation estimate he'd been working on for one of the new foreclosed homes Premier Reality had just purchased in the high-end neighborhood of Wicker Park. They still had a few weeks before the project started, but they needed to get the agreements for subcontractors underway before the redevelopment of the property began.
Connor Prescott, one of Kyle's business partners and good friends, strolled into the office, the dust on his jeans and work boots the result of a day spent out on various property sites that were currently being updated and/or overhauled for a more modern look before they were put back on the market. Kyle was usually out in the field, as well, but since he'd needed to be in the office to make sure the wire transfer and all the paperwork and contracts for the Piedmont building went through smoothly, he'd spent the day getting ahead on the estimates for the future projects coming down the pipeline.