Love by Design (Crystal Falls Book 1) (2 page)

If anything though, their separation had made her even more attractive than Noah remembered. Her slim legs and backside in her cream colored pants caught his eye and her light hair glistened like silk down her back. Her high cheekbones still dared him to look straight into the gray-blue of her eyes, the eyes that had always knocked him off-kilter. Despite himself, despite their painful history, he felt drawn to her the same way he’d been drawn to her when they first met. He wanted to run his hands along every curve of her body, cup that delicate chin in his hand, feel her press close against him. He leaned back against the window and tried to steady himself by remembering how absolutely horrible their breakup had been.

Lily glanced around the room, seeming to take every bit of cabin and its dated furniture in. Her hand brushed the old cracked kitchen tiles as she surveyed the oak cabinets that hung in the small kitchen. She turned slowly around until her eyes finally fell on Noah where he stood by the window. His heart thudded and he felt his chest constrict with an old aching desire even as he saw a flash of anger come into her beautiful blues. It was a look he knew oh-s0-well, one that was just as likely to make his blood boil as it was to make him feel hornier than a teenager. He scowled back at her, unsure if he was angrier at his own body’s betrayal or her presence, but she didn’t see it because she’d already turned back to Christina.

“Yes, I believe it was someone named Lydia who I spoke to about the design job.”

“I’m sorry, but she made a mistake. She’s supposed to meet you here tomorrow. She’ll be handling the decorating part of the job for me. If you’ll just come back then that would be great.” She turned her back on Lily and motioned for Noah to follow her. “Now, where were we?” she asked Noah as she began to leave the room. Noah hesitated, glancing back at Lily who stood still where she was, a look of stubborn frustration on her face.

“Excuse me!” Lily called. Christina turned back toward Lily and Noah felt suddenly trapped between two angry women. Not a good feeling at all.

“If it’s all the same to you,” Lily continued, “I’d like to look around now, at least get some preliminary measurements and see the rest of the cabin so I can get to work on a few ideas today. I’ll stay out of you two’s way,” she told them both. “Believe me,” she added, just loud enough for him to hear.

The woman finally shrugged. “Suit yourself. I’ll see you in the master, Noah,” she told him and headed down the hall.

Noah bent to pick up a tape measure he’d left on the floor. He heard the clack of Lily’s heels behind him and he felt his body grow warm.

“I almost turned around when I saw your truck in the driveway,” Lily told him under her breath as she brushed by him. Her scent hadn’t changed at all, just the slightest hint of vanilla and flowers, understated and enticing and completely unlike the overwhelming smell of Christina. His heart thudded wildly in his ears. Unfortunately it seemed her hatred of him hadn’t changed much either.

“Why didn’t you?” he replied. Her eyes narrowed in a look he knew too well and she moved past him without another word.

When he entered the master bedroom he found Christina pacing. She let out an angry breath and he had to hold back a smile. He knew better than anyone how good Lily was at frustrating a person.

He was tempted to let her continue to seethe, just to see how far the cat-fight could go, but he knew he was losing precious time and he took Christina’s elbow with a smooth smile.

“Tell me what you have in mind for this room, Mrs. Upton,” he said, bringing a grin to his client’s face. He held back a cringe as she grasped his arm.

“Christina, hon. Call me Christina,” she said.

Lily propped herself against the wall and took deep breaths, trying to calm the rage she felt at being so rudely dismissed. It had taken all her willpower to play nice and not let her mouth make a bigger mess of the situation than it already was. The last few months had been rough for her, and she should have known that this job wasn’t going to be the sudden stroke of good luck she’d hoped for. But
damn,
did it have to be this hard?

She could have handled a rude client if that’s all she was dealing with. But seeing Noah again had nearly knocked her off her feet. And it seemed, in keeping with her horrible luck, that he would be working on the cabin as well.
Great.

She felt sorry for herself another minute and then pushed off the wall.
Might as well get something done
. It was stupid that she’d have to come back tomorrow when the person who owned the house was right in the other room, oggling her ex boyfriend. But she was used to working with rich clients who had no respect for other people’s time. She might as well forget the woman and make the best of the situation.

The cabin really was astounding. Deep amber log walls surrounded her. The traditional design of the wood was warm and welcoming and she imagined how nice it must be to be cozy in the cabin during one of the area’s frequent snowstorms. She hoped the evil woman wouldn’t do too much damage to the original beauty of the place.

It did need a few upgrades though.

The carpet, to start with, was a horrible shag monstrosity. Lily did a slow circle, imagining a room with plush cream carpets and deep red bedding with accent pillows and artwork in shades of orange warming the room even more. She jotted a few notes to herself and then stuck her head into the small adjoining bathroom. Avocado tiles and an old pink toilet greeted her. She tried not to cringe at the puffy seat cover and cracked tile. She was thinking more white and grays, small shimmering tiles. But who was she kidding? The space needed to be totally rebuilt. It felt pointless to even look at it before she knew what Noah would be doing to remodel the place.

She imagined he would have some updated plans going within a week or two which would help her out considerably. And she would have to wait until tomorrow to meet with this Lydia person and figure out exactly what she was supposed to be working on.

It probably made more sense just to leave and come back tomorrow, but Lily had a real stubborn streak and she felt herself digging her heels in despite knowing it was a waste of her time. She’d be damned if she was going to let the skinny and overly tanned
Mrs. Uptight
scare her off.

She felt the frustration tightening in her shoulders and wasn’t sure if it was from this disaster of a first appointment or from seeing
him
again. Lily made her way back down the hall, looking briefly into each room she passed, wondering where Noah and her client had gone.

God only knew what those two were up to. She was no fool. She knew how women responded to Noah’s smooth good looks. And she knew how Noah worked, how eager he was to please the client at all costs, no matter what that entailed.

Her brow furrowed at the thought. His easy friendliness with other women had been a major factor in their awful breakup and despite her absolute hatred of him she felt an old jealousy creep into her gut. Since they’d split she’d been very careful to avoid Noah and she’d successfully kept those old feelings deep inside her where they couldn’t do much damage. And now, here he was with the worst timing in the world, shoved back into her life. She couldn’t believe her horrible luck.

What was worse, he was looking better than ever. He’d always been fit but she could tell he’d put on some muscle since they’d broken up. His brown hair was a longer now too, giving him a sexy disheveled look.
And those eyes
. Damn, his dark green eyes with their long long lashes were still a knockout, even behind the new wire-rimmed glasses he was sporting. Glasses that screamed I’m sexy
and
intelligent. Noah was definitely not an easy man to ignore.

The sound of a faucet turning on and off caught her attention and she stepped into what seemed to be the master bedroom. The ceiling was just as high here as it was in the common area. A dirty old fireplace took up most of one corner and Lily imagined how beautiful it must be, lying in a big four poster bed, watching the snowflakes fall, a fire crackling away. Her design senses kicked in and she made notes to herself about the type of furniture and fabrics she would use in the space. She knew she’d probably have to adjust everything once she learned more about what Mrs. Upton wanted, but this dreaming phase was her favorite part and she let her mind wander to overstuffed chairs and plush carpets.

Noah came into the room from a door leading to the master bath a few seconds later, breaking her concentration.

“So much for staying out of the way, I guess,” he said as he stooped in front of her to measure a floorboard, a little too close for her liking. She took a step back and shrugged.

“I’m just trying to do my job. If I’m in your way I’ll leave.”

He twisted up to look at her and she felt her legs go weak. “No problem, I’m almost finished in here anyway.”

She ran a hand absently over the wood and then the stone fireplace.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Noah said as he passed her and headed back into the attached master bathroom.

She closed her eyes for a second as his deep voice dripped like honey through her memory. He’d broken her heart, there was no doubt about that, and she could never forgive him. But damn, they’d been good together while their relationship had lasted. She remembered mornings waking up to that voice, and to those hands. She shuddered and pushed the thoughts away before turning to join him in the bathroom. She wasn’t sure what propelled her to follow him, but she couldn’t stop herself.

Christina stood gazing at Noah with a look of a huntress and Lily couldn’t help but roll her eyes. The woman’s desire was so obvious she was amazed Noah wasn’t on fire from her looks alone. Lily pushed the thought away and concentrated on her job instead.

The bathroom was dirty and dated but the bones were as exceptional as the rest of the house. She would have to update the tile and the light fixtures at the very least. But the job would be exciting, watching the old cabin come to life again under her designer’s eye.

“This is a gorgeous cabin. Hardly seems to need any work at all.” She fingered the blue tile countertop in front of her as her eyes wandered over the dated gold specked jacuzzi tub in the corner. What she could see of the wooden walls through the dust and the cobwebs was stunning. The perfect canvas for her to work with.

“I wouldn’t say that,” Noah said with a frown. “This floor is obviously warped.”

Christina and Lily watched as he bent down and felt the space where the floorboards met the wooden walls. Try as she might, Lily couldn’t help but stare at his ass, so perfectly sculpted in the dark designer jeans he wore. He always did have a nice backside.

She blushed as he turned around and caught her staring. She turned to Mrs. Upton quickly, hoping he hadn’t seen the color rise in her cheeks.

“Did you have any colors in mind for this space? Or any particular pieces you’d like me to incorporate in my design?”

She knew she was probably pushing too far, but she just couldn’t help herself.

She was dismissed with a wave of an inch-long fingernail red and a steely look. “Like I told you before,” Christina said, barely concealing her contempt at being so pointlessly bothered again, “Lydia will take care of all that. She really is the only one you need to speak to.”

Lily tried not to frown as the woman turned back to Noah, snubbing her once again. She shrugged and felt a blush creep into her cheeks. She couldn’t decide if she wanted to cry or hit the woman. Noah looked at her, sympathy in his eyes and she scowled at him before turning away. The last thing she wanted was him feeling sorry for her. She moved out of the room, giving her yoga breathing another shot as she pulled out her notebook and made her way back into the main living area.

More than an hour later, Noah finally pulled himself away from Christina by begging off for another client meeting. The woman had flirted her way through every room of the house with him and he felt like he needed a stiff drink, despite the fact that it was barely ten o’clock in the morning. It was a delicate balance, trying to make his clients feel taken care of while avoiding their advances. It wore him out.

“You sure know how to kiss ass. I’ll give you that much,” Lily said as he came down the front steps toward his truck. She was leaning against her car, her arms folded. She watched him a minute and then turned and slung her bag into the passenger seat but didn’t get in.

“I know how to make a client happy. It certainly hasn’t hurt my business. You should try it sometime.” He couldn’t help but taking a jab at her. The constant heated arguing had always been a weakness in their relationship, but it had led to some pretty amazing sex as well. Looked like some things never changed.

“You are an asshole Noah Caldwell. And I don’t want anything to do with you. Unfortunately it seems I don’t have a choice right now. But hear me,” she moved toward him, her eyes narrowed and a finger pointed at his chest, “you’d better keep your distance. I have nothing to say to you.” The last words were punctuated against his pecs with the tip of her finger.

He stood his ground, his eyes hot, willing himself not to grab her. At the moment he wasn’t sure if he wanted to shake her or kiss her, and he knew neither one would make much sense. The steel gray intensity in her eyes had him all hot and bothered, something he did not like one bit.