Ulterior Designs (House of Evans Book 1) (6 page)

His lips curved downward in a frown as he shook his head. “That won’t do.”

Uncertain as to what he was upset about, she asked, “What do you mean?”

“I want to get to know you,” he repeated, his brows pinched together, “and there’s no way that can happen if you’re working that many hours a week”

Disappointed, she stood to leave. “No, I suppose it can’t.”

“So, that’s it?” he shot back, noticeably unsettled. “I’ve just told you I'm interested in you and that’s all you have to say?”

“You’ve also stated that I work too many hours for that to happen, so … ”

Boldness glittered in the depths of his eyes. “So, cut your hours back.”

She snort-laughed at his audacity. “Oh, sure, because it’s that simple, right?”

“Well … yeah.”

“Well,
Logan,
" she put emphasis on his name, "it just so happens that I enjoy having a roof over my head and being able to afford to eat on a regular basis. Not to mention, electricity and running water. I also have student loans and projects that need to be finished, so,
no
, it’s
not
that simple.”

“Are you telling me you
need
to work two jobs?” he asked as if he had heard the most absurd thing ever.

Exasperated with him, she responded with a wave of her hand, “I’m not working two jobs because I want to.” Glancing over her shoulder, she sighed. “My manager is giving me the stink-eye. I need to get back to work.”

She hesitantly walked away, turning to look at him one last time. In that brief moment, she basked in his dominance and good looks, heartsick that she wouldn’t be able to get to know him better or help decorate his home.

The rest of her shift was spent pouting over the loss of something she’d never had. She longed for a man’s touch. It had been six far-too-long-months since she had the pleasure of a man’s mouth and hands on her, and even longer since a warm throbbing dick had been inside of her. And the aforementioned dick hadn't even been that great. College cock never was any good. It was too immature, too rushed, too concerned with its own pleasure and not hers. The few dicks she'd had truly were
dicks.

Unable to get the image of Logan’s penetrating blue eyes out of her head and how desirously they had watched her, she began going over their interaction again. She had a pretty good idea of what he meant by
getting to know her better,
and it was disheartening to think that would never happen.

Once back in her apartment, she browsed the job ads, something that had now become part of her regular routine in hopes that someone had posted something there, but there was no such luck.

A little
Magic Mike
followed by her Magic Wand would have to suffice while she did a bit of self-pleasuring to thoughts of Logan Evans. Although her Magic Wand had never failed her, it was still a sad replacement for the real thing.

****

The following day, Chloe tried to keep herself busy. During those monotonous hours she prayed Logan wouldn’t show up to remind her that she would never have the satisfaction of spending time with him, or hearing any more of his tales about the church where he’d lost his virginity.

Losing track of time while engrossed in a book, Chloe jumped at the sound of Logan's deep. She looked up to see him sliding something across the counter toward her.

“Problem solved,” he said with a smile.

She stood and looked down to see a personal check written out to her. Her mouth gaped open in shock. The sum was nearly what she made in six months at the coffee shop and the amount could cover a sizeable chunk of her student loans.

Finger combing her hair, she stared at Logan. “Elaborate, please.”

In a nonchalant shrug, he lifted his broad shoulders. “Now you can quit one of your jobs altogether and we can get more acquainted with one another. That should be enough for a few months, give or take a week or two, to cover rent, meals and any incidentals you might have.”

Something about his terminology and tone made her hackles rise, and her confusion quickly turned to irritation. “By
acquainted
, do you mean have sex?”

He blinked hard, his mouth parting in surprise. “Not
just
sex.”

His casual response made her flush with anger. “So, you’re offering to pay me for sex?”

Picking up on her annoyance, he shook his head, “Look, Chloe, I think you’re taking this the wrong way.”

Her lips puckered into a grimace. “Is there another way to take this?”

A look of revelation shone on his face. “Do you need more money?”

Perturbed, she crossed her arms and pointedly looked away. “No, I don’t need
more
, you idiot. I don’t need
any
of it. I may not be as sophisticated as the other women you’ve been with, but I’m not desperate, and I’m sure as hell no call girl.”

Glancing back at Logan, she could see she had insulted him.

“Whoa, I never insinuated that about you.”

“No, you just assumed it. Here's an idea: instead of paying to ‘get to know me', how about you pay me to decorate your home? I guess maybe because writing a check for a piece of ass is easier and more appealing to you than a
fresh perspective
, right?” she snarled.

His expression instantly changed and Chloe became the victim of his stunned, cold stare. When his body stiffened and his gaze became riveted on her, she could feel the electricity of sexual tension crackle in the air between them, but she was too angry to pay attention to the tingling creeping up her spine.

Before she gave into her unsettling yearning to leap over the counter and ravage and/or slap him, she pushed the check toward him.

“I’m going to pretend like this never happened,
Sir.
”

L
ogan’s proposition hadn’t gone as planned. In fact, it had gone the way of sour, fucked-up grapes. Forcing his pride down, he’d left file room abruptly before he reacted harshly to Chloe’s accusation and deliberate use of a title he had specifically asked her not to use.

And
who the hell was she calling an idiot?

Okay, so he had overlooked the obvious, but his mind had been clouded by lust. Ultimately, all he wanted to do was solve her financial troubles. And although he had clearly gone about it the wrong way, she had misread his intentions. Now, he was kicking himself for having assumed she would be agreeable to his
proposition
. He knew better than to approach a woman who wasn’t part of his social circle, but his attraction to her had blurred his ability to make sound judgment.

That evening he sulked and tried to forget the horrified look on her face when he presented her the check. Not to mention, the hurt in her eyes when she suggested he only wanted sex from her. Granted, he didn't want a relationship with her, but to say he wanted
just sex
sounded terrible. Worse yet, it sounded selfish. He wanted more than sex, albeit, not in the form of a commitment. He wanted mutual pleasure. A physical connection.
Was that so wrong?

He slept fitfully that night, dreaming about a day when he could get to know the dark-haired femme fatale. And pleasure her too, of course—a day that probably would never come because of his
idiotic
plan.

****

The next several days he tried to ignore his wicked thoughts and push Chloe out of his mind. He had fucked up and doubted she would consider even speaking with him; however, the nagging voice of discontentment made it impossible for him to leave matters alone. Four days later, he gave in to that gnawing in the pit of his gut to see her. It was inevitable. He was a man with needs and often times those needs outweighed his better judgment. He knew this about himself, but frequently felt helpless to do anything about it. It was one of the few areas in which he lacked control, and therein lay the reason for his numerous bad decisions.

Once again, he found himself in the darkened file room seeking out the woman who, in his opinion, was sorely in need of a firm yet gentle touch. To his frustration, her manager was the only one who could be found.

"Where's Chloe?" he questioned her.

“Her hours were cut.”

"How is that possible? She just started," he commented in astonishment.

“The order came from higher up,” she answered with a casual shrug.

He knew Chloe was struggling financially, and now for her hours to be cut could very well put her in dire straits. And as far as he knew, his company wasn't suffering any kind of fiscal trouble to cause them to have to cut employee hours. Most likely it was just them being tightfisted and not wanting to pay out benefits. He mentally filed away yet another reason he needed to open up his own firm, or at least bring it up to the heads of the company.

His protective nature kicked in. Fortunately, her phone was GPS enabled, and having saved her phone number to his contacts list, he tracked her cell. Considering she had vehemently rebuffed his offer, he felt a bit stalkerish going to such measures. But hell, the only thing he knew about her was what he found on a simple online search, and again, she was clouding his judgment.

Irrational, obtrusive behaviors aside, he pushed forward in his attempt to locate her. Once he did, he left work early to seek her out. It turned out she was at a cigar house where he held a membership. It seemed like a strange place for her to be; however, when he entered, her reason for her being there became evident when he found her sitting at a small table filling out an application. He scowled at the thought of her having to work three jobs to make her ends meet.

“May I join you?” he asked, breaking her concentration.

She looked up at him, startled. “What are you doing here?”

Covering his ass, he quickly pulled out his membership card and flashed it in front of her like a special agent brandishing his credentials.

“I’m a member here. May I join you?” he repeated.

Her brows pinched together in seriousness. “Do I have a choice?”

“Life is full of choices, and one can only hope that they make the right decisions. So?”

Chloe chewed the corner of her lip as her sparkling eyes moved over his body causing him to shift uncomfortably when she didn’t answer him right away.

“Whatever,” she finally retorted.

Seated across from her, he touched her application “Three jobs? You’re taking on a lot.”

“I know where this is going,” she started in, but he swiftly cut her off.

“Don’t make assumptions about my intentions,
or me
. I’m not the man you think I am. I know you lost your internship, but that doesn't mean a bright woman who graduated at the top of her class with a degree in interior design should work three menial jobs.”

Putting her pen down, she met his gaze straight on. Something intense flared through their brief mutual entrancement, and it was evident by her body language that he was getting under her skin.

Her eyes narrowed at him. “How do you know what my class ranking was?”

He gave her a slight smile of defiance in return. “I did my homework, Ms. Stephens.”

“Should I be freaked out about that?”

Unsure of what to make of her question, he glared at her. “I’m not sure what you’re accusing me of, but if you’re asking me if I’m a serial killer or a stalker—
no
, I’m not. I always do a basic check on someone before I make a proposition like the one I did,” he responded defensively.

She took in a quick breath. “How many of those offers have you made?”

This wasn't going at all as he had planned. Rubbing his palm over his face, he let out a sigh of frustration. “I haven't made any other offers like that.”

Crossing her arms over her chest, she gave him a slow shake of her head as if she didn't believe him. “If you were a psycho killer or stalker, you wouldn’t tell me anyway,” she grumbled under her breath.

He had never felt the urge to spank a woman before, not in the form of punishment anyway, but when she rolled her eyes, a vision of her brightened, hand-imprinted ass popped into his mind.

Arching an eyebrow at her, he countered, “I suppose not, but a basic background check wouldn’t tell me if you were a raving lunatic either, now would it?”

His response appeared to take her by surprise as she merely stared back at him, tongue-tied. When she shifted uneasily in her chair from the long silence, he got back on track.

“I can see that you're still angry about my proposition. I can't say that I blame you, but I wish you wouldn't be. I’m a problem solver and I tend to get a little overzealous when faced with beauty. It was never my intention to insult you. And as far as me not asking you to decorate my home, it honestly never crossed my mind. I just assumed you had something else lined up. I hope you can forgive my presumptuousness.”

Her eyes widened with surprise as her irritation visibly began to melt away. She shook her head lightly as if to clear her thoughts.

“Of course I can; we’re both adults. To answer your question: I work these jobs because in the real world, a degree and class ranking don’t mean anything without experience. I’m a
nobody
when it comes to interior design. I have
no
clientele and
no
experience whatsoever. Furthermore, I don’t know
anyone
who would hire someone like me without having any references to go on.”

It was at that moment that Logan knew he was willing to take a chance on Chloe. It was a no-brainer really. She had already shown an appreciation for his beloved home and someone new would be more likely to take direction better and allow him more control. Especially since what he had in mind for his home wasn’t exactly
conventional.

“Luckily for you I happen to know someone who's looking for an interior decorator.”

Her eyes widened with joy for a brief moment but then narrowed. “Is this a joke?” Her voice was laden with disdain, and he reminded himself that she had good reason not to trust him.

He stared back at her stoically. “Do I look like I’m joking?”

A look of guilt and apprehension flickered in her eyes before they dropped. When she sat silent for nearly a minute with her eyebrows knit together, he had a sneaking suspicion what she was thinking.

“I’m not asking for anything in return. Quite the contrary—I hope this works out spectacularly for you. It’s obvious that you’re hard-working as evidenced by your grades and your willingness to take on three jobs.”

"I find it hard to believe there isn't a catch to this, especially since I don't have any experience," she answered as she finally met his gaze. "I also know how much your home means to you. I have to be honest when I say that I don't know if I can meet your expectations or that I totally trust you. And I can't help but feel as if you're doing this because of what I said earlier rather than because you think I can do the job."

A smile worked its way onto his mouth. Though there was something to be said about the allure of a confident woman, seeing genuine unabashed vulnerability was even more of a turn on.

"I assure you that I believe in you, and trust me when I say that I wouldn't offer my house up as an experiment if I didn't believe we could work together to achieve my goals. I've already mentioned once that life is full of choices, Chloe. I'm giving you an opportunity to prove your skills, not only to yourself, but to your peers. Please, don't let what happened between us before, or your lack of self-assurance, taint what decision you make."

She remained silently stunned but visibly overjoyed, in turn emboldening him. When she finally smiled, the thrill of the new things to come coursed through his veins.

Perhaps they would get
acquainted
after all.

*

“I’m kicking myself for not having asked you sooner, knowing your predicament,” Logan murmured as he ran his fingers through his hair.

Chloe suddenly felt guarded. “What
predicament
is that?”

“Your lack of a steady income for starters. Also, the fact that you need experience and a reliable reference on which to build your reputation. If you agree to work for me, this likely has the potential to be a win/win situation.”

She couldn’t believe her luck. Even after the way she had blown up at him, he was willing to hire her? She didn’t know whether to be freaked out or ecstatic beyond belief. Right at that moment, she was both. Unable to figure out if Logan was real or just a vivid figment of her imagination, she stared back at him with what she could only guess was the look of a deer in headlights. Surely he had something up his sleeve. In her experience, no man ever offered something without asking for a favor in return.

Quietly, she considered what had been presented to her. Even if he did have suspicious motives, how could she say no? He was spot-on in his assessment of her
predicament
: she
was
in a financial pickle. But, if she played her cards right, this could be the chance of a lifetime, and maybe,
just maybe
, he would show her that he was a different man than who she thought he was.

Before she could talk herself out of it, she closed her eyes tightly and dove in.

“Okay. Tell me where we go from here.”

When she pried her eyes open, Logan reached into his pocket, pulled out a business card and slid it across the table toward her.

“This has my personal cell phone number. When are you available?”

“Anytime. Tomorrow? Say 10 a.m.?” She hated how eager she sounded, but her zeal seemed to resonate with Logan.

He grinned as he stood to leave. “That’s fine. I can rearrange my schedule.”

The urge to thank him made her stand. “Mr. Evans, I can’t thank you enough.”

Placing his index finger to her chin, he lifted her face. “Don’t thank me yet. I can be a real task master. You've been warned.”

Like before, there was a hitch in her breath when he touched her. Her response to his touch was an unexpected one that caught her off-guard, and made her feel as if her knees would buckle.

When he smiled down at her, his arrogance was thinly veiled, but the gleam in his eyes and soft touch made it somehow okay. Perhaps it wasn’t arrogance at all but simply confidence.

Just as her legs began to tremble from the heat of his touch, his large hands steadied her by her shoulders. A strand of hair swept off her forehead made her take a sharp breath in before poking her tongue out to slick her suddenly parched lips. As he continued looking at her as though he wanted to devour her, it took everything she had not to lean forward and crush her mouth onto his.

As if he had read her thoughts, his look of amusement changed to nervousness and his lopsided grin reappeared.