Erected (Erector Set, Book One) (13 page)

She had no reason not to take him at his word. The past weeks after the night they’d gotten everything out in the open had been wonderful. Little by little their relationship deepened until she actually began to believe it had turned into something real. But her old feelings of resentment and insecurity were clawing their way up from the corner she’d shoved them into, keeping her always on edge.

“Don’t forget the executive staff meeting tomorrow at nine,” Carolyn reminded her.

“Taking the marketing plan home with me to review one more time,” Vanessa told her, hurrying toward the elevator. “And I’ll be in early enough for you to make any changes I find. Trust me. I don’t want to butt heads with Prater over anything.”

“See you then.”

Ness had promised herself she’d get to bed early and get up in time to make herself look good for Josh. He’d be coming straight from the airport, certainly tired. The fact that he chose to make time to see her even before going home made her want to look extra special for him.

“Six thirty at Dante’s okay?” he asked, naming a place where they’d had coffee a few times. “Not too early for you?”

“No. Actually, that works out fine. We can have some time together before you go home to catch a nap and I get ready for the staff meeting.”

She nibbled on a sandwich while she reviewed the plan one last time, making a few notes, then turned off the television after the news. She wanted to be well rested in the morning. For Josh. The man who was coming to mean more and more to her.

* * * * *

Josh pulled his overnighter and briefcase from the cab, paid his fare and strode into the terminal. The past two days had been intense and stressful but finally he’d hammered out everything he needed to get the first architectural drawing going for the new client. A multi-use development took a lot of creativity to give it an original look and Alex was a maniac about giving each project its own unique look.

He glanced at his watch as he strode through the terminal. Time enough to get through security and grab a cup of coffee before he had to board. He was dead tired but the thought of seeing Ness at breakfast kept him buoyed.

I should have told her I’d come straight to her apartment. Crawled into bed with her. Celebrated my homecoming.

But Ness had an important meeting this morning and he respected her obligations as she did for him.

He had just gotten in line to go through security when his cell rang. Pulling it from his jacket pocket he saw that it was Alex.

“Do you know it’s two thirty in the morning?” he growled.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I also know you’re still awake because I have your flight schedule.”

“So what’s up?”

“Change in plans. Martinez and Sons are ready to meet with us on the huge residential village they plan to build. Right now. So change your reservations for Tampa and get going.”

“What? Now? They want to meet
now
?” Shit! “Can you put it off for a couple of days? Give me time to get home and do some turnaround?”

“You mean some time to spend with Ness, right?” Alex’s voice held just a hint of disapproval. “If she’s so great she’ll understand.”

Yeah, If I can just get hold of her.

“Listen,” Alex went on. “Don Martinez was here all day. He and his son. They looked at some of our local projects and Tyler and I did the dog and pony show for them. They flew back to Florida tonight on their plane all hyped up. They want to go
now.
And I don’t want us to lose this opportunity.”

“Yeah, I get it.” Josh ground his teeth. “So what’s the setup?”

“I’m sending the info on your hotel, car rental and tomorrow’s meeting to your cell. Call me when you land in Tampa so we can touch base.” He clicked off.

Josh shoved his phone back into his pocket and looked at his watch. Too early—or late—to call Ness. If he could get a flight out to Tampa in the next hour he’d call her the minute they landed. Maybe be able to catch her before she left for Dante’s. Or at least not leave her hanging for too long.

Because he knew exactly what she’d think when he was a no-show.

* * * * *

Damn.

Vanessa punched the button for the elevator impatiently. Why of all mornings did she have to automatically press the snooze button and steal that extra fifteen minutes of sleep. She was afraid instead of looking like a dream walking she’d ended up like the end of a nightmare. In the elevator she scanned her image in the reflecting walls, smoothed her hair and straightened her skirt. A last check of her makeup, the doors opened and she dashed to her car.

Of course traffic didn’t cooperate so it was almost six forty-five when she scored a parking space just down the street from Dante’s and dashed in, looking for Josh. The coffee shop was half filled with people chatting and drinking coffee but none of them was Josh. She let out a breath. Okay then. She found an empty booth where she could watch the door, ordered coffee and leaned back to wait.

An hour later she was still waiting and drinking her fifth cup of coffee. Her eyes were tired from straining every time the door opened and her patience had long since worn thin. She’d deliberately kept herself from dragging out her phone to check for messages under the fading expectation that Josh’s plane was just late or he was stuck in traffic. Finally at eight o’clock she reached into her purse and pulled out her phone, checking for messages. Nothing. No text, no missed calls.

Okay, Ness. Don’t panic. Something came up or you know he’d be here.

Yes. Absolutely.

Be an adult about this. He’ll call. He will, he will.

And speaking of being an adult, she had to get her ass to the office or in Prater’s mood she might be an unemployed adult.

Slapping some bills on the table she hurried from the coffee shop to her car, praying she didn’t get caught in rush-hour traffic. The plan that was due still needed the new revisions added and she couldn’t afford to be late for the meeting. Only how was she supposed to concentrate now when she had all these jittery feelings running through her? What if the man of her dreams
did
turn out to be just as much of a louse as everyone else she’d dated?

* * * * *

Josh was sure by now he was developing a full-blown ulcer. He hadn’t wanted to call Ness at some ungodly hour. He’d still have time when he arrived in Tampa. But the plane to Tampa had been late taking off. They ended up sitting on the runway for a good forty-five minutes. He never did find out why the delay. He only knew that once they were away from the terminal he couldn’t use his cell phone and wouldn’t be able to until he landed.

Damn.

They made up a little time with a good tail wind but then they’d been forced into a holding pattern for thirty minutes. Josh was sure fate was playing a cruel joke on him. He couldn’t even call Dante’s and see if by some chance she was still waiting for him. By the time they landed he was close to being a raging maniac. The first thing he did was punch in Ness’ cell number. No answer. He checked his watch. Eight thirty in San Antonio. An hour earlier than Tampa. Damn again. She’d already be in her meeting. Still he gave it a shot, only to have her phone go to voice mail. He left a brief message then texted her, covering all his bases.

“Sorry. Something came up. Will explain when I can talk to you. Josh.

Under any other circumstances he’d just let it go and figure out a way to fix this later. But with the history she’d shared with him—including some very esteem-damaging episode which he still couldn’t understand—he was worried that this would just set her off. Abandonment all over again. Was she so angry by now she wouldn’t answer her phone?

Next he tried his brothers, but neither of them was answering, either.

Great. Just great.

All during the cab ride to the hotel he tried her number, leaving so many voice mail messages he figured her mailbox was in danger of self-destructing.

Damn it, Ness. Answer. This is not deliberate. It’s not my fault.

It was after nine when he checked into the hotel and made it up to his room. He tried Ness’ cell phone again, and again he got voice mail. The best he could do for now was call her office and leave a message with her secretary. And hope she didn’t just ignore all the messages he’d left.

* * * * *

“I
am
being reasonable.” Ness slammed a desk drawer shut. “He’s just like all the others. I was crazy to think he was different.”

Carolyn stood in the doorway to her office, studying her. “Give the guy a break, Ness. Don’t condemn him until you find out what happened. He probably has a good explanation.”

Vanessa snorted. “Yeah, right. Are you working on those changes to the plan? I need twelve copies before the meeting.”

“Got it under control.” Carolyn shook her head. “But just for the record, I think you’re making a big mistake.”

“He didn’t even have the decency to call.”

“And you’ve check your phone, right?”

More times than I want to think about.

“It doesn’t matter. Nothing he says could possibly be of any interest to me. Not anymore.”

Ness had had it with all men. They could go to hell as far as she was concerned.

* * * * *

“I don’t give a flying fuck what’s on your calendar or what your opinion is,” Josh shouted into his cell. He paced his hotel room, knowing he should concentrate on the meeting ahead but too agitated to do so. Ness should have had at least one of his messages by now but she hadn’t called him back. Yeah, she was pissed. Plenty. “Just get it done.”

“Okay.” Tyler’s voice was measured. Even Josh could tell he was trying to hold onto his temper. “I’m out here in the middle of fucking noplace, lucky I can even get a signal, trying to keep this job on schedule. And you want me to drop everything and hold Vanessa Bowen’s hand?”

Josh rubbed his neck, the muscles so tensed he thought his head would snap off. “There’s a very good reason for it.”

“Yeah? Can you explain it in words of one syllable?” Tyler’s irritation was loud and clear. “Because she doesn’t seem to me to be the type that needs that kind of thing.”

“Look. This whole thing is screwed up and I can’t get hold of her.” He blew out an impatient breath. “Switching plans just put me behind the eight ball.”

“Well, excuse me all to hell for us thinking work is important. Especially a project this size. Call her later. She’ll be fine.”

“There are things here you don’t know about.” He clutched his cell tighter.

“Yeah? Like what? Maybe if you just open your wallet a little wider all will be forgiven. Right?”

“Never mind.” Josh picked up his coffee cup, tasted the liquid now cold and made a face. “I’ll get hold of Alex. He’s a little more civilized than you are.”

He disconnected the call, raked his fingers through his hair and took in a deep breath, letting it out slowly. He hoped to hell he had better luck with Alex.

* * * * *

The meeting lasted nearly three hours. Prater had been in one of his especially picky moods today, pulling apart the budget, the marketing plan, the production schedule, everything his executive staff had worked so hard to prepare. Then after explaining why his suggestions didn’t work they’d had to put it all back together again.

By the time the meeting was over Ness practically ran to her office. Prater always insisted no one bring cell phones to the meetings so hers sat on her desk. She kept telling herself to quit being such an idiot. There’d be no message from Josh. No text. Nothing. Not that it would do the jerk any good. She’d already written him off. Why had she set herself up for such disappointment? Again. She should have known he was just too good to be true.

Carolyn’s words echoed in her head.
Give the guy a chance. He’s sure to have an explanation.

But the wounded woman inside her tough and sassy shell didn’t want to be reasonable. She only saw a pattern repeating itself. If it weren’t for the fact that he had a business to run she’d be certain he’d taken off on a whim—maybe with a plastic blonde—the way the biker had.

For a supposedly smart women her judgment seemed to be seriously flawed. Maybe she just used up too many brain cells at work so she turned into an idiot where men were concerned.

She pulled up short when she saw Alex McMann sitting in an armchair in Carolyn’s area. On the chair next to him was an enormous bouquet of flowers, a box of candy that would give everyone in the office diabetes and a balloon that said
Forgive me.

“Oh no.” She dropped her tablet and files on the corner of Carolyn’s desk and stared at Alex. “He can take all his presents and…well, he knows what he can do with them.”

The man rose, as lithe and graceful as his brother, his presence just as magnetic. Although he didn’t push Ness’ hot buttons the way Josh did.

“Give me five minutes.” He smiled, the trademark McCann smile. “Just five. If I can’t change your mind in that time I’ll give the flowers and candy to Carolyn here.”