Obsession (6 page)

“Okay…” Nathan paused for a moment.
“Take Jamie with you. Kobiashi loves her.”

I knew Nathan was uncomfortable with
Mitch associating with our top client without Tony. From my
understanding, Tony was the brains and helped keep Mitch in
line.

My brows scrunched together. “Nathan,
I’d be of no help on-site. I know nothing about construction.”
Besides, I didn’t want to spend the rest of the afternoon with
Mitch—for more reasons than one.

“You’ll be fine. If anything you can
keep the conversation flowing. But no loose lips on what I told you
last night.” At first I thought he was talking about my humiliating
stunt to get in his pants, but then I recalled the amusement park
deal.

“I can handle it if you have other
stuff to do,” Mitch said quietly. His hands found his pockets as
his chin dipped low. I was taken aback by his change in demeanor.
Normally Mitch was all confidence, but the way his green eyes
dulled pinched my nerves in an uncomfortable way.

“No, I can come.” The air felt thick
with new emotional territory.

“Good! You two better get a move on
then, and Mitch.” Mitch’s eyes shot up as though Nathan was in the
room with us, “let Jamie do the talking. No need to screw something
up with your big mouth.”

For the most part I agreed with Nathan
on Mitch having a big mouth, but as much as I hated to admit it, he
was always professional with clients.

“We’ve got this,” I replied quickly.
Mitch’s head was hung low in shame, his mouth staying unusually
quiet.

“I know you both will deliver. Jamie,
we’ll catch up later at dinner?”

“Of course. You cooking?”

“Hell no. I’ll have Jessica make the
reservations.” Nathan hung up before I could ask where, but I was
sure it’d be at the same place as always. Nathan wasn’t one for a
change.

“Let’s go,” Mitch grumbled as he
darted toward the door.

I stood dazed. Part of me was shocked
that Mitch hadn’t fired back at Nathan with some snide comment.
They did share the same gene pool.

“Are you coming?” Mitch clipped
impatiently.

“Yes,” I snapped back. After smoothing
over my dress, I grabbed my purse and slipped on my heels. Mitch
laughed under his breath while he watched me. I knew it wasn’t very
professional to sit at my desk barefoot, but no clients were
planning on coming in during the afternoon. If a walk-in arrived,
I’d have been able to slide them on without notice.

“What’s so funny?” I sneered as I
began to wedge myself between him and the door. The smell of his
delicious cologne forced me to stop, trapping me with my back
leaning against the doorframe as he towered over me. The broadness
of his shoulders was anything but intimidating. The need to slap
the grin off his face came to mind, followed by ripping off his
shirt and attacking him like an animal.

My eyes found the ground as I hurried
past him. The last thing he needed to see was how the closeness of
his body was affecting me.

“Nothing.” He followed me to the
parking lot but went in the opposite direction. “Come on, I’ll
drive.”

I froze in my tracks. Driving in other
peoples cars made me anxious and uneasy. My feet betrayed me as I
followed Mitch to his truck, my hand reaching up to cover the front
of my neck.

The snort escaped my mouth before I
could stop it. Mitch turned to look at me as he stood in front of
the ginormous black truck. “What’s so funny?”

“Nothing,” I mimicked him as I eyed
the truck.

Mitch’s shoulders sagged as he gave me
a knowing grin. “Don’t like trucks?”

My pace sped up once I saw Mitch
following me to the other side of the truck. I glanced around,
feeling nervous as to why he was following me. To my surprise, he
reached past me to grab the door handle before I could, causing me
to flinch and wrap my other arm around my body. “Whoa, relax. I was
just getting the door for you. Chicks normally have a hard time
getting inside by themselves.”

“I can handle it,” I said under my
breath. The sweat was forming on the back of my neck as I observed
the amount of space between the ground and the truck. Surely
climbing my way in wouldn’t be ladylike. “Are you going to just
stand there? Or do I need to go to the driver’s side?”

Mitch threw his hands in the air.
“Hey, I was just going to give you a boost.”

“Give me a boost or grab my ass?”
Mitch’s lip quirked slightly. “Yeah, I know how assholes like you
think. Go to your side of the truck,” I demanded, throwing him as
much attitude as I could. I held out until he started for his side
of the truck.

I huffed as I reached for the handles
in the truck, yanking myself upward, but I lost my footing, causing
my purse to fall down to my forearm and my knee to scrape along the
edge of the door.

“Shit,” I mumbled under my breath,
then tried fixing my heel that had bent when I landed. Mitch’s
chuckle burned my ears. Just as I was about to open my mouth and
call him an ass, he leaned over and grabbed my bicep, pulling me
with ease into the truck.

The hitch in my breath betrayed me
from the sudden contact. Once again, I was too close to him. His
green eyes sparkled.

“You good?” he asked, humor dancing in
his eyes.

My mouth finally snapped shut as I
yanked my arm from his strong grasp. I wiggled in the leather seat
trying to fix my dress, which happened to ride up from my abrupt
entrance into the cab.

“Do you know where we’re going?” I
asked as normally as I could.

“Of course. I’ve only been working
there the past month.”

“Working might not be the right
verb.”

Mitch swung his arm behind me as he
backed the truck out of the parking spot. “Why? You know, just
because I don’t start my day until later in the morning, doesn’t
mean I cut my hours short. I work a lot of late nights.” The
offended tone he took made my body tense.

“I guess I wouldn’t know, since you’re
constantly asking me out every night. I assumed that meant you went
out most nights.”

His foot laid heavy on the brake as he
turned to me. “I’d stop every job for dinner with you, no matter
what the deadline might be.”

The green in his eyes was no longer
sparkling but were piercing with intensity. My heart was beating
rapidly as I met his stare. Mitch bit his lip but turned to face
the road as he sighed.

“It’s a real shame,” he said quietly,
“letting Nathan see what’s beneath that dress. He probably wouldn’t
even know what to do with a body like that.”

Anger filled me as I
caught his lip curl.
Cocky
asshole
. “Your brother could satisfy
anyone, man or woman. Trust me, I know.”

Mitch
’s face twisted in disgust.
“Jesus, you had to go there.”

I crossed my arms as I prepared to rip
into his judgmental self. If he were to say anything hurtful about
Nathan—

“He’s never admitted to being gay, but
if he is, I couldn’t care less,” he said defensively. “I love
Nathan. He’s been amazing since my father died. Don’t get me wrong,
he’s always looked out for Tyler and me, but he’s really stepped it
up these past few months. He calls me more, and not just to bitch
at me for fucking something up.”

“You can’t fuck up that much.” I
laughed, trying to make light of the subject. The way Mitch
softened for Nathan tugged at my heart.

Mitch laughed under his breath. “Can
you do me a favor? I’ve got a black notebook in the console in
front of you. Can you grab it?”

As I dug, I could feel his eyes on me.
“I don’t see a black notebook.”

Mitch’s leg started to bounce uneasily
as I kept searching through the mounds of papers. “Are you
sure?”

“Positive.”

He tapped his steering wheel in
thought.

“
Everything okay?” The air
in his truck was bouncing in all directions. Mood-whiplash was
another trait all the Conklin brother’s shared.

“Never been better.” He smiled. It was
obvious he was hiding something, but I didn’t have the courage to
pry.

***

“Jamie Rae, always a pleasure,”
Kobiashi greeted me. My smile was wide as I took his hand. The
first time I’d met Kobiashi he was intimidating, which was a big
deal for me. I was rarely thrown off by clients and enjoyed a good
strong personality, but something about his stillness got to me.
Maybe it was Nathan’s constant yapping in my ear about how
important of a figure he was in the city of Miami.

“I thought I’d tag along. I hope you
don’t mind.”

“Of course not. Mr. Conklin, it’s
great to finally meet you. I hear you’re quite good with your
hands,” Kobiashi said as he took Mitch’s hand.

Mitch gave him a stiff nod and a firm
shake. My eyes found his biceps yet again, and fantasies started
playing in my head, wondering just how good he might be with his
hands.

“My assistant, Tony, can’t join us
today, but I’m sure Jamie and I will be able to answer all of your
questions.”

“I’m interested in seeing the suites.
The rest can wait for the designers.”

Kobiashi straightened his suit jacket
while Mitch grabbed helmets for us from his on-site manager. If
Mitch was nervous, he was hiding it well. I gave him a reassuring
smile as we strolled into the elevator with Kobiashi and his two
assistants.

“The elevator is nice. Seems larger
than normal.”

“
It is,” Mitch said
quickly. “It meets code easily. Conklin buildings believe in larger
elevators, especially for living complexes.”

Kobiashi nodded expectedly. “What are
the exact dimensions?”

Mitch froze, then reached for the
tube, fumbling with the top. “I’ll be able to tell you in a
moment.” Kobiashi stared at him. I was surprised he didn’t have the
elevator measurements memorized.

Mitch finally opened the plans by the
time we reached the top floor suite. “Let me just lay this out,” he
said with a slight laugh.

“Sure, can you find out the exact
square footage for me as well? After reading Architecture Digest,
I’d like to see if we’d qualify for an entry in their
magazine.”

Mitch gave him a confident nod but
looked lost as he examined the prints.

“Mr. Kobiashi, congratulations on your
latest land purchase,” I chimed in, trying to buy Mitch some
time.

Kobiashi tilted his head as he studied
me. “Did Nathan tell you that?”

“Of course not. I saw it in the
newspaper earlier this week. Any big plans?” I asked inquisitively,
although I already knew the answer. If Nathan were with me, he’d be
nudging me with his elbow and telling me to shut the hell up, but
the 1200 acres he’d purchased was a matter of public
knowledge.

“I’ve got a few ideas.”

I rolled my eyes internally. Nathan
sounded the same way when he didn’t want to inform others of his
projects, but to my surprise, Kobiashi started to open up, telling
me some very vague ideas as he walked through the space of the
suite. While he examined the fireplace, I took the time to look
over Mitch’s shoulder. Sweat was forming through the back of his
T-shirt… Math had always been my strongest subject, so I quickly
added the room’s square footage in my head

“Just under 4200 square feet,” I said
as Kobiashi turned to face us. He gave me a pleased
smile.

Mitch’s head jerked in my direction. I
could feel his glare, but screw him. Kobiashi wasn’t a patient man.
My eyes found the plans again, searching for the elevator shaft.
Sure enough, there it was. “The elevators are just over 10.74x10 as
well.”

Kobiashi smiled at me, but then shot
Mitch a look. Mitch’s chest rose as he followed us to the other
side of the suite.

“I’d like for the his and her closets
to be the largest in our size building. I want to break records,
and I know Conklin will help me do this,” Kobiashi said confidently
as he paced the space of the master bedroom of the suite. “Tell me
Mitch, number wise, would that damage the square footage of the
room overall?” Kobiashi raised his brows in challenge. Was he
quizzing Mitch?

Mitch was stone faced as he answered
Kobiashi. “I’d have to re-work the numbers. If you wanted to break
records, we should have discussed this in the beginning stages
while mapping out the prints.”

Kobiashi lowered his head, but his
eyes stayed strong with Mitch. He slowly walked toward him until
they were toe to toe. “I was under the impression you were good
with your hands and could make space work. Am I wrong to have this
assumption?”

“Oh, I’ll make it work. My job is
easier when the process is well thought out in the first place.
Takes a man who knows what he wants to achieve that,
though.”

My eyes were wide now. I frantically
searched the web on my phone so I could give Kobiashi some answers
and shut Mitch up before we lost the biggest investor in
Miami.