Ulterior Designs (House of Evans Book 1) (15 page)

A
look of unease flashed in Logan's eyes, but it was fleeting. With the car back on the road, Chloe's voice filled the small space as she shared her plans and got Logan’s opinions, and the half-hour drive up a twisty path through a residential area went quickly.

Once parked, they walked up a steep street until a large house came into view. He stood behind her and held her by the shoulders as he pointed toward the home.

"This was the first project where I was the lead architect."

Chloe stared up at the dark gray, modern home. The sun glinting off the numerous paned glass windows made the view all that more spectacular.

"I remember being nervous that I wouldn't give the client what he wanted when I started this development, and questioning all of my decisions. But, something a professor told me stuck with me: trust my intuition; allow my creativity to take over and not question where it comes from. It was essentially the same bit of advice my mom gave me when I told her of my reservations. It's a bit of wisdom that holds true for everyone in every line of work," he said firmly and spun her around to look down at her. "I know how difficult it is to trust yourself when you first start out, but you have a natural gift for design. I wouldn't have hired you if I didn't believe that."

Logan's searching gaze revealed more about the message he was trying to relay than his words. He was telling her that he trusted her, and yet, there was something in his brooding expression that contradicted his statement. When she reached a hand up to glide a thumb across his bottom lip to prompt more out of him, he took a hold of it and guided her up the trail to the house.

"I called ahead for the okay to give you a tour."

Chloe was stunned. "What if I had said no to your invitation?"

"Like that would’ve happened," he said with a light laugh.

She tried to tug his hand to bring him to a full stop, but he pulled her along behind him like the moon working its magic on the tides, and she simply went along because he was right and she knew it. After becoming a casualty of his intense blue-eyed gaze at the café, there was no way that she could have denied him.

When they were greeted at the front door of the home by a salt-and-pepper-haired man who looked no older than forty-five, Logan stood taller.

The man immediately threw an arm around Logan's shoulders. "Evans!" He beamed. "This is the man who brought my vision to life," he said proudly as he smiled down at Chloe.

It was a rare sight to see Logan's confidence overridden by bashfulness as his cheeks brightened, but Chloe found it endearing.

"Chloe, this is Marcus. Marcus, this is Chloe Stephens, my interior decorator," Logan introduced her.

Proud of her title, she thrust her hand in the man's direction.

As soon as she passed through the door, the fusion of ultra-modern and cool Zen flowed over her, leaving her with a feeling of exhilaration. On the other hand, it was more likely that it was Logan's unique scent and his hand resting on the small of her back that left her feeling giddy.

"Can I tag along?" Marcus asked.

"Of course, but you lead the way."

As the man led them through the home, he glanced back at Logan. "I hear you're big news now."

"That's what they say," Logan replied modestly, as his crooked boyish grin returned, melting Chloe's insides.

"I also hear you and your firm have been nominated for another NIA SF award this year."

"We have. There are some extremely talented nominees this year and the competition is stiff, so I'm not getting my hopes up too high."

The professionalism that Logan demonstrated, tempered with humility, shouldn’t have been surprising to Chloe, but it was. She guessed it was because she had only experienced the playful, flirty and arrogantly-confident version of Logan Evans—not the architect who commanded respect by building award-winning, multi-million dollar structures. She had done her homework, too, and was well-aware of what kind of innovator he was, and she knew she was damned lucky to have been hired by him, despite the constant sexual frustration.

A phone rang in an adjacent room and Marcus excused himself.

Chloe walked around the space before facing Logan. "This place is truly remarkable. It's hard to believe you designed it." When brows pinched together, she quickly clarified, "I just mean that the design of this home doesn't at all reflect what you've done with your home."

"Of course not," he replied and let out a breathy laugh. "My home is a reflection of me. This home is a representation of Marcus."

He guided her out of the room and into a large open area that encompassed the dining room, family room and galley kitchen.

"One of my favorite books is
101 Things I Learned in Architecture School.
Several
things from it have stayed with me—ideas and concepts that I carry over into every one of my projects, as well as life." Standing in the middle of the room, he pointed to a large floor-to-ceiling window that overlooked a peaceful fountain outside. "East reflects youthfulness, innocence and freshness." He squeezed her shoulders, turned her body to the right and pointed toward an uncluttered, minimalistic galley kitchen. "South represents activity, clarity and simplicity." He shifted her to the right again so that they were facing the fireplace. "West symbolizes aging, questioning and wisdom." One more turn brought her to wall where numerous pictures hung. "And North embodies maturity, acceptance and death."

Logan turned her one last time to face him.

"Even though I gave Marcus what he wanted, there are parts of me in this house just as there are in everything that I design. Like the kitchen island. I used the same articulation of joints in certain aspects of my home as I did here. And there," he nodded to the sunken panels of travertine above the fireplace."The caissons are the same design element that I used in my kitchen." He walked to the fireplace and touched the stone. "I've actually created a unique method of implementing them into areas where they normally wouldn't be found without damaging the material."

She knew which direction she was positioned—
south,
but she wondered which spot on the compass of life Logan was pointed toward. If she stared long enough into his bright yet sad eyes, she could see a bit of each cardinal point in him.

When she held his gaze for too long, he pulled away from her in typical Logan fashion.

Chloe was feeling inspired all right, but not from the home that he was so proud of—she was motivated by his passion and desire, in spite of his distance. She hoped he would focus that same passion onto her the way he had before, and that his desire would overpower whatever hesitation he was feeling.

****

With a garden burger in Chloe's belly and a couple of Flyin' Hawaiian sliders in Logan's, they were on the way to their last stop: the Marina Gallery Center. The drive to their final destination had Chloe feeling dazed. After all of the places that Logan had taken her to, she felt comfortably and creatively numb. Having already been to some lesser known spots that he deemed noteworthy, such as the Flood Building and the Columbus Tower, her brain was buzzing with images and descriptions that went far beyond her knowledge base. Bombarded with terminology that she only knew half of the definitions for, she was left feeling information overloaded, yet, strangely invigorated by Logan's enthusiasm to share.

Any time they would pass a cathedral or church, he would make an effort to stop and point out the architectural highlights, which was a telling character trait. Apparently, he had a thing for churches.

The Marina Gallery Center, which sat on a pier, wasn't far from the ferry station she took to Napa. It was the very place that had won Logan and his firm a citation award the previous year. As he guided her around the dock and began detailing everything, it was evident that he was proud of his accomplishment, as he should be.

The building was impressive. Evening had crept up on them, the sun was just starting to set and the lit up windows and view of the water only added to its magnificence.

"The Marina Gallery Center: where design, originality, and knowledge unite,” he said in a deep announcers voice that oozed sarcasm. He then let out a breathy laugh and rolled his eyes. "That’s marketing’s idea of a dramatic slogan. I could've come up with something better, but that's their job, not mine."

He took her hand into his and walked her down the pier to the front of the building. When a gust of sea air blasted against them, he wrapped an arm around her waist and drew her near to shield her.

"Many things drove the initial development and design of this project, the most notable of which were sustainability and access. This place took nearly a year-and-a-half to complete, and our team went all out on this one. It truly is an achievement of modern innovation. Contemporizing the existing structure to include a new exhibition area, while also guaranteeing total energy efficiency was no small feat. We accomplished those goals in a variety of ways, including using the building’s natural lighting, making it accessible to the public via four modes of transportation, and employing systems that use seawater and rainwater to provide temperature control to the radiant floors and for toilet flushing. Every aspect of this place is not only sustainable, but able to withstand the harsh maritime climate here in the Bay area.”

Chloe's mouth hung open in astonishment. Logan truly was a genius. As was his entire design team.

"I bet you get a lot of women by bringing them here," she said dryly, as she stared up at him.

His brows pinched together and he gave her a look of bewilderment mixed with offense. "I haven't brought any women here. It would be pretentious to brag about my accolades just to get a woman into bed. Jesus,
Minou
, I'm not
that
guy."

She didn't know how to respond. She hadn't meant to insult him. If anything, her remark was meant to be playful.

"I just thought that with your background in design you would understand where I'm coming from, and that you would appreciate the hard work that went into all of this," he continued, clearly upset.

She pulled away to stare down at the toes of her shoes as if she was an errant child who had been reprimanded. "I
do
appreciate it—more than words can say." She turned to face the water and stare out at a yacht in the distance. "Today has been…," she let out a sigh as she searched for the words to say, "… incredible. I've learned so much, and seen places I had never even heard of in the four years that I've lived here. I didn't mean to offend you or suggest you're any type of guy. I mean, I don't know you well enough to assume anything about you. I have no idea which guy you are except a brilliant architect with a kind heart and a filthy mind."

Chloe was rapidly spun around by Logan's hand on her upper arm and his mouth was on hers before she could process what was happening. His kiss, passionate and violent, sucked the air from her lungs. His hot, damp mouth and strong, possessive hands captured her completely. When Logan finally came up for air, he had
that look
again—the one that said he wanted her, but didn't
want her.

In that few seconds that he held her gaze, it became clear to her what his problem was. It didn't take a genius to figure out that
this guy
was trying to protect his heart. She was surprised she hadn't figured it out sooner. She had only seen that look of heartbreak once before, but the memory of the boy who had tossed her aside because of his fear of commitment was enough to leave a lasting impression.

Luckily, she had been young when it happened. Well,
younger.
Not that it made the pain of his rejection any less, but at least she had remained optimistic about life and love. Maybe
too
optimistic. Being preoccupied with school and her grades had made it easy to stay that way. Now, with real life slapping her in the face, there was no hiding behind a textbook or homework assignment.

Work.
That's what she would keep herself engrossed with. Not this beautiful man holding her. Not when he clearly didn't want her the way she deserved to be had.

She smiled politely up at Logan and pulled out of his grip, but when she did, something in the pit of her belly and the center of her brain screamed at her to take a chance on him. They had so much in common and to offer each other, even if he didn't know it or want it.

One day at a time, she reminded herself. One
experience
at a time.

*

When Chloe freed herself from Logan's grip, a sense of uneasiness besieged him. The look in her eyes had changed from the one before, though he couldn't pinpoint exactly what the change was. His usual knack at reading body language wasn’t doing him any good, either. The look on her face reflected reservation and … distrust? Her heartfelt apology had made him act impulsively, sure, but he couldn't have stopped himself if he had tried. And the last thing he had expected was for her to pull away from him.

It was his own damn fault for rejecting her and he knew it, but he thought by sharing his love for design with her that he could make up for that. Perhaps he’d been wrong.