Lynnia (21 page)

Dario shook his head and laughed as she completed pulling out of the space then drove off. As he walked away, he heard car doors closing behind him. He turned to see three guys getting out of the car that had been next to them. The smiles that they were sporting told him that they’d witnessed what happened between him and Lindsay. They knew the risk they were taking.

“My man, that one is a keeper. Fuck if that wasn’t hot.”

He walked away. Commenting would possibly egg them on. It wasn’t something he wanted to do. Instead, he decided to take the high road and not acknowledge the young guy’s comment. There were things he needed to tend to. Work was coming in the morning and he needed to be on his game as the client was coming through again to see how things were progressing. Word had it that changes were coming because they’d possibly wanted something different in one of the rooms. The young guy did have it right though. That was fucking hot and something he was going to fight hard not to dwell on if he wanted to be set for the client tomorrow. He had a feeling he was going to need all the rest he could get.

~~~~~~~

“Something isn’t right. I just can’t put my finger on what it is. I know I am going to love it, but there is just something that is a bit off; wrong. I’m sorry.”

Mrs. Winterbourne had said that at least six times. Every person standing with her had offered a suggestion of what it might be, but nothing was what she felt was wrong. They’d been standing with this woman for over forty-five minutes and still hadn’t figured out exactly what she needed.

Dario sometimes hated when he was right about something. He stood off to the side as the little group slowly trailed the middle-aged woman that refused to make up her mind. Looking at this woman’s graying hair as she slowly moved about the room was making his hair gray. It was something that he wasn’t exactly looking forward to. Gray meant getting older and he didn’t want to get too much older before he started a family. He wanted what his mother and father have. The fact that he thought that he would have it already irritated him and had him on edge. This was something he truly believed he would have going with the other Norton sister. Instead, she was in line to have it with another person; someone that wasn’t him.

The light suddenly shifted in the room and the woman whose goal was to turn everyone in the room ancient clapped her hands together. A couple of the people in the room jumped. It looked as if the loud noise that had echoed of the walls from her clapping woke a few of them up. They actually looked like they’d been asleep standing up. Dario chuckled. Placing his hand over his mouth, he tried to cover the smile that he knew was creeping across his face. This was a serious business matter. He couldn’t be caught looking like he found something funny. The looks on the two men’s faces and the young woman that kept flaring her eyes as if trying to remain awake weren’t making things easier.

“I’ve got it! It’s the lighting. I’m so sorry to have kept you all with me so long. I just had to get this right. I knew it felt off, but didn’t understand what my gut was telling me. Seeing this room in a darker light made me realize what the problem is. I didn’t want this room to have one central light. I wanted it to have multiple lights, wired to kind of open when the switch was turned on. When they are off, a covering conceals the bulbs in the circular sockets. There doesn’t have to be a great deal of them. There just have to be enough to light the room.  Is that too much of an issue to have done?”

Dario bit back the snide comment he had. This bitch was going to be the death of him. If he had a tranquilizer gun, she’d be tranq’d three times over just for good measure. This was going to take some rewiring, the schematics had to be changed for the area, and he had to order the supplies in order to complete this project. It was an inconvenience is what it was. Her sugary sweet voice grated on his last nerve. The major reason for his irritation may have come from what he was personally dealing with. This woman’s indecisive was a great, big ole piece of that irritation pie. The bonus to this was the fact that he’d suggested that lighting in the beginning. It could’ve already been taken care of by now, but she’d insisted on the one, individual light to illuminate the room. He looked at Mr. Palmer’s right hand woman and she nodded. It was a silent acknowledgement of recognizing that was his original idea.

“Mrs. Winterbourne, that sounds great. I’m glad that you figured it out. One quick question, if you don’t mind.”

The feisty redhead glanced his way and her green eyes sparkled before Teri winked at him. Mrs. Winterbourne, the slight woman that she was, turned to face the small in stature, big in heart woman and smiled.

“No, of course not, Carrie. I don’t mind.”

A couple of the men cringed as Teri visibly responded to the incorrect saying of her name. One of Mrs. Winterbourne’s aides quickly whispered to the woman and her eyes grew in size.

“Oh goodness! I must apologize, Teri. I must’ve been thinking of my cousin when I responded. Her name is Carrie as well. I mean, just Carrie. I’m going to stop talking and allow you to ask your question now. What was it by the way?”

Teri’s face masked the annoyance she had to be feeling at the woman’s inability to get her name correct, but she refused to have it show from what he could see. Dario kept his smile hidden as Teri plastered on a genial smile and began to speak.

“It’s fine. Thank you for the apology. I’m sure you’ll be doling out another in a moment.”

Teri didn’t speak the last part at her normal volume so Dario didn’t know if the woman heard her. Judging by the way the woman’s eyes bugged, she clearly heard what was said.

Mrs. Winterbourne cleared her throat and put on her very best haughty exterior like it was a jacket or one of those shawl things before speaking, “Why will I be apologizing, dear?”

“Give me a moment. I think I might enjoy this a little too much. This grand revelation that you just had about the lighting, do you recall a very similar idea being presented to you at the beginning of this project?”

“No. This I don’t … I don’t remember any such idea. I only know of this monstrosity above us.”

She pointedly looked in his direction with disgust as she spoke. Dario didn’t say a word as he waited for Teri to continue. He figured he would just let Teri continue since she seemed to be on a roll.

“The monstrosity that you’re referring to is a special order item that you requested in the beginning. The original suggestion came from the man you’re throwing side glances at.”

Mrs. Winterbourne opened her mouth a few times as she looked at Teri as if she’d just cut her best friend. A few of the gentlemen standing around laughed at the expression on her face.

“I am quite sure I was not the one that was responsible for that horrifying thing …”

Terri’s tablet was in her hand and something was pulled up on the screen before the woman could finish her statement.

“I wouldn’t finish that statement if I were you. It will save you the embarrassing moment that you are about to have. This is the request for that … thing up there. You might have been able to pass this off as someone signed off on it on your behalf, but you hand wrote the request with a special note for the color of the teardrops on the third tier. Considering you’re wearing the very color requested, I think we can conclude that one you were behind the order. If that wasn’t enough of a nail driven home, then the note telling Mr. Anderson that his notes regarding the lighting was appreciated, but the chandelier with the olive green crystals would be more fitting to the company’s décor would seal the coffin shut.”

“Well, no matter. We shall proceed with the new lighting. I won’t need to return until the final stages of the project are complete. Thank you all for your time. Have a good day all.”

With that, Mrs. Winterbourne took her leave. The gentlemen that came with her looked on with disgust at the woman as she left. Her attempted deception was something that they didn’t look as if they’d soon forget.

A few hours later, they team members were meeting to discuss the plans for the rest of the build. Word had already gotten around about Teri taking on Mrs. Winterbourne and putting the bitch troll in her place.

“D. didn’t have to say a word about her trying to pass his idea off as her own. It was funny as hell. Teri put that trick in her place so fast the woman couldn’t come up with a response fast enough.”

Neal tapped Harry as they continued to rehash the details of the 

“When she showed her the request, Jordan, the liaison between the two companies, turned and asked if the information could be forwarded to him. I don’t think we’ll see any more of the ‘born of cold heart’ if he has his way.”

He, Harry, and Neal laughed as they began leaving the job site. The next few weeks were going to be busy. They had a lot to take care of and not a lot of time to complete things in. Dario had been quietly contemplating all of it throughout the day. He’d listened to the endless chatter and all, but his focus was on getting the work done as soon as humanly possible. Lindsay had sent him a message about getting together for dinner and he was willing to do that. The only problem was he wouldn’t have his attention on her. It would be elsewhere. It was always elsewhere.

The other Norton sister kept popping into his head even though he didn’t want to have her there. He wondered if her dude was still with her or was she alone. He wondered if the two of them were … close. That’s not what he wondered. Dario wanted to know if she was sexing this new guy the way she had been him. Was she happier now that he was no longer part of her life? Did she miss him at all? Would she ever call him back? Could they ever return to being friends? Was that something that he wanted?

Dario had these questions and more floating through his mind. No matter how much he tried to ignore the fact that she was away with another man, it didn’t happen. He was going to focus on her not being available to him, even though he had someone willing to be available here. He actually had two someones. None of it matter if it wasn’t her. It was something that he felt in his gut. Some kind of way he needed to find a way to refocus his thoughts. That thought came a little late.

Had he been focusing on walking and not on his wayward friend, then he would have seen the open floorboard as he walked through the second floor of the building with the guys. He would have also heard the warnings from the team in the area. That’s not what happened. Dario found himself twisted up in some wiring and in a world of pain. His eyes watered the pain was so serious. The guys rushed to help him out as one of the team leads called 9-1-1. It served him right for not giving the important things in his life his full attention. How in the hell was he supposed to do what he needed to do now?

Chapter 11