His By Design Read Free Page B

want to hire me.”
    “That sounds fair.” Zoe gazed thoughtfully at him for a few more seconds. What happened to the smart-aleck from this morning’s phone call? And the hyper-inflated ego from yesterday? Granted, she liked this version better, but was afraid he had a Jekyll-Hyde personality that might cause her to grind her teeth on a daily basis. Since she anticipated three to four months of work here, getting along with her employee was important. Compatibility couldn’t be overshadowed by getting to watch him work every day. She was already half-enamored with his hands. His long fingers, wrapped around the cup of coffee, looked competent and strong yet somehow graceful too. As an artist herself, hands were something she noticed about everyone she met and his were, well, beautiful.
    She jerked her gaze away from his hands and back to his face where a smirk on his lips and a twinkle in his eyes made her wonder if he could read minds. Holding her clipboard protectively in front of her heart, she stood abruptly. “Let’s walk through the place and I’ll tell you what I have in mind.”
    She led the way toward the front, then changed her mind and did a quick about-face which brought her smack up against the solid chest of her potential employee. She backed up quickly but not before she got a good whiff of soap mixed with . . . linseed oil?
    “Sorry.” Jeff put a steadying hand on her arm but dropped it immediately when she stepped away.
    “My fault,” she said. “Actually before we can begin to get the gallery space ready, I need to turn the second floor into a studio apartment for me. I need to move in as soon as possible to reduce the financial drain of staying at Marjorie’s B and B.” She pointed to a set of stairs at the end of the room. “Let’s go up there first.”
    “After you, ma’am, er, Zoe.”
    He looked business-like but she swore she saw a glint of humor lurking behind the serious facade. She went ahead of him up the stairs, sure that his gallantry had more to do with his view of her butt than good manners.
    The second story of her building was one large undivided space with high ceilings, tall windows along the front and a smaller one on the side. The wall separating her building from her neighbor’s was exposed brick.
    Zoe surveyed what she’d done so far. She’d cleaned the grime off the windows and dust motes danced in the sunshine pouring in from the east. The space was plenty big enough to carve out a living area and studio for herself and a storage area for future works of art awaiting their debut in the gallery below.
    “Okay, I need two areas for myself. A bedroom with bath and a studio area where I can paint. Basic kitchen stuff along one wall. I don’t need much—a fridge, sink, cook-top and microwave, with maybe a small island in front of it where I could pull up a stool to eat. I figure from the front wall to about here”—she paced off about fifteen feet—“will be enough for me. The rest will be for storage, so I want a wall dividing that from my private space.” She sketched as she spoke then showed him the result. “What do you think?”
    He took the clipboard and pencil from her and with a few quick strokes modified her plan, then handed it back to her.
    “Here are a few suggestions you might want to consider. Instead of putting the mini kitchen along the outside wall, use it to divide the space into your public and private areas. Back your bathroom up against it on the bedroom side and you’ll minimize the amount of plumbing you’ll have to install as well as putting it above where the restrooms will need to go downstairs. Also, let’s make sure we give the bedroom area at least two of these windows.” He gestured at the four windows in the front of the building. “The storage area doesn’t need windows but your studio does. You might think about putting in a skylight or two in that area as well.”
    She studied the drawing for a minute and realized how