Read Online Not Quite Mine (Not Quite series) by Catherine Bybee - Free Book Online
Authors: Catherine Bybee
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darlin’. I’ve never known a female more proud to be a woman in my life.” It was one of the many things he admired about her. She wore womanhood like a thick fur and dared anyone to say a thing about it.
Her eyes softened. “Maybe I’m bored with France.”
Ah, now they were getting somewhere. “People are going to depend upon you here. This isn’t something you can get bored with and move on.”
“Have I ever walked away from my obligations?”
You walked away from me. From us.
Hurt swelled in his chest and he needed to remove himself from her side before he revealed any of his undesired thoughts. “Return those plans to my desk before you leave.”
Chapter Six
What felt lower than dirt? Mud…definitely mud. Worm-filled mud crawling with insects might be the closest thing Katelyn could compare herself to as she watched Dean walk away.
She could convince herself all day long that Dean had run full speed into her ego, knowing damn well she had one and would defend it to the death. But the look of longing that had passed over his beautiful gray eyes before he told her to return the plans to his desk would live inside her for some time to come.
The last thing she wanted was to involve Dean with her life. He needed to be free to find a life with another woman, one who could give him the large family he wanted.
That wasn’t her.
It didn’t escape her notice when his eyes followed the length of her legs and settled on her breasts a time or two during their brief conversation. Oh, he’d been tactful, but he hadn’t been invisible. Maybe she should wear something a little less
her
while at work.
Dealing with Dean on the job site would be complicated, but she assumed he’d see her in passing. She did the finishing work and he did the major construction. Yet as she looked deeper into what it would take to pull off designing the hotel after construction, she knew she needed to have more involvement from the beginning.
A teen club would require more lighting, more soundproofing. Katelyn was certain that Jack and Dean had considered some ofthese things, but not the design aspect of them. Her being involved this early on would save money in the end and make her job easier once Dean completed the job.
Putting emotional distance between her and Dean was a must from the beginning. For more reasons than he would ever know. It didn’t matter that their chemistry had always been combustible. Hell, she remembered phone conversations with him that left her breathless and wanting.
All of that was before. Before she learned just how inadequate she was to be with anyone, let alone a man as good as Dean.
After shifting the papers in her hands and gathering her purse, she left the shell of a room and took one more walk in what would be the main lobby.
A couple of construction workers craned their necks to watch her as she avoided multiple hazards in her high heels to visualize the space. With the right lighting, table lamps wouldn’t be necessary. She wrote a note to herself to ask about the electrician’s plans. She’d taken one course in architectural design and could fake her way around a set of blueprints. But she’d need a hell of a lot more knowledge if she was going to make hotel design her life’s work in the next few months.
She tucked her notebook into her oversized purse and strode from the room. She had a couple of days’ worth of homework she needed to do before involving Dean.
Maybe by then she’d forget the look in his eyes before he had left.
There was a slight hesitation in her step as she neared the stairs leading to the construction trailer. Dean was probably in there…doing whatever it was that he did. She’d see him again and need to meet his gaze without emotion. With anyone else, that was easy. Not with him. Never with him.
The cool, dry air of the trailer met her skin with welcome relief. She hadn’t realized how warm it was outside. Texas heat was somuch thicker. The dry Southern
Her eyes softened. “Maybe I’m bored with France.”
Ah, now they were getting somewhere. “People are going to depend upon you here. This isn’t something you can get bored with and move on.”
“Have I ever walked away from my obligations?”
You walked away from me. From us.
Hurt swelled in his chest and he needed to remove himself from her side before he revealed any of his undesired thoughts. “Return those plans to my desk before you leave.”
Chapter Six
What felt lower than dirt? Mud…definitely mud. Worm-filled mud crawling with insects might be the closest thing Katelyn could compare herself to as she watched Dean walk away.
She could convince herself all day long that Dean had run full speed into her ego, knowing damn well she had one and would defend it to the death. But the look of longing that had passed over his beautiful gray eyes before he told her to return the plans to his desk would live inside her for some time to come.
The last thing she wanted was to involve Dean with her life. He needed to be free to find a life with another woman, one who could give him the large family he wanted.
That wasn’t her.
It didn’t escape her notice when his eyes followed the length of her legs and settled on her breasts a time or two during their brief conversation. Oh, he’d been tactful, but he hadn’t been invisible. Maybe she should wear something a little less
her
while at work.
Dealing with Dean on the job site would be complicated, but she assumed he’d see her in passing. She did the finishing work and he did the major construction. Yet as she looked deeper into what it would take to pull off designing the hotel after construction, she knew she needed to have more involvement from the beginning.
A teen club would require more lighting, more soundproofing. Katelyn was certain that Jack and Dean had considered some ofthese things, but not the design aspect of them. Her being involved this early on would save money in the end and make her job easier once Dean completed the job.
Putting emotional distance between her and Dean was a must from the beginning. For more reasons than he would ever know. It didn’t matter that their chemistry had always been combustible. Hell, she remembered phone conversations with him that left her breathless and wanting.
All of that was before. Before she learned just how inadequate she was to be with anyone, let alone a man as good as Dean.
After shifting the papers in her hands and gathering her purse, she left the shell of a room and took one more walk in what would be the main lobby.
A couple of construction workers craned their necks to watch her as she avoided multiple hazards in her high heels to visualize the space. With the right lighting, table lamps wouldn’t be necessary. She wrote a note to herself to ask about the electrician’s plans. She’d taken one course in architectural design and could fake her way around a set of blueprints. But she’d need a hell of a lot more knowledge if she was going to make hotel design her life’s work in the next few months.
She tucked her notebook into her oversized purse and strode from the room. She had a couple of days’ worth of homework she needed to do before involving Dean.
Maybe by then she’d forget the look in his eyes before he had left.
There was a slight hesitation in her step as she neared the stairs leading to the construction trailer. Dean was probably in there…doing whatever it was that he did. She’d see him again and need to meet his gaze without emotion. With anyone else, that was easy. Not with him. Never with him.
The cool, dry air of the trailer met her skin with welcome relief. She hadn’t realized how warm it was outside. Texas heat was somuch thicker. The dry Southern
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