Read Online Only in My Dreams by Darcy Burke - Free Book Online

their last meeting.
    He was so screwed.
    Or maybe not. She was trying to be businesslike, right? He could absolutely do the same. He shook her hand and masked the jolt of desire that raced through him. Maybe they shouldn’t touch.
    She snatched her hand back and put it on her lap where he couldn’t see it. Yeah, definitely no touching.
    â€œThanks for coming up here today,” Tori said. She tucked her straight auburn hair behind her ear. “Have a seat.” She gestured to the chair on the opposite side of the table.
    â€œMy pleasure.” Dylan took the seat while Hayden moved around to the other side of the table. “I’m excited to be considered for this project. This old monastery is part of the local landscape.” Careful to avoid looking at Sara, he glanced up at the beamed ceiling with the dull, round pendant lights and let his gaze wander to the high, arched windows against which sluiced thick rivulets of rain. The windows and beams would be striking design elements to work around. He envisioned an elegant space with chandeliers and gleaming hardwoods. “I’m so glad someone is finally going to put it to use again.” The monks who’d inhabited it had vacated the premises nearly a decade before.
    Hayden smiled. “Alex had quite a vision for this place.”
    Dylan realized he’d been half holding his breath, waiting to see if they would mention their brother. He was glad Hayden had so that he could say something without having to awkwardly bring it up. “That’s great that he’ll have this tremendous legacy. I’m just sorry it came about the way that it did.” He couldn’t help but look at Sara, but she kept her head bent.
    â€œThanks,” Hayden said. “It’s tough some days to work on this without him here, but we know it will be worth it.”
    Tori touched her brother’s arm and gave him an encouraging smile before looking to Dylan. “Looks like you brought a bunch of stuff with you today.”
    â€œI did.” Dylan opened his case and withdrew his laptop as well as the presentation he’d put together. It included the phase-one proposed construction schedule, letters of recommendation, and before-and-after photos for a handful of his projects, some of which were commercial and some residential.
    He booted up his laptop and handed the hard copies over to Tori since she was in the middle. She glanced over them briefly before passing them to Hayden. “After going to the University of Washington, you were an engineer in the army, right?”
    â€œYeah, I was ROTC at U-Dub. Then I did four years in construction engineering.”
    Tori made a face. “Demerits for being a Husky.”
    Hayden gave Tori a sidelong smile then looked at Dylan. “I’ll give you bonus points for not being a Duck.” He was a Beaver from Oregon State, a chief rival of the Ducks from Tori’s alma mater, the University of Oregon. He was apparently willing to forgive Dylan for being a Husky since it meant he wasn’t a hated Duck. Hayden continued, “No combat engineering?”
    Dylan shook his head. “No, nothing that sexy.” Bad word choice. His blood heated and he fought not to glance at Sara. “Just boring construction—building barracks, repairing stuff, total snoozefest. But I’ll take that over serving in combat. I mean, I would have if it had come to that, and it almost did given the timing. It was a great opportunity to serve my country in a necessary job in my chosen field.” He’d spent most of his time stationed in craphole bases stateside, which his ex-wife had hated.
    Dylan pulled up his presentation on his laptop. “You guys ready to rock ’n’ roll?” He looked at each of them in turn, but Sara still didn’t make eye contact. That was good, he told himself. Yeah, it might be a little awkward, but at least she wasn’t glaring at him.
    He