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  She nodded. “I just don’t want you to be too tired.”

  “I’m fine, Mom.” I bit my tongue against the bitter tone in my voice. It wasn’t her fault. She’d been just as wronged as me, if not even more. I was as fine as anyone could be, waking up from a near fatal accident and finding out their whole life was a lie.

  “I think Aunt Kinsley is here, too. You’ve had quite a gathering here, waiting for you to wake up.”

  I turned my head away from them, looking out the window so they couldn’t see the raw emotion in my eyes. “Yeah. Great.”

  I SAT, TAPPING MY FOOT against the floor, willing my hands to be still as I waited to be called back for my interview. This was it. I was here. All of my hard work had come down to this one interview. I knew I had to nail it, or the countless other graduates that wanted it would be breathing down my neck. It was all or nothing. You’ve got to do this, Carter.

  I had applied for this internship months ago, even before I graduated, with the encouragement of several of my professors. Everyone wanted to work for this firm. Gibbons, Sandes, and Jacobs Design Associates was the most prestigious firm in the nation, with satellite offices in all major cities. But this internship was working with Mr. Gibbons himself in their home office in Denver, Colorado. My professors all bet money on me getting this internship, but I didn’t count on anything. I knew hundreds, if not thousands of hopeful interns applied for this one coveted position. I was one talented guy out of many.

  My phone buzzed, and I looked down to see it was a text from my dad. My real dad. Good luck today, son. I love you. I smiled, momentarily distracted from my nervousness by the text.

  “Mr. McIntyre? Mr. Gibbons will see you now,” the assistant interrupted my thoughts, flipping her hair over her shoulder as she turned. She was pretty, but she was trying too hard to get my attention. I wasn’t here for that, anyway. I’d had my fair share of girls over the years who wanted to date me, but none made me have that ‘feeling’, the one my dad had told me about. I was waiting for it, but honestly, I didn’t hold out much hope. After everything that the man who said he was my father had done to my actual parents, I’d lost faith that love was in the cards for me. Yes, I knew that was ridiculous since my parents were more in love than any two people I’d ever seen. But seeing it and having it happen to you were two different things. I was twenty-three years old and had about as much desire to have a relationship as I did to step on gum in my brand new dress shoes. I had a goal in mind, and I was not letting anything or anyone derail it.

  I stood up, smoothing my hands down my crisp grey suit and sliding my phone back into my jacket pocket, forcing the butterflies in my stomach back where they belonged. I didn’t have time for nerves; I had to put my best face forward and knock their socks off. I thought back to Ronan and the last time I’d seen him at my college graduation. He’d told me how proud he was of me, and that staying focused on my goals and dreams for my career at my age would serve me well. As much as I didn’t want that to affect me, it did. In some strange way, I still wanted his approval.

  I’d been through a lot in the last five years, but I was in a better place now. I had no lasting effects from my near death accident, and I’d used the semester I’d had to forfeit to gear myself up to be the best student I could be. That was why I’d graduated at the top of my program and gotten my masters, doing anything and everything my professors suggested to get where I was now.

  I followed the young woman down a long hallway. This office was the most amazing thing I’d ever seen, and as an architect student, I’d been in some pretty cool buildings. This company was well known for their modern design, but also for their energy efficient, green work sites and buildings. It was my dream come true to just be here.

  “Right in here,” she said, leading me into a boardroom that overlooked the city. It was a breathtaking view. I stood, losing myself in the daydream of working here to begin my career. I pictured myself getting an apartment not far from here, enjoying the walk to work with the beautiful mountains as backdrop. Having grown up in Florida, this was like nothing I’d ever experienced before.

  I heard the door open behind me, and I turned to see who must be Mr. Gibbons entering the room. He was a mid-fifties man with salt and pepper hair and an air about him that made him intimidating, but also someone you wanted to know and be like.

  “Mr. McIntyre?” When I nodded and reached my hand out for his, he clasped mine tightly. “I’m John Gibbons. Great to meet you. Your recommendations, fieldwork, and track record are impressive. Please, let’s sit.”

  We sat across from each other at the huge table, and I instantly pictured myself in this room, proposing a new multi-million dollar energy efficient building. “So, Carter,” he began, flipping open the portfolio I’d sent him. “As you know, there are many people that want this internship, and I’m only taking one. While what I’ve seen is impressive to say the least, I want you to tell me why I should pick you for this over anyone else. What can you bring to GSJ Design Associates that will help us as we continue to strive to be number one in a very competitive market?”

  I was just about to answer him, my speech all prepared, when the door swung open again and I lost all train of thought. Long waves of brown hair surrounded the most angelic face I’d ever seen. Large blue eyes looked widely at me, then at Mr. Gibbons. She could kill someone with the curves displayed in her tight pencil skirt and low cut blouse.

  I knew I was supposed to say something to prove to this man why I wanted this job, but my brain cells disappeared, failing to send a signal to my mouth to begin working. Mr. Gibbons looked over his shoulder at the woman who had rendered me stupid and grinned. “Ah, thanks for coming in, Julia. Carter McIntyre, meet Julia Gibbons, my daughter. She’s the head of the internship program.”

  Julia smiled, and I almost groaned. Straight white teeth gleamed at me, her lush lips pulled back in a smile. One small dimple pushed in on her left cheek. Of course she was his daughter. “Carter. Nice to meet you.” She reached her hand out and when it touched mine, I swore I was shocked by her electricity.

  I needed this internship even more than before. And I also was very possibly in a whole lot of trouble.

  I PACED AROUND THE HOTEL room, running my hands through my hair. I was already going nuts worrying about how I did in the interview. Figuring there had to be something to do other than staring at the four walls of this room, I threw on my jacket and headed for the elevator. Despite it being late August, I was chilly. Guess that was what happened when you grew up in Florida.

  The elevator doors closed and I laid my head back against the panels. My stomach fluttered with nerves. I had to get this internship. I knew there were many other good companies out there, but I didn’t want any of them. I had to get the best one, the one goal I’d had for years. As much as I was thinking about the questions Mr. Gibbons had asked and my responses, I couldn’t remember half of it.

  As soon as Julia Gibbons walked into the room, my brain had stopped thinking and something else had taken over. I couldn’t even believe that I had allowed myself to get that distracted. This internship was everything to me, and I needed to stay one hundred percent focused on that. So what she was hot? Extremely hot. When her eyes had met mine, I’d seriously forgotten where I was and what I was doing. Hell, I might’ve even forgotten my name. When she shook my hand, volts of electricity had shot through me, setting every nerve ending on fire. And her smile. Oh, that smile could drop any man to his knees. Had she asked me to do that, I just might’ve. When she said my name, when those two syllables rolled off of her tongue, I’d watched the way her mouth opened and closed and wondered what it would feel like against mine.

  But she was his daughter, and this was the culmination of all of my hard work, right here, right now. I couldn’t screw it up because I was thinking with the wrong body part.

  I would find out in three days whether I got the internship or not. I was flying out tomorrow to go home and see my parents and sibl
ings in Sanibel Island, so I only had to keep myself occupied tonight. I needed to keep my mind off of having potentially screwed up what I’d worked so hard for because of a beautiful woman.

  The doors opened and I stepped out, striding purposefully toward the exit like I knew where I was going. I had to stop thinking about her. If I got this job, I’d have to work with her. Not just as co-workers that you wave ‘hi’ to in the break room, but with her. All day. Every day. She’d essentially be my boss. There was no way she was any older than me, though. Perks of being the bosses’ daughter and all, I guessed. I couldn’t allow my attraction to her to influence what I was doing here. If I get the chance to be here at all.

  Stepping out into the cool Denver evening, I turned right and headed towards a blinking sign, pulling me to it like a moth to a flame. It was a sports bar, so that would work. Watching a mindless game and having some beers and wings would be just the thing to keep my mind off of the two distractions dueling in my mind.

  The noise of boisterous fans assaulted me as I swung open the heavy wooden door. My eyes panned the room, looking at the flat screen televisions covering the walls. I smiled to myself as I saw several nice looking ladies turn and look at me. I grinned back at them, knowing the effect I have on women. I’d learned that several years ago. Before that, I’d been rather reserved, only focusing on studying and keeping to myself, even in high school. But after the car accident that nearly took my life and the realization that everything in my life to that point had been a lie, I’d decided that I needed to live more. The ladies liked me. I knew my blonde spiky hair and bright blue eyes were like magnets to the female libido. Add a little bit of blonde scruff on my face and a dress shirt rolled up to my elbows, and they came in droves.

  I thought briefly what my dad would think about my choices over the last few years, but I tried to push it from my mind. I was young and wanted to have fun. What harm was there in that?

  I reached the bar and slid onto a stool, feeling the gaze of two women on me. I signaled the bartender and ordered a Jack on the rocks. I couldn’t care less which team was playing who on the screen, but I stared at it anyway. Out of the corner of my eye I could see the two women who had been watching me since I opened the door whispering to each other. I smirked, wondering how long it would be until one or both of them approached me.

  Several drinks and a basket of wings later, the two women had added three more friends to their ogling but hadn’t approached. I wasn’t interested in any of them, so I was glad they’d stayed away. Cheers and loud conversation of the people around me filled the empty spaces in my head and kept me from thinking too much. That, and the alcohol. I thought about what it would be like to live here in Denver. I’d know no one, but maybe that was a good thing. I could start over and find myself here. I felt like it was time to find my own way and be my own man now, without the warring thoughts I always had between my two dads.

  My head swam with everything I was trying to escape, and I knew I should probably head back to the hotel and get some sleep. It was getting late Florida time, and I still hadn’t adjusted to the time change. Tomorrow’s flight back was going to be brutal.

  Just when I was about to signal the bartender to settle my tab, a smooth-as-butter voice that I instantly recognized came from beside me. “Malibu and Diet, please.” There was no way. I turned my head, knowing that I must be dreaming this. She didn’t come to the same bar and slide in next to me. Had she known I was here? No. There wasn’t any way.

  She was no longer wearing her business attire, but holy hell if what she wore wasn’t even better. Her dark hair was curled around her face, and she was wearing a short skirt and a low cut tank top that accentuated her attractive breasts. Her creamy skin was begging to be touched. Her makeup was darker, edgier than the fresh-faced look I’d seen earlier.

  “Carter.” She smiled, and I tried to ignore the way her mouth pursed when she said my name, but it didn’t work. “Fancy seeing you here.” Her large eyes scanned my fitted jeans and untucked dress shirt before settling back on my eyes. I realized I hadn’t said a word. My mouth felt like cotton had been stuffed inside it. Picking up my drink, I downed the Jack, trying to buy myself a few seconds to collect myself.

  “Ms. Gibbons,” I forced myself to say, even though it sounded all wrong. It sounded stuffy even to my own ears.

  She laughed, throwing her head back like I’d said the funniest thing she’d ever heard. It took everything in me not to groan at the sight of the smooth skin of her neck and the contagious sound of her rich laughter. Did she have any idea what she did to men? Namely, me? Maybe this was a trick, a temptation to see if I’d fall for it. I wouldn’t. I couldn’t.

  Julia reached over and placed her hand on my bare forearm, and I felt it again. Electric shocks traveled from her fingertips to every nerve ending in my body. “Julia,” she corrected, and I watched as she lifted her drink to her lips and took a small sip. Her eyes never left mine the entire time. I knew I should look away. Hell, I needed to get out of here and back to the safe confines of my hotel room. I couldn’t move, transfixed by her small dimple and the way her fingers were now running softly over my arm.

  The sound of smashing glass made both of us jump and broke our physical contact. Turning, I saw the offender holding up his hands, a sheepish look on his face at the beer and glass surrounding him. I wanted to go over and shake his hand and tell him thank you because now I was able to think with my brain again. I could feel her staring at me, but she didn’t touch me again.

  “Julia,” I said, trying to sound indifferent. There was something about her that threw me off of my game, and that wasn’t good, especially if I ended up working with her. I had so many questions I wanted to ask her, one being what her dad thought of me, and if I had a snowballs chance in hell of getting the job, but I knew I couldn’t cross that line. I had to find a way out of here without offending her but yet keeping my chance at getting this internship alive. Who knew how much clout she had with her old man? He did put her as head of interns at her young age. “It was great to see you again.” I tossed a twenty on the counter and moved to scoot off of the bar stool when I felt her touch my arm again, stopping me in my tracks.

  “Please stay,” she said. I didn’t want to look at her, but it was like she had a magnetic force pulling my eyes directly to hers. She blinked, her big eyes searching my face for an answer I didn’t seem to have. What did she want with me? Was she just one of those girls that enjoyed the conquest? Did she have Daddy issues? Whatever it was, I couldn’t do it. I’d worked too hard to get to this place, and I’d be damned if a girl was going to ruin it for me.

  When I didn’t answer right away, she sighed, removing her arm from mine and looking down into her glass. My stomach dropped. So she wanted a drink. Maybe two. I could handle that, right? Even if she did want something more from me, I could handle walking away. What I couldn’t do was offend her and have her go back and tell her dad any number of stories she could concoct. I was screwed no matter, and not in the good way.

  The bartender walked up just then and I signaled for him to get both of us another. I slid back into my bar stool and she turned her head and caught my eye, flashing a small smile that made that cute dimple come out in her left cheek. “You did a great job today,” she offered, and I found myself frozen again. What was I supposed to say to that?

  “Thank you,” I answered.

  “Don’t be afraid of me,” she said. I wanted to laugh because that was exactly how I felt about sitting next to her in this bar. Terrified. For multiple reasons.

  Instead, I played dumb. “Afraid? Why would I be afraid of you?” I’d learned over the years that the more I acted like a self-assured, almost cocky, guy, the better it worked for me. As they say, fake it until you make it. I’m the ultimate faker.

  I watched her lift up her drink and tip it backward, the liquid passing between her lips and down her throat. The motion mesmerized me, and it wasn’t until she set it down and licked t
he remnants off of her bottom lip that I realized how hard I was staring at her.

  “Because,” she said, flipping her hair behind her shoulder. I smelled a whiff of whatever shampoo she used, and it made me want to run my fingers through her hair. “I’m his daughter and you want this internship more than anything you’ve wanted in your life.”

  Damn, she was good. I had nothing to say to answer her because she was exactly right. If she were any other woman in this bar tonight, I’d turn on my charm and buy her drinks and maybe even take her back to my hotel. I had no issues spending the night with a beautiful woman. Except this woman came with baggage.

  “You don’t have to be afraid of me,” she continued when I didn’t answer. “I don’t have any idea who he’s choosing, but your interview was the only one he asked me to come in and be part of. I’d say that’s good news. Last year, I didn’t go to any of the interviews. I’ve seen your stuff, Carter. You’re talented.”

  “Talent only gets you so far,” I said back. “But thank you for trying to settle my nerves.”

  “You’re from Florida, right?” she asked. I wanted to smile because she’d looked up information about me, but I forced myself not to.

  “Yes.”

  “It’s a lot different here.” She picked up her drink again and I forced my eyes to the flat screen television above her head. I couldn’t watch her drink that again. It was like foreplay to my libido, and if there was one thing I knew could never happen, it was that.

  “That’s what I’m hoping for,” I answered honestly. I was ready to say goodbye to Florida, even though my family lived there. Plus, I could have them come out to see me. You’re getting way ahead of yourself, McIntyre, I thought to myself. This time, I did smile. I’ve only been Carter McIntyre for five years, and it still made me proud to hear it. Before, my name had been Carter William Collier. After my parents had gotten married, I’d changed my name to Carter Blake McIntyre. I wanted my name to represent the man that should’ve had me all along.