around the sheet of newspaper hiding the dead squirrel and led her to the windows that weren’t broken and boarded up. The glass in them was dirty and sometimes cracked, but from that height they could look down on the surrounding area.
After talking about the need to completely dig up the parking lot and repave it, Gideon pointed out the best positioning for the sports fields and the play park on the grounds below.
Jani asked a few questions but mainly let Gideon talk, basking in the sound of his deep, deep voice, in the fact that when he was talking about his work, his plans, all animosity, all suspicion of her, seemed to fall away. And liking that too much, too.
When the tour was complete, he summed things up for her as they descended the multiple flights of stairs to get back to where they’d begun. It was a daunting list that lost Jani somewhere between new wiring and bringing everything up to current codes.
“Are you sure it wouldn’t be easier—and cheaper—to just build a new facility?” she asked as they stepped off the last stair and a piece of marble dropped to the floor behind them.
“Then you’d have demolition expenses and construction costs that you won’t have here,” Gideon explained. “Besides, the building itself has history for Lakeview—shouldn’t a gift to the community carry some meaning for the community?”
“The city and county building...” Jani mused rather than answering his question because she had the feeling that there was some hidden meaning in this for Gideon, too. “Was this where your great-grandfather’s office was when he was mayor?”
“As a matter of fact it was,” Gideon confirmed. “It was something he was proud of—he was king of the hill here.”
“Then you’re right, this is the building that should carry his name,” she agreed.
“Speaking of which...” Gideon said, as if she’d provided him with an opening he’d been waiting for her to provide. “I’m going to need to clear that name before Lakeview will want it on anything.”
That was a glitch that Jani hadn’t expected.
But before she could think of what to say, Gideon told her to wait there while he went down to the boiler room to switch off the breakers and shut the building down again.
He turned and left.
And just when Jani should have been thinking about this new complication, she instead found herself watching him go—specifically, gawking at his rear end. His suit coat had camouflaged it somewhat the night before, but today, with his jacket barely brushing his waist, she had a clear view of his backside. And oh, but it was a fabulous derriere accentuated perfectly in a pair of well-made pants!
This whole project would have been much simpler if the guy just wasn’t so distractingly handsome and well built, she thought once he was out of sight and she got hold of herself again.
Then the building went dark, and although Jani hadn’t realized there was any sound, it also went silent, leaving the echo of Gideon’s steps to announce his return even before he rejoined her at the door.
He held one of the double panels open for her, and Jani stepped out into the pink blush of dusk beginning to fall.
She hadn’t noticed until then that she’d been breathing shallowly to avoid the various smells of the old building and whatever was decaying inside of it, but once outside, she took a deep breath. And discovered that the air was rich with the aroma of fresh donuts.
“It definitely smells better out here!” she said.
“Donut shop across the street,” Gideon responded, aiming a long index finger in the direction of a strip mall. “Most of your employees at the factories and the warehouses pass by here on their way to and from work—I was in the donut shop yesterday and the owner is talkative. He told me that he bakes fresh for the morning arrivals and again for quitting time, and made sure that he had a drive-through so commuters can get their donut fix without even leaving
After talking about the need to completely dig up the parking lot and repave it, Gideon pointed out the best positioning for the sports fields and the play park on the grounds below.
Jani asked a few questions but mainly let Gideon talk, basking in the sound of his deep, deep voice, in the fact that when he was talking about his work, his plans, all animosity, all suspicion of her, seemed to fall away. And liking that too much, too.
When the tour was complete, he summed things up for her as they descended the multiple flights of stairs to get back to where they’d begun. It was a daunting list that lost Jani somewhere between new wiring and bringing everything up to current codes.
“Are you sure it wouldn’t be easier—and cheaper—to just build a new facility?” she asked as they stepped off the last stair and a piece of marble dropped to the floor behind them.
“Then you’d have demolition expenses and construction costs that you won’t have here,” Gideon explained. “Besides, the building itself has history for Lakeview—shouldn’t a gift to the community carry some meaning for the community?”
“The city and county building...” Jani mused rather than answering his question because she had the feeling that there was some hidden meaning in this for Gideon, too. “Was this where your great-grandfather’s office was when he was mayor?”
“As a matter of fact it was,” Gideon confirmed. “It was something he was proud of—he was king of the hill here.”
“Then you’re right, this is the building that should carry his name,” she agreed.
“Speaking of which...” Gideon said, as if she’d provided him with an opening he’d been waiting for her to provide. “I’m going to need to clear that name before Lakeview will want it on anything.”
That was a glitch that Jani hadn’t expected.
But before she could think of what to say, Gideon told her to wait there while he went down to the boiler room to switch off the breakers and shut the building down again.
He turned and left.
And just when Jani should have been thinking about this new complication, she instead found herself watching him go—specifically, gawking at his rear end. His suit coat had camouflaged it somewhat the night before, but today, with his jacket barely brushing his waist, she had a clear view of his backside. And oh, but it was a fabulous derriere accentuated perfectly in a pair of well-made pants!
This whole project would have been much simpler if the guy just wasn’t so distractingly handsome and well built, she thought once he was out of sight and she got hold of herself again.
Then the building went dark, and although Jani hadn’t realized there was any sound, it also went silent, leaving the echo of Gideon’s steps to announce his return even before he rejoined her at the door.
He held one of the double panels open for her, and Jani stepped out into the pink blush of dusk beginning to fall.
She hadn’t noticed until then that she’d been breathing shallowly to avoid the various smells of the old building and whatever was decaying inside of it, but once outside, she took a deep breath. And discovered that the air was rich with the aroma of fresh donuts.
“It definitely smells better out here!” she said.
“Donut shop across the street,” Gideon responded, aiming a long index finger in the direction of a strip mall. “Most of your employees at the factories and the warehouses pass by here on their way to and from work—I was in the donut shop yesterday and the owner is talkative. He told me that he bakes fresh for the morning arrivals and again for quitting time, and made sure that he had a drive-through so commuters can get their donut fix without even leaving
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