Back to Luke by Kathryn Shay Page A

thought about that early on. But we were working with a new architect, and he and I didn’t agree on a lot of things.” Again he scrutinized the plans. “It wouldn’t cost much more than the wiring and some additional lumber.” Smiling at Jayne, he reached over to his desk, got a yellow pad and pencil, and handed them to her. “Sketch that out and note anything in the rest of the house you think could be improved without spending too much more money.There’s still time for floor-plan changes at this stage. I’ll go over it with Luke before we shut down for the day.”
    Her heart started to beat fast. God, she so wanted to work on a building design again. “You sure?”
    “Yep.”
    “Luke won’t like it.”
    “He’ll be okay with it. He had his own run-in with the architect. We ended up not hiring him back.”
    Still, she doubted Luke would be amenable to her suggestions. Too bad. She was furious at his earlier behavior.
    After Jess left, Jayne spent a blissful hour looking over the rest of the plans, making notes for inexpensive improvements. When she finished, there were a lot of scribbles on the legal pad. And she’d loved every second of it. The problem was, as she’d worked, a gaping hole had formed in her heart, reminding her she could lose her license and never be able to do this again.
    Standing, she stretched her back, which hurt from sitting down too long. Or maybe from lifting the lumber. She walked to the door of the trailer, which Jess had left open for the warm air to drift in, and scanned the site. They’d made a lot of progress today, getting up some of the outer shell and steel joists. This was one of her favorite times in construction—seeing the frame of the building take shape. Technically, architects didn’t need to be on the site unless there was a problem. But learning from the actual construction—what worked, what didn’t work, how she could improve things—had helped her succeed in her field. She just had to get past the barrier of contractors who wondered why she was there.
    Off to the side, she caught sight of Jess and Luketalking. Unable to see Jess’s face, she unfortunately got a good glimpse of Luke’s. His features were set in a stern frown, and there was heat in his eyes. She remembered another kind of heat there—sometimes when he just looked at her, but always when he touched her, always when he drove into her with a passion he couldn’t harness. Damn it, she couldn’t afford to have these kinds of thoughts about him.
    He gestured and scrubbed a hand over his jaw. Then he glanced at the trailer and, when he saw her, he scowled.
    Uh-oh.
    He and Jess came over to the trailer.
    When they reached her, Jess gave her a smile, but it was weak. “I was just telling Luke I asked you to look at the house plans, that you had some suggestions.”
    “He doesn’t seem too happy about it.”
    Luke snapped, “I’m here, you two, in case you haven’t noticed. No need to talk about me in the third person.”
    “Oh, I noticed. What have I done now?” She played innocent, but she knew very well what irked him.
    “Have you any idea what a pain in the ass it is to change interior plans at the eleventh hour because of an architect’s whim?”
    She bristled. “Whim? Give me a break. Changes need to be made in all buildings as they go up.”
    “At the risk of setting a precedent and refereeing you two on this site, neither of us was satisfied with Anderson’s drawings, Luke.”
    “They were good enough.”
    Jayne couldn’t help but comment. “I don’t think so.”
    “Yeah, like what?”
    “Come on in,” Jess said in a conciliatory tone. “Have a Coke and look at what she’s got.”
    As they stepped inside, Jayne’s stomach tightened. Suddenly, she wished she hadn’t made so many suggestions. He’d always hated interference.
    Jayne crossed to the plans and picked up the yellow pad. She handed it to Luke.
    He scanned the front page, then the second. Then he looked up.