A Match Made in Heaven (3 page)

Callie surprised him with laughter. “Don’t hold your breath, Nick. But we can be friends, I guess. Only don’t expect anything more from me.”

The disappointment deepened, but Nick nodded. It was just as well. He was too busy to go chasing after a woman, even one as intriguing as Callie Stevens.

§

Cars and trucks filled Pedro’s parking lot. Callie pointed out a space, and Nick swung the big truck around and slipped it into the space with the practiced ease of a man who had driven a vehicle this size all his life. Callie couldn’t deny he was a very attractive man. The sheer presence of his size and masculinity nearly filled the truck cab, and she squeezed against her door to avoid contact with him. She wasn’t used to an overpowering attraction like this, and she wasn’t sure she liked it.

When she’d opened the door and found him standing there, her first instinct had been to slam it shut. Her heart still burned with humiliation when she thought about his escorting her around the parking lot to find her car. But she’d learned to carry herself with dignity in the face of embarrassment and had met his gaze squarely. She’d seen the startled look on his face, though. He was probably regretting he’d ever asked Gram to find him a date.

She prided herself on her ability to think with her head and not her heart, but Nick sorely tried that ability. The less time spent in his company the better, although she couldn’t help but wonder if he had been serious about wanting to be friends. She couldn’t imagine ever being friends with him. Her attraction to him made her too uncomfortable.

What’s more, she didn’t understand it. That cowboy persona didn’t normally appeal to her. She was more used to men who had an edge of sophistication about them. Maybe she was tired. The trip to New York had taken a lot out of her.

Lord, help me fight this.
Her life had been fine up till now, and she didn’t want some unreturned infatuation to derail her plans. She took a couple of deep, calming breaths and felt better. She was just hungry. She hadn’t eaten since breakfast, and the flutters in her stomach were likely due to that. Once she ate a few tortilla chips with salsa, she’d be her old self.

She pushed her troubled thoughts away as Nick came around to open the door for her. She grabbed her purse and took his hand. A tingle shot up her arm, and she felt breathless. She pulled away from him as soon as her feet were on the pavement. Trotting a step ahead of him, she hurried toward the safety of the restaurant. She wanted to be with other people and get her emotional feet back on the bedrock of her common sense.

“Whoa, what’s the hurry?” Nick demanded.

The click of his boots as he rushed to catch her added to Callie’s haste. The sooner she escaped from this evening, the happier she would be. She forced herself to slow down.

“Sorry,” she said. “I wanted to get out of this heat.”

“Yeah, it’s hot. But you’re a born and bred Arizonian. It shouldn’t bother you. You feeling okay? You look a little flushed,” he said.

“I’m fine,” she said curtly.

“Oh, there they are,” he said, his attention snagged by a couple at a table in the corner. He threaded his way through the tables and people.

Pasting a smile on her face, Callie followed him.

Nick held out her chair, and she slid into it. He dropped into the seat beside her. “Sorry we’re a bit late,” he said. “I’d like you to meet Callie Stevens. Callie, this is Warren Miller and his wife, Barbara.”

Callie shook hands with them across the table. “Have you been in the Valley of the Sun long?”

“Two months,” Barbara said. “Is it always this hot?” She was in her fifties, and her ample figure strained the buttons of the plum suit she wore. She looked out of place among the rest of the restaurant’s patrons who were dressed casually.

Her husband was equally overdressed in a severe black suit and tie. His florid face glistened with perspiration, and his balding head sported a vicious sunburn.

“If you think this is hot, wait until July,” Nick said. “It’s actually pretty pleasant in April. Today it was only ninety-seven.”

“Ninety-seven!” Barbara shook her head. “I’m beginning to think Warren made a mistake accepting this job.” Her voice was timid.

“You’ll acclimate,” Callie said reassuringly. “By this time next year you’ll be wearing a winter coat in fifty-degree temperatures and complaining.”

“I hope so.” Barbara picked up the menu as the men launched into a conversation of their own. “Everything is so new and different here. Even the food. We usually eat at the Brazilian restaurant when we go out. We’re overdressed, I see.” She sounded near tears.

Callie leaned over and squeezed her hand. “You look lovely. I’ve been looking for a suit that color.”

Barbara looked down with a woebegone expression. “I’ve gained weight since I bought it,” she said. “I feel so out of place and friendless here.”

Pity stirred in Callie’s heart. She knew what it was like to feel like an outsider. She’d felt that way herself all through high school. She’d been taller than all the boys in her class until she was a sophomore, and she’d never managed to fit in with the girls. They were more interested in dating, and she had wanted to study.

“Would you like to come to church with me on Sunday? Have you found a place to worship?” she asked.

Barbara brightened. “We used to attend a prominent church in New York. All the best people went there. Maybe that would be a good way to meet others in our social standing.”

Callie stared. This woman had no clue as to what church was all about. She’d been asking the Lord to send some people her way that she could witness to. Maybe this was His answer. She felt a sense of shame that she hadn’t been looking for someone to help, and instead God had had to force her into a situation where she saw the need.

“Our church isn’t huge or prominent, but we love the Lord,” she said gently as the men’s conversation hit a lull. “I’d love for you to come.”

“I attend there as well,” Nick added.

“Oh, is that how you met? You make such a darling couple,” Barbara said. She giggled. “A Darling couple, get it?”

“I get it,” Nick said. His tone was resigned, and Callie figured he’d heard that line before.

“We’d love to attend,” Warren said.

“Worship is at ten-thirty,” Nick said. “Want me to pick you up?”

“No, no, that’s fine. We’ll meet you there.” Warren took out a pen, and Nick wrote down the directions for him.

Over dinner Callie found herself watching Nick from the corner of her eye. His cowboy hat stayed squarely on his head, and she wondered what he looked like without it. Maybe he was balding early, and that’s why he wore it. But she discarded the notion when he pushed it to the back of his head, and she spied thick, black curls under it.

It was silly to speculate about him. She would keep her distance, here and at church, and go on with her life. This was one night, nothing more.

Callie listened as Barbara told her all about the Warren children, their yacht and mountain home in Colorado, and all other manner of minutiae. Barbara had yet to ask one question about Callie. It was no wonder Barbara hadn’t made any friends yet.

“I need an interior designer,” Barbara announced over coffee.

“Callie is an interior designer,” Nick said. “She’s one of the best in the country. Her houses have been written up in every magazine in the industry.”

Barbara’s blue eyes widened. “I thought your name sounded familiar! Now I remember—you were the one who was interviewed in
Designer’s Showcase
. I saved the article and told Warren I wished I could hire you,” she said. “Why didn’t you say something sooner? You would be perfect! When can you start?”

“Hold on. Your house is still in the planning stages,” Nick said. “This is a little premature. And I’m sure Callie has a full slate already.”

“Actually I like to get in on this stage,” Callie said. “I can suggest architectural elements that add more impact to my design for the interior.”

He frowned. “I don’t think so,” Nick said. “I like to get input from the clients alone when I’m designing a house. You get too many ideas floating around, and you get no clear, cohesive plan.”

“Oh, but I think it’s a wonderful idea!” Barbara cried. “Do you have time to take us on?” she asked eagerly.

Though she was aware of Nick’s glower, Callie nodded. She wasn’t about to turn down a chance to do a house of this magnitude. It would add more kudos to her career and help her get established in New York. If she did a good job, the Millers would recommend her to their friends back East.

Excitement tingled along her stomach like a row of ants heading for the sugar bowl. “I’d love to decorate your home,” she said. “I’ll need to sit down with you and get an idea of what you’d like, what style you’re comfortable with.”

Barbara waved a hand. “I really don’t care as long as everyone gasps when they see it,” she said. “I want to bring a bit of city elegance to Heaven. It could certainly use it. I want it to stand out and be the talk of the valley.”

That would suit Callie as well. “I have
carte blanche?
” she asked.

“Absolutely.” Barbara turned to Nick. “She’s in charge, Nicky. You do whatever she wants.”

She could sense the tension in Nick, and she was sorry their earlier good relations had given way to this. But this was the chance of a lifetime, and she wasn’t about to let Nick Darling spoil it. Her head buzzed with ideas, and her fingers itched for her pencil and drawing pad. It was all she could do to maintain civilized conversation during the rest of the evening.

They said good-bye to the Millers in the parking lot and promised to meet them at the front door to the church Sunday morning. As soon as the older couple had hurried away, Nick gripped Callie’s elbow and propelled her toward the truck.

When they were both in the cab and out of range of others’ hearing, he turned to her. His gaze was angry and uncompromising. “Let’s get one thing straight. I am in charge of this project. I am the architect, and I will decide the final design.
You
work around the architectural design. I don’t work around the interior design.”

Callie hadn’t wanted to offend him, but his high-handed manner infuriated her. “You heard Barbara,” she said sweetly. “I’m in charge.”

Nick gritted his teeth. “I think not,” he said quietly. “When you think about it, you’ll see this is the only way that makes sense.”

In fact, that was the one thing Callie had never understood. If a person wanted a certain style and design, it needed to be planned into the house’s architectural style right from the start. “I’m determined to make this house the pinnacle of my work,” she said. “I think we can work together, Nick, but you’ve got to bend and listen to me. Don’t make any hard and fast decisions on the architectural style until I have a chance to talk more with Barbara and decide what I want.”

He jerked the truck into gear. She could hear him muttering under his breath, but she couldn’t make out any words, though his anger was obvious. She was genuinely sorry for that, but at the same time she was filled with excitement over her big break.

“If you get too out of line, they can find another architect,” Nick said through tight lips. “I told you—I work alone. I’m willing to listen to your ideas, but I make the final decision or I’m out of there.”

Callie shook her head. “I can’t give up final say,” she said. “My design may stand or fall on some architectural details I need incorporated into the plan.”

Nick’s knuckles were white where he gripped the steering wheel. “This is my project, Callie. You were merely a guest tonight. Don’t abuse that.”

Guilt shuddered through Callie. He was right. “Okay, let’s just table who is in charge and call it a joint effort. If we run into a disagreement, we can hash it out then. Let’s not borrow trouble. There may be no areas of disagreement we can’t live with.”

Nick nodded grudgingly. “Deal.”

Nick bent over his drawing table and rubbed his blurry eyes. He’d been up most of the night going over his plan for the Miller home. Barbara had said she wanted something different, so he’d designed a nearly circular home with wide, curving windows to take advantage of the desert mountain views. The exterior would be concrete instead of the pale stucco usually seen in Arizona, and the roof would be concrete tile as well. It would blend into the mountainside lot as part of the landscape.

If Callie wanted him to change anything, he didn’t know what he would do. Part of him wanted to chuck the project and move on to something else, but this plan was the culmination of a lifetime of work and experience. He’d worked hard and long on this design. He sighed and pressed his fingers against his throbbing eyes.

Taking her along last night had been a mistake. But who would have thought she would worm her way into Barbara’s good graces and try to ruin his project? And the worst thing was that he had been so drawn to her. Well, that was over. It was just more proof that most women were greedy and grasping. Michelle had left him for someone with more money. Callie was more of the same type of woman. It was a shame when she’d been so likeable and honest at first.

The phone rang, and he stared at it in distaste. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair then reached over and grabbed it. “Nick Darling.”

“I hope I’m not calling too early.” Callie’s crisp, businesslike voice carried clearly through the receiver. “I’ve been up all night working on ideas for the Miller home.”

She didn’t sound as if she’d been up all night. She sounded bright, alert, and way too enthusiastic.

“I’m up. I was working all night too. I had a catnap from about five to six but got back up and hit it again. The design is done.” Maybe she would take a hint that he didn’t want her messing with a completed project.

“We’ll see. I have very good ideas that might call for some changes,” she said. “Of course I’ll need to talk with Barbara more and get to know her likes and dislikes before I call it finished. When may I come and see your plans?”

Nick pressed his lips together. She was going to be a pest, and he couldn’t do much about it. “Obviously I’m at the office. Come on over if you like.”