Renaissance: A Contemporary Erotic Romance (Iris Series Book 5) Read Online Free PDF Page A

that’s for sure,” he said good-naturedly.  Winter had hit the Northeast with a vengeance that year and it had seemed that spring would never get there.
    “I hear ya,” she commiserated.  “So, should we take a final look around and see what else needs to be addressed?  I think we just have the special built in combo locks on the lockers to get, and finish this door over here, then we should almost be done, right?”
    “I’m pretty sure.  Let’s walk around,” he said, casually taking her elbow and leading her through the partitioned rooms while they talked shop.  Several minutes later at the end of their discussion on the punch list, he turned to look at her.  “It looks incredible.  What kid isn’t going to love being here?  Hell, I love being here.  It makes me want to be a ten year old again.  I wish we had stuff that looked like this when I was growing up.  There’s so much to look at.”  He turned to her.  “You gettin’ excited?”
    She nodded, smiling.
    “Nervous?” he asked.
    “I don’t know that I would say nervous,” she joked.  “Definitely anxious, but in a good way.  After all of the research and thought that went into it, I’m just really looking forward to seeing it finally come together.”
    “Well, you should be proud.  It will be a great addition to the neighborhood.”  Like an old pal, he playfully bumped shoulders with her.  “We should go out for a drink and celebrate.”
    She looked at him trying to hide her surprise.  She’d never gotten the vibe from him before, but maybe since she was still nursing old wounds and trying to figure out her feelings for Drew, she wasn’t at her best in gauging whether his ‘ask’ was as a colleague or potential love interest.
    She decided to play it casually.  “That would be great,” she said, giving him a genuine smile.  “We should get Emily to come, too.  We’ve all put in a lot of hours with this.”
    His smile faltered only slightly.
    Hm.  Definitely not an ‘ask’ of the colleague variety.
    She heard a knock on the door and turned to see Emily at the glass.
    “Speak of the devil,” Tiffany said, and walked over to let her friend and attorney in.  “Hey,” she smiled and hugged her friend.
    Emily was a cute and petite powerhouse who had street smarts galore given her Boston upbringing.  With dirty blonde hair and brown bedroom eyes, no casual bystander would ever think she could wipe the floor with any man twice her size due to her diminutive stature.  She’d gotten Mike Callahan by laying him flat on his back months earlier in a self-defense class, and that was all it had taken for him to be a goner.
    “Hey!  Your hair looks fahckin’ awesome,” Emily beamed while touching the back of Tiffany’s haircut and making her twirl around.  Tiffany chuckled.  Whenever Emily cursed, her Boston accent came out.  “God, this place is amazing,” she stared in awe all around.  “I can’t wait to see the faces on those little girls.  They’re going to love this.”  Finally realizing they weren’t alone, she turned to Todd.  “Hey, Todd.  I didn’t mean to ignore you.  I just can’t stop looking around,” she smiled.  “How’s it goin’?”
    “No need to apologize.  I was just saying the same thing to Tiffany.  How are you doing?” he said with a polite smile.
    “Good, good.  So, Tiff, I just need you to sign a few more papers and I need to go over some legalese with you.”  Emily chuckled and made a face.  “Shall we go into the tree house?”
    Tiffany laughed.
    “I’m going to leave you guys to it, then,” Todd said and walked over to them.  When Tiffany made eye contact with him, she smiled and got ready to say goodbye, but instead, Todd leaned over and kissed her on the cheek unexpectedly.  “I’ll call you,” he said with promise and with clear intent in his gaze.  After giving her a lopsided grin, he said goodbye to both of them and walked out.
    Emily made a