“Sure, don’t you remember? When we had that holiday party in Padre, I was telling you about the coils.”
Robin was suddenly struck with the memory of Guillermo holding a longneck in one hand, a half-eaten monster turkey leg in the other, which he used to emphasize his monologue about coils and refrigeration units . . . and something in there about the average lifespan of a head of lettuce. Robin groaned. “Yes, I remember that, but I didn’t realize at the time you were telling me there was a problem—it was a holiday party, for Chrissakes!”
“Well, sure, Miss Lear. That’s why I called you the next week.”
Oh.
Right.
She had been on her way to London and had stacked Guillermo’s message to call along with all the others she’d decided could wait. Of course, she’d expected to return in two weeks time, but then again, she hadn’t counted on meeting Nigel. That idiot savant had cost her two extra weeks—
“. . . so I told him, it’s all at corporate, but sure, go ahead and call. And he did.”
“What? Did what?” she demanded.
“Called. Mr. Iverson. He ordered all new units. We should get them in today, have ‘em installed by the end of next week.”
Fabulous. All she needed was to have Evan cleaning up this little mess for her. She punched a key on her computer—the e-mail screen popped right up. “Okay, thanks, Guillermo,” she said, and winced at the e-mail from Evan, Valley Produce refrigeration units. Her head was beginning to hurt.
Robin glanced again at the stack of pink phone messages. Jacob Manning’s number was a cell phone; he picked it up on the third ring. “Manning here.”
Having exchanged no less than fifteen phone tags with him, the sound of his voice actually startled Robin. “Oh! Uh . . . Mr. Manning, this is Robin Lear.”
“Hey, good to hear from you.”
Speaking of hearing, he certainly had a nice silky voice, Robin thought absently. “Listen, thanks for sending your estimate so quickly for the work on my house. I like all that you suggested.”
“Great. You’ve got a nice place.”
“Thanks. I just have a few questions if you don’t mind.”
“Sure. Fire away.”
Yes, a very nice voice. “I calculate this work to be about forty dollars a square foot, is that right?”
“Sounds about right—”
“I had other bids for the same work that came in much lower than that.” That was really a teeny-tiny lie—she’d actually had only one other bid.
Mr. Manning said nothing at first, then chuckled softly, a sound that sent a quick and curious shiver down Robin’s spine. “I’ll just bet you did, Ms. Lear. But if you want a quality job, you’re going to have to pay for it.”
Well, wasn’t that just a typical male response? “Really?” Robin asked in her shy, I’m-just-a-woman voice. “And do you think I should have to pay as much as ten dollars more per square foot than any other expert in renovations? Perhaps you didn’t notice, but it’s just a house, Mr. Manning, not the Galleria.”
“Well, now, Robin, even I can see that it’s not the Galleria,” he said, the amusement irritatingly evident in his deep voice. “In fact, I’d bet I’ve seen more of that house than you have in the last few days, and I can assure you, it is just a house. Now, if you don’t want to pay for the work I propose to do, I understand. Not everyone does. Won’t hurt my feelings one bit if you decide to go with someone ten dollars a square foot cheaper—it’s your call.”
His remark took her aback, but not nearly as much as the casual slip of her first name, which sounded, much to her surprise, incredibly sexy from his lips. With a shake of her head to clear it, Robin demanded, “What about materials? How can I be assured the materials are the quality I’m paying a premium for?”
“You can inspect everything I bring into your house.”
“Receipts?”
“I’ll copy you on everything I do.”
“And consult me if there is any change to your proposal?”
“I don’t know,” he sighed. “Are you going to want to pick the colors, too?”
The question was so ludicrous that Robin was left momentarily speechless.
“It’s a joke,” he said in that voice.
“I knew that!” she lied. “I need this work to be done right away and finished quickly. I suppose I could see my way to your cost if I could have your guarantee that you can start this week. How long will it take you to complete?”
Mr. Manning laughed. “Do you always bounce from one extreme to the other like that? There for a minute I thought you were going to fire me before you even hired me.”