This excerpt is dedicated to my friend, LaDawn :)


The flight, thank goodness, had been uneventful. Logan had fallen asleep for an hour or so, and left Bailey to deal with her anxiety. She hated flying. However, the turbulence hadn't been bad, and Bailey had made it through. Now, she was stepping out of the Airport into the humid Louisiana air for the first time. Standing just a few feet from the door was a man holding a sign that said McGuiness. Bailey approached him shyly.
”I'm Bailey McGuiness.” She said looking at the man.
He was about six foot, with dark auburn hair, a goatee and a killer smile. His blue eyes twinkled at her. The wide expanse of his chest filled out his white collared shirt nicely.
”I'm Chad O'Dell,” The man said, kindly “Welcome to Louisiana, Bailey.”
Bailey was surprised that he had come himself. She thought they would be brought to his office and they would leave from there.
She reached out her hand and shook his firm, calloused one.
“Nice to finally meet you Chad.” She replied.
”Same here, Ma'am. Are you ready to go see your new apartment or would you rather grab a bite to eat first?”
”The apartment would be great, I need to freshen up a bit.”
Chad opened the door to his limo and allowed Bailey and Logan to slip inside. After introducing Chad and Logan, Bailey looked around the interior of the sleek vehicle. The smooth leather seats felt good against her heated skin, after being cooled with AC. There were some bottles of water chilling in a small refrigerator tucked under the side panel of the car.
Just outside the dark tinted windows Bailey could make out tall buildings and breathtaking scenery. She enjoyed the sight of people milling about, minding their own. Chad pulled her from her perusal.
”How was your flight?”
”It was quiet, thankfully.”
”Good. I hope your ready for this. It'll be a busy day tomorrow.”
”That's great. I'm looking forward to diving right in.” She said sincerely.
”Excellent.” Was all he said.
Logan had been uncharacteristically quiet so far. She was eyeing Bailey and Chad speculatively. Bailey shook her head infinitesimally at Logan and returned her gaze to Chad's blue eyes. He was attractive, sure, but Bailey never mixed business with pleasure. Especially when that business was her boss.
 “So, Miss Esplin,” Chad offered, speaking to Logan, “What brings you to our fine state?”
Logan, lighting up at the chance to talk, said slyly. “I'm here for Bailey mostly. Although, being here gives me the opportunity to expand my business.”
Chad looked interested.
 “And what business would that be?”
 “I run an online shopping center for men and women.”
 “That does sound interesting.” Chad said kindly, “And you'd like to move your business here?”
 “Not exactly,” Logan explained ”I can run the store from anywhere, and I have a manager that runs my warehouse. But, I'd like the chance to maybe start up a new location.”
 “That may be something I'd be interested investing in.” Chad said, surprising both Bailey and Logan.
”Really?” Both women said at the same time.
Chad chuckled.
 “Well, I'd have to see a business projection and things of the like, but yes, really. I'm always trying to find new ways to expand my portfolio.”
 “That would be amazing, Chad, Thank you.” Logan replied, whole heartedly.

 “Sure thing. Get me the proposal whenever your ready. I have a feeling you ladies will be here a while.”
 “Why is that?” Bailey asked, curious.
 “Just a feeling I get.” Chad said, cryptically.
A few minutes later they pulled up in front a beautiful old brownstone building. Chad led them inside up to the second floor. Once inside, Bailey was moonstruck. The apartment was gorgeous. The walls were painted a slightly off shade of white, which made the rooms look less clinical. The apartment had a very open floor plan, with a pass through between the dining room and kitchen. There was a very sophisticated looking arch between the living area and the dining area. The floors were all, what looked to be mahogany, and flowed through each room. Chad showed them through the kitchen, down a long hallway which opened up into a small foyer. Off of that there were two doors, each open to show the inside. To the right was bailey s room, the left, Logan s. Each was quite spacious, and had its own master bathroom. Logan disappeared quietly to tour her space. Bailey walked into her room, followed by Chad. She looked around and was pleased with what she saw.
 “It's a young neighborhood, with lots of cafés and shops.” Chad informed her.
 “Thank you Chad. This place is amazing.” Before she could even ask, Chad answered her next question.
 “The rent will be covered by my company for the duration of your involvement with the bridge construction.”
 “That s very generous of you, Chad.”
 “It's not generous.” Chad said thickly. “To be quite honest, it's actually pretty selfish. I figure that if your happy, you ll do better work. And you'll be paid weekly as well as a bonus when the bridge is done.”
Her weekly pay was more then twice what her pay was at her old job. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all.
Logan wandered into Baileys room and informed her that the movers were here. They began moving things in an placing them into the appropriate rooms. Logan flirted mercilessly with the cute movers, which Bailey suspected was so that they would treat their things gently. After about an hour all of their things were in the right rooms, though still in boxes.
 “How about we go grab a bite to eat? One of my builders was supposed to meet us, but got detained so it's just us three.” Chad offered.
They went to a nice café down the street and had lunch. They talked about the bridge and how she was ripped down by tidal currents during the flood of Katrina. Bailey felt her heart ache at the way Chad described the aftermath. She had read and viewed many accounts of the storm, but to hear first hand, and be in one of the cities affected was a much different feeling.

After lunch Chad returned the girls to their apartment.
 “I'll be here at nine AM to bring you to the office. You'll have a chance then to meet the lead contractor on the job.”
 “Thank you Chad, that would be great.”
He left them in peace. Bailey went to help Logan unload some boxes in the kitchen. As they unpacked, Bailey had second thoughts. She felt like she was cheating on her old life, being so happy here. But Logan put a stop to that.
 “You have every right to be happy, Bail. This is a good thing.”
 “I know. You're right. I'm sorry.” Bailey told her friend.
 “Don't apologize. It's how you feel. Just try and let things happen as they will, ok?”
“Ok, I can do that.” Could she?
After unpacking a few more boxes in the common areas, the women helped each other to unpack there bedroom belongings and set up their beds. They sat on Baileys bed and watched television, sipping tea. After a while Bailey began to doze off, and Logan went to her room to shower. Bailey dressed for bed, and climbed in. Again, she was at peace.

At nine AM sharp, Chad picked up a freshly showered and dressed Bailey. She was wearing a gray pencil skirt suit with a light pink silk blouse under the jacket. Her black peep toe heels were killer, on both her feet and the eye. She knew her feet would be barking when she got home, but the shoes were too sexy to resist.
 “Good morning, Miss.” Chad said, smiling.
 “Morning.” Answered Bailey. “So what's on the docket for today?”
 “We'll head to the office so that you can get settled into your office, and then we have a brunch meeting with your contractor.”
 “MY contractor?” Asked Bailey, shocked.
 “Yes, your contractor. You are the lead designer. Therefore, he is your contractor. I'm only here for final approval. It's whatever you say that goes on this one.” Chad assured her, leading her through huge glass doors of their office building.
Bailey felt a huge amount of pressure settle on her shoulders. She had never had that kind of responsibility fall solely on her before. She had led projects before, but none of this magnitude, and none that she had complete reign over. She swallowed audibly.
Chad laughed and grasped her hand, in a fatherly manner, though he was only a few years her senior.
 “You'll do fine. I wouldn't have hired you if I doubted you could handle this.”
 “Speaking of which,” Bailey interjected, “How did you happen across my résumé?”
 “I didn't actually. It was sent to me via email. I thought it came from you at first because the last name was the same. I found out later that it was sent by your father.”
Bailey froze mid stride in the center of the lobby.
 “Are you ok?”
 “My father sent you my résumé?”
 “Yes, didn't he tell you that?”
 “No! I haven't spoken to my father in more then ten years.”
 “Well, isn't that odd? He must be keeping tabs on you. He thought that this would be the perfect opportunity to show your chops, I guess.”
“I guess so.” answered Bailey, dazed.
She and her father hadn't spoken in all that time because her father remarried and her step mother was a wicked witch. She always talked down to Bailey and made her feel bad about herself. Nothing was ever good enough for Kalli. And Mitch let her do it. He let her demean his only daughter. He let her make Bailey feel like last weeks trash. Though, Bailey knew she was a good person, and that she had fought hard to get where she was, Kalli still made her feel like an inept child. And all the while, her father let her do it. So, Bailey had stopped speaking to him. If he couldn't stand up for his child and be a man, then Bailey didn't want anything to do with him. Bailey didn't even know where Mitch was these days, or what he was doing. So why, after all this time, was he keeping tabs? And why would he send her résumé to Chad?

Ohhh I like...kept refreshing hoping u had posted more...but alas! that was all...keep it coming!

LOL More is in the future :)

@IrishLove1988: i just gotta say this, your book totally deserves to get published it is so good and i have a friend who would love it too. Keep up the great work! :D

I'm SO hooked! Can't wait for ch4!

Thank you James :) I'll be sure to tell all prospective publishers that ya'll said so lol @Ram: Be patient darlin :) It'll be here soon!

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