Page 68 of Kane

An hour after her phone calls, she pulled up beside Xander’s truck outside his trailer at the new site. The heels she’d selected for her meeting with Jared looked great with her pantsuit but were clearly a terrible choice for the newly turned dirt. She had to walk on her tiptoes as she approached the short rise of stairs.

Three members of Kane’s team worked nearby on the frame for the concrete slab the crews would pour in a few days.

Xander waited inside the trailer, along with her two other senior foremen, Carl and Gene. The men sprang from their chairs as she stepped into the trailer’s warmth.

“It’s good to see you all. Please, sit.” These guys could give some lessons to her shareholders. It was nice to be greeted with manners for a change.

Carl gave up the chair opposite Xander at the desk and moved to sit beside Gene on the frayed loveseat along the far wall.

She shot him a grateful smile and took the vacated seat. “I know you all are very busy, so I will get right to the point. Berringer is giving us the green light to write our own ticket.”

Xander ran his hand through black wavy hair shot with strands of gray. “What exactly does he mean?”

She’d give her eye teeth to kick off her shoes right now. “He means our build schedule is up to us. Or really, up to the three of you.”

Xander didn’t smile, but his tense features relaxed a fraction. “You want us to formulate a rollout schedule.”

“Exactly.” Her left pinkie toe throbbed, but she refused to let it sap her focus. “I know winter is a slow season for contracts and sales, but with five months of lead time, we need to start building the spec houses for May sales. As far as how many of those projects your teams can successfully juggle, I need to defer to you.”

It took about an hour to hammer out a tentative plan. When they were done, Gene and Carl wasted no time getting back to their crews. Xander stood to see them off. “If you’ll excuse me, Miss Griffin, I need to step out to pick up some lumber. No need to lock up when you’re done. My guys outside will keep an eye on things here.”

Her toe now screamed for attention, but she kept her nod placid. “Thank you. I just need to make a quick call, if you don’t mind.”

He lingered briefly at the door. “Take your time.” He may have said something else, but all she could think about was him closing the door so she could take off her goddamn shoes.

When she finally removed the instruments of her torture, she wanted to cry in relief. Her right baby toe was an angry red and swollen to twice its normal size. The left foot was uncomfortable, but no more than normal when she wore these shoes. An inspection of her footwear revealed a tear in the right shoe’s lining, right where her toe had been jammed.

One mystery solved. At this point, she had to figure out how she was going to get back to her car. With her damn shoe finally off, she couldn’t imagine forcing it back on. The other option was walking back through the dirt in her bare feet. Very professional.

She was so busy considering her feet, she didn’t hear anyone climb the stairs to the trailer or even the knob turning to open the door. It’s how she didn’t know Nathan was there until he spoke her name.

“Amanda.”

She jumped.

Dammit.

Way to give him the upper hand. “What are you doing here?” She stood in her bare feet. No way would she have him hover over her any more than their height difference already allowed.

His smile betrayed his simmering cruelty. “I wanted a closer look at where you’re slumming it.”

She eyed the door, but he stood squarely in the path of her only way out. “You have no business here.” Her voice betrayed none of the terror she felt being cornered by him.

“You are my business as long as I say you are.” He advanced, and she took a step back. It wasn’t fast enough. His backhand threw her back against the wall.

She braced for another hit as he cocked back his fist, but a strong, dark hand wrapped around his bicep and yanked him back.

“Get your filthy hands off me,” Nathan sputtered. “Do you have any idea who I am?”

“A piece of shit as far as I can tell.” She didn’t recognize the voice, and she couldn’t see the face of her savior.

Nathan strained against the man’s grip. “Who the hell do you think you are? Go back to your own country.”

“Thisismy country. And I’ll tell you exactly who I am. I’m Staff Sergeant Cyrus Amir, Army Ranger. The man who’s going to kick your privileged, entitled ass if you don’t step away from the lady.”

Cyrus? Yes, he was one of the guys Xander had working outside.

Nathan laughed low in his throat. “Lady? The only woman I see here is a whore.”