You walked away from me. From us.

Hurt swelled in his chest and he needed to remove himself from her side before he revealed any of his undesired thoughts. “Return those plans to my desk before you leave.”

Chapter Six

What felt lower than dirt? Mud…definitely mud. Worm-filled mud crawling with insects might be the closest thing Katelyn could compare herself to as she watched Dean walk away.

She could convince herself all day long that Dean had run full speed into her ego, knowing damn well she had one and would defend it to the death. But the look of longing that had passed over his beautiful gray eyes before he told her to return the plans to his desk would live inside her for some time to come.

The last thing she wanted was to involve Dean with her life. He needed to be free to find a life with another woman, one who could give him the large family he wanted.

That wasn’t her.

It didn’t escape her notice when his eyes followed the length of her legs and settled on her br**sts a time or two during their brief conversation. Oh, he’d been tactful, but he hadn’t been invisible. Maybe she should wear something a little less her while at work.

Dealing with Dean on the job site would be complicated, but she assumed he’d see her in passing. She did the finishing work and he did the major construction. Yet as she looked deeper into what it would take to pull off designing the hotel after construction, she knew she needed to have more involvement from the beginning.

A teen club would require more lighting, more soundproofing. Katelyn was certain that Jack and Dean had considered some of these things, but not the design aspect of them. Her being involved this early on would save money in the end and make her job easier once Dean completed the job.

Putting emotional distance between her and Dean was a must from the beginning. For more reasons than he would ever know. It didn’t matter that their chemistry had always been combustible. Hell, she remembered phone conversations with him that left her breathless and wanting.

All of that was before. Before she learned just how inadequate she was to be with anyone, let alone a man as good as Dean.

After shifting the papers in her hands and gathering her purse, she left the shell of a room and took one more walk in what would be the main lobby.

A couple of construction workers craned their necks to watch her as she avoided multiple hazards in her high heels to visualize the space. With the right lighting, table lamps wouldn’t be necessary. She wrote a note to herself to ask about the electrician’s plans. She’d taken one course in architectural design and could fake her way around a set of blueprints. But she’d need a hell of a lot more knowledge if she was going to make hotel design her life’s work in the next few months.

She tucked her notebook into her oversized purse and strode from the room. She had a couple of days’ worth of homework she needed to do before involving Dean.

Maybe by then she’d forget the look in his eyes before he had left.

There was a slight hesitation in her step as she neared the stairs leading to the construction trailer. Dean was probably in there…doing whatever it was that he did. She’d see him again and need to meet his gaze without emotion. With anyone else, that was easy. Not with him. Never with him.

The cool, dry air of the trailer met her skin with welcome relief. She hadn’t realized how warm it was outside. Texas heat was so much thicker. The dry Southern California air might be warm, but it didn’t weigh on her.

“Hi, Jo,” she addressed the surly secretary. “Dean wanted me to return these before I left.”

Jo didn’t look up from her computer. “Leave them on his desk.”

Katie looked toward his office, the one where she’d found the plans earlier that morning. The door was nearly closed and she couldn’t tell if he was in there.

“I wouldn’t want to bother him. How about I leave them with you.”

Jo released a gruff laugh. “He doesn’t hide inside all day. Leave them on his desk. He’ll find them when he gets in at lunch.”

Oh, good, he’s not here.

Instead of voicing her relief, she quickly returned the plans to his empty office and left the trailer.

It wasn’t until she’d pulled out of the parking lot, and the hard hat on her head started to slip in the wind, that she realized she still wore his stupid hat.

She tossed it into the passenger seat and turned the car toward Monica’s apartment.

Katelyn avoided the job site for two days. Which wasn’t difficult considering the life-changing event known as Savannah.

In the corner of the small room, Katie placed a bassinet adorned with pink and brown baby blankets. A plush pad had been affixed to the top of a dresser for use as a changing station.

She’d taken a crash course in all things baby in the past week. She’d purchased a stroller, a reclining swing, and more clothes than the infant could possible wear while she stayed in the zero- to three-month age range.

A trip to the bookstore resulted in half a dozen parenting books along with developmental expectations in children. And a baby milestone book.

The baby book she pondered. What would happen if the mother returned for Savannah? Writing down milestones and taking pictures somehow cemented her in Katie’s life.

It was silly to think a baby book was some kind of glue. Already Savannah had wiggled her tiny fingers around Katie’s heart and squeezed hard.

Monica returned home after seven that night. Her twelve-hour shifts had to be hard, yet Katie never heard her new friend complain.