Strictly Business Read Online Free

bachelor would’ve chosen.
There was definitely a female touch involved here. Was this the owner’s taste?
Mostly, it looked like there had been a cohesive sense of style at one point,
and now it was just whatever was left. Mmmmm, she might need to call Cindy in
on this, when they got that far. She always did well helping a client find
their style.
    George led her past the dining room, same mishmash style,
and into a kitchen that could only be described as antique. It was clean and
sunny, with bright yellow paint and white cabinets, but it was definitely
outdated.
    “Marsha, the, uh, architect is here. Marsha, this is Jess
Wythe. Ms. Wythe, our housekeeper, Marsha.”
    Marsha turned around, wiping her hands on her apron. She had
been rolling dough, and had flour on her nose and forehead. She was exactly
what you would expect from a ranch housekeeper. Almost a cliché, really. Except
for the look on her face. Which was shock, followed by cheeky humor. “Well, Ms. Wythe. It’s certainly nice to meet you. I’ll just take you back in to meet
Jake. Thanks, George. Come on now, just follow me.”
    Jess was confused again by her reception. Everyone seemed
very friendly, but somewhat amused by meeting her. Since there still seemed to
be nothing amiss with her clothing, Jess thought it must be because she was a
woman. Jess knew her name threw people, that’s why she usually introduced
herself as Jessica, as well as why she had Jessica on all her business cards.
Only close friends called her Jess. And her boss, Mr. Brundel. But, to be so
amused by it, well that was making her a bit nervous.
    “Umm, excuse me, Marsha, would you mind terribly if I just
freshened up a bit before I meet with Mr. Morgenstern?”
    “Oh, my goodness child, I should’ve thought of that, I just
so wanted to see the look on his face! Oh, come on down here, there’s a powder room
right over there.” She bustled backwards past Jess, and opened a door just off
the hall. “Go on, I’ll just scoot down the hall and let Jake know you’re here.
I’ll be right back.”
    Jess brought her smaller bag with her into the restroom,
leaving the suitcase in the hall. Marsha’s comment about wanting to see Jake’s
reaction had done nothing to calm her nerves. She took a few minutes to freshen
her makeup, putting on the light peach lip gloss to help hide the natural red
of her mouth, tightened and re-pinned her bun and did her best to straighten
out her suit and smooth out any wrinkles.
    When she felt she had her game face on, she headed back out
into the hall to go meet the client. He’d obviously been expecting a man, but
he requested the best, and she was that. Regardless of her gender.
    Marsha had waited for her, and now led her down the hall to
what was obviously an office. Or a master bedroom, judging by the very large
mahogany double doors.
    “Jake, boy, the architect is here.”
    * * * * *
    Jake looked up from his computer and saw Marsha standing
next to a very petite, somewhat frumpy woman in a drab, horrid gray suit. Her
hair was in a severe roll of some sort, although it appeared to be an
attractive color, not quite black. She was fair skinned, with very attractive
features. Sharp chin, high cheekbones and huge brown eyes. She was not overtly
pretty, and yet he found himself somewhat drawn to her. He looked behind her,
expecting to see her boss standing there.
    With a muffled chuckle, Marsha introduced the woman. “Jake,
this is Ms . Jess Wythe.” With that, Marsha backed out of the room.
    Jake stared at the woman, taking in the entire package and
trying to reconcile it now that he knew she was the architect. When he finally
got back to her eyes, he noticed that she was busy taking his measure as well.
    After a rather uncomfortable pause, she finally spoke. “Hi,
Mr. Morgenstern, I’m Jessica Wythe. I’m under the impression, that you were not
expecting…well, me. Rather, you were expecting a gentleman. I’m terribly sorry
about the confusion.