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Her eyes sprang quickly to his. He would have bet his next paycheck that a scathing comment was on the tip of her tongue, but that she thought better of speaking it. She said crisply, "'Me only thing that interests me is where you'll be conducting company business."
There was a limit to Ms. Sperry's toughness, he decided. It didn't extend to interplay between the sexes. That's where her sophistication collapsed like an umbrella. He had observed her interaction with the men at GSS headquarters in New York. She was uncomfortable with double entendres
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and innuendos. The lady wasn't a flirt. With her, it was all business, or it was zilch.
He had concluded that she wasn't married. She had never mentioned an ex, either. One of the young executives at GSS had sidled up to him at the office coffee machine and asked,"Are you screwing Jade?"
Dillon had never approved of locker room braggadocio, especially between strangers. "What possible business is that of yours?"
"I've got fifty bucks riding on a bet."
Dillon calmly took a sip of his steaming coffee while dangerously squinting at the other man. "Tell you what, if you want to talk sex, why don't you go f*ck yourself, then come and tell me how it was."
Apparently Jade had left a few of her male counterparts frustrated enough to generate speculation about her sexuality. Dillon was rather curious himself about her kid's father but had refrained from broaching the subject.
"Perhaps we should get another trailer," she said now in her brisk, businesslike fashion.
"What for?"
"I need an office, too. It would be more convenient to have it here at the site than downtown. Besides, you should have a facility where you can confer with subs, and so on. What do you think? Something large enough to accommodate my desk and a sitting area."
"It's your money."
I 'I'll look into it tomorrow." "Fine.
"Well, I guess that's everything."
She was at the door, her hand already on the latch, when he stepped around her and blocked her path. "Not quite everything, Jade."
Reflexively, she took a hasty step back. His sudden movement seemed to have startled her, inordinately so, he thought. She looked almost afraid of him.
"What do you want?"
He couldn't account for her breathlessness, either. She
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had all the control. What did she have to fear from him? For the time being, he tabled personal curiosity and addressed the practical matters. "Tell me about Ivan Patchett. "
"What about him?"
"I can understand why he's upset over the TexTile plant. It will usurp some of his power. Palmetto has been his kingdom, and he's ruled it for a long time."
"I suppose you could look at it that way," she said. "I think you looked at it that way."
"Meaning?" "Knowing that the plant would adversely effect Patchett-is that why you decided to build it here?"
"You've read the prospectus. You know that Palmetto is the perfect location."
"I also know that you could have picked a dozen or more towns along the Southeastern seaboard that would have been equally as perfect. Why Palmetto?"
"I was familiar with it."
"Which brings me to my second question. Why did Patchett think it nervy of you to show your face around here?"
She tossed her head, rearranging the cloud of loose, dark curls lying against her shoulders. "I didn't leave Palmetto under ideal circumstances."
"And these 'circumstances' somehow involved the Patchetts?"
"Among others."
"Especially the younger Patchett." "Why do you say that?"
He studied her face for a moment, then took his best shot. "Who is your son's father, Jade?"
"Graham doesn't have a father."
"Wrong. That hasn't happened since Bethlehem. You were pregnant when you left Palmetto, weren't you?" She merely regarded him with frosty blue eyes.
"Did Neal Patchett get you pregnant, then refuse to many you? Is that it?"
"Absolutely not. I despise Neal Patchett and always
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have." Pushing him out of her way, she yanked the door open and stepped outside. The dog bounded to his feet and vigorously wagged his tail, eager for another kind word. Jade ignored the dog and marched down the steps, turning on the lowest one to address Dillon again.
"Look, I know I got a little high-handed with you this morning in town, and I'm sorry. I should have reassured you that I've got the situation under control and let it go at that. "
"Do you have the situation under control?" "Absolutely. I can handle whatever difficulties might arise, and, as I'm sure you realize, there will be many before we're finished. You should concern yourself only with those relating to the actual construction.
"And please keep your speculations about my son and me to yourself. Better yet, don't speculate on us at all. Once the excavation begins, you should be so busy that you don't have time to think about anything except the business at hand. "