Checkmate

Hell, he was never going to get any work done while she was around.

The only choice he had was to drive her off, just her. He still needed her men and equipment if he was going to finish this project on time after all. With an inward sigh, he decided that he was going to have to go ahead and make her life a living hell.

"Sunday," Mr. James said, interrupting his thoughts.

"Sunday, what?" he asked, unable to hide his confusion even as he noted the looks of shock on the rest of the James men's faces. They'd all stopped working to stare at their father in wonder and shock.

"Dad, you can't be serious," Joh

Mr. James never took his cold eyes away from him as he addressed his sons. "Last time I checked, I was still head of this family and if I decide that Co

Since this actually worked in his favor, Co

"Every Sunday, rain or shine we go fishing as a family at six," his eyes narrowed ever so slightly as he added, "no women allowed. We take our fishing seriously. If you bring a woman you better make sure that she knows that she stays at the house with the rest of them. While we're fishing you can tell me about the plans you have for this old house."

He nodded even as he thought that over. Huh, no Rory......that could actually work for him. He'd be able to get her old man on his side and work on starting to convince the James brothers that their lives would be so much better if they came to work for him. This could really work in his favor, he thought as he looked at the men in question and had to bite back a smile. Oh yeah, the James boys were as good as his.

* * * *

"We're having Dad committed," Bryce said in way of a greeting as he climbed up the rickety steps to the enormous attic that she was even at that moment making plans for. The client wanted the roof fixed, a new attic floor, fix the stairs and update the utilities, but they were passing up a golden opportunity with this space and she was going to convince them to allow her to make three very large, luxury suites out of the space and she was going to make damn sure that Co

It was going to be her signature touch to the hotel, the thing that drew people to this hotel and the thing that came to mind when Strawberry Manor was mentioned. It was going to be Shadow Construction that got all the glory. She had a meeting set up this Friday and she was going to convince them to stretch their budget just a little more to accommodate her dreams.

While other little girls were day dreaming about their wedding she'd been thinking about all the things that she would do to this large old mansion to make it perfect and now that it was all hers, well, half hers, to remodel she was going to make damn sure that it lived up to her dreams.

"Did you hear me? I said we're having Dad committed," Bryce said as he carefully stepped up onto the plywood she laid down for safety and glared at her.

"Yeah, I heard you," she said distractedly as she looked at the ceiling and frowned at the structure beams that were going to have to be replaced. She'd hoped that they could salvage some of them to help get the new roof on faster, but it looked like they were going to have to tear the entire roof off and start from scratch. Actually, that could work for her because-

"Don't you even want to know what he did?"

"Nope, just tell me where to sign," she said, wondering if she would be able to convince some of Co

"You really don't care?" he asked, eyeing her cautiously as he stepped up to stand beside her.

"Not at all," she said as she considered using skylight windows and just as quickly dismissed the idea. The whole point of this project was to give it that eighteenth century feel and placing modern day skylights on the roof would wreck the effect. No, it was better to go with her original plan, she decided.

"Fine. Then I won't tell you," Bryce said, clearly fighting back a smile as he crossed his massive arms over his chest.

"Uh huh," she said absently, earning a loud drawn out sigh of a

"Shouldn't you be working?" she asked as she checked her watch. It was a quarter to five and she was too excited to call it a night. Not that she would and she doubted that her brothers would either. They'd probably put in another three or four hours until hunger forced them to head home.

"Probably," Bryce mused.

"Is there a special reason why you're not working?" she asked as she turned to face him.

He shrugged. "We wanted to know if you wanted us to handle Co

"What the hell happened?" she asked, walking over to a rotting post and to grab her bottle of lukewarm water. "And most importantly, why didn't you guys handle it?"

He gave her a “duh” look as he said, "We had our hands busy with the fire inspector."

"The fire inspector was here?" When he nodded, she gave him her own version of the “duh” look. “Why the hell didn't someone come get me?"

"Because they were all fighting over petty bullshit. It wouldn't have been too bad, but Co

She bit back a groan. Being shut down this early in the game would kill their schedule. They needed to get off the ground ru

Bryce snorted. "He almost did, but lucky for you Dad showed up."

"Shit."

"Yup, seems the fire inspector wasn't too happy having to duck out of the way of morons shoving each other and leaving equipment ru

She sighed heavily as she ran her hands down her face. "I don't want to have to deal with Co

Bryce chuckled as he reached out and hooked his arm around her neck, pulling her tightly against his side as they headed for the stairs. "Relax, Rory. I don't think it will be that bad."

"But I hate him," she mumbled pathetically. "He makes my life a living hell."

"I know, but if it makes you feel any better, I think that you do a fair job of making his life a living hell, too."

Well, that was something, she thought as she carefully stepped over a missing step.

"At least you'll probably get a break for the next five months from all of his bullshit," Bryce said, sounding hopeful. "He'll be too busy with this project to give you a second thought."