The Step Sister (Sister Series, #10) Read online

He smacked his boots on the stairs beside the door, brushing them several times on the boot scrubber. It didn’t do much to remove the caked-on mud. Dried mud masked the brown leather and the treads on the soles were full of stuck-on bits. The hems of his jeans were ripped and frayed, streaked with more lines of brown mud.

  Chris entered the large room. Lloyd was staring down at the blueprints spread out before him. Two of his laborers sat down at the central table that seated half a dozen. They were drinking coffee and no doubt, trying to warm up before the job site meeting that was scheduled for ten o’clock. That was why Lloyd was there with his newest assistant.

  The woman stood back, slightly off to the side of Lloyd. Her posture reflected rattled nerves. Hunching her shoulders forward, she kept her head down, although her eyes were darting around. She was tucked away in the corner as tightly as she could be, to make herself even smaller. Taking off his leather gloves, Chris ran a hand over his cue ball head.

  She could have possibly used a few lessons in how to dress, however. Glancing down, Chris saw her brown heels matched her dark brown belt that encircled her waist. The assistant didn’t lift her head, but her eyes flew upwards at Chris’s entrance. Her eyelids blinked several times as she took in his massive presence. He was quite familiar with the big-eyed looks of astonishment when anyone more normal in size encountered him up close.

  Lloyd turned at his entrance. “Chris. Hey, how are you?” he asked, stepping forward with his hand out to shake Chris’s. That was how Lloyd greeted everyone, from the superintendents to the architects to his clients and laborers. Always using their first name with a handshake. That was also how Lloyd earned his respect. Lloyd had an immaculately clean and upstanding reputation. Part of it was owing to his attention to customer service and the professional way he treated his employees.

  Just not in how he treated his romantic interests. And specifically those he chose to hire on for his made-up job as his assistant. The funny part was Lloyd worked well with women in general and usually exhibited nothing but respect. His best and most respected project manager was Margaret Layhe. If someone didn’t respect her, Lloyd fired them or at minimum chewed them out. So it wasn’t a pattern with Lloyd. No, he wasn’t like that with any other employees, coworkers, or clients. It was only in his relationships with the young women he hired to work directly for him that he was less than professional.

  “Good. Just trying to muck out the hole a bit more.”

  “Yeah, real vat of soup out there. Hopefully, a week of clear weather will give us the opportunity we need to get it cleared out so we can move forward with pouring the foundation. Will you be ready for the earthworks by Thursday?”

  Chris nodded. The hole was supposed to be fully dug out and graded and leveled before the site work began. Clear weather was predicted for the next ten days. Fingers crossed, Chris replied, “Sure.”

  “So who’s coming today?”

  “The client, architect, and structural engineer,” Chris answered. “Pavers, earthworks, um… I think the crew who is doing the footings will be here and that should be it for today.”

  Lloyd nodded. “Perfect. First few trades to be here need the tour and schedule.”

  “Yes.”

  “Safety too. Make sure all of them have their safety plans on file. The state’s been checking on those like crazy lately.”

  “Will do. Full house today.” Chris nodded behind Lloyd, indicating his huddling assistant. Lloyd didn’t even bother to turn to introduce her. “So, who’s this?”

  “Oh, sorry.” Lloyd turned and swept his hand out. “Julia Lindstrom, my new project assistant, I would like you to meet one of my superintendents, Chris Vaughn. In fact, this is the man you will be working with most of the time.”

  Chris grinned. “Yeah, because I’m pretty new too. He doesn’t trust me.”

  Lloyd grunted with a laugh. “Your talents exceed those of most men. Even the ones I’ve had on the payroll for ten years. So that’s not entirely true. What you lack in experience you make up for with natural instinct and common sense. And you pick up things quickly too.”

  Chris glanced down with surprise at Lloyd. He towered over his boss and dad by a good half foot. He’d never heard Lloyd talk about him like that before. It annoyed, irritated and made him downright angry, but not at Lloyd. A rush of pleasure swept through him at the compliments. God. He was so thrilled and pleased that he was good and ready to sit up and beg Lloyd for a few more crumbs of praise. But Chris wasn’t a boy anymore, and he didn’t need anyone’s consistent approval. No. Hell, no. Chris was his own man and had been so for a decade, maybe even longer. Yet he continued blushing with warmth at hearing that Lloyd thought so highly of him. It seemed as if it were much more than his boss complimenting him. But that was stupid. Lloyd knew nothing about his role as an absentee father.

  Why didn’t Chris say to Lloyd, Hey, you’re my dad? Not sure why. But now it would have been awkward and weird, to say the least, after not admitting anything during all these years. He waited too long to tell him. Still, Chris could not deny the distinct pleasure he felt in knowing that Lloyd approved of his work so highly. He sighed. When did he become a school-aged namby-pamby? Someone who needed his teacher’s gold star stuck on his latest science assignment?

  Julia raised her head and her gaze met his until she looked away. A small, polite smile appeared on her lips. She nodded towards him in lieu of a handshake. She had very dark eyes. Black eyes. Compelling eyes. He smiled. “Nice to have you on, Julia.”

  She nodded. “Thank you.”

  Chris turned around when the trailer was suddenly occupied by an assortment of representatives whom they were waiting to consult. Two came from the architect’s office, one was the structural engineer, and four were various subs. All were male. There were handshakes, back slaps and casual conversation about the constant crappy weather, and some industry scuffles and practices. When it was ten o’clock, Chris nodded around the room, clearing his throat. “Should we all take our seats and get started?”

  More shuffling ensued as chairs scraped the floor and deep voices muttered softly. Chris flopped down, placing the legal pad in front of him for notes, as well as a pile of meeting agendas with the job schedule attached to them. He passed the stack around for everyone to take one. It included a list of all the members at the meeting and an outline of what they intended to discuss. Once seated, all eyes turned his way.

  “So first up we need to address the drainage problem out there. It isn’t proceeding as fast as we predicted. As you’ll see when we go out there and look more closely later, it’s going to be a nightmare if we don’t find a fix fast.”

  From there, the subcontractor handling the earthworks started speaking while the architect who was leaning over the site plans occasionally chimed in. They discussed how to fix it as Chris listened, his eyes darting towards the end of the table. Julia slipped into the seat next to Lloyd’s, following the schedule and writing down notes.

  Unfortunately, she sat down beside Lloyd. That meant something significant to everyone in the room. Including the woman who took the job. Typically, Chris wouldn’t think that about a woman simply because she sat down next to a man. But Lloyd purposely used his assistant position to get women. And until now, those women understood that clearly because as far as Chris witnessed, Lloyd simply told them so.

  She was, or would most likely soon be, Lloyd’s newest girlfriend.

  “How about some coffee, sweetheart? Pretty nippy out there.”

  Chris frowned when the voice came from Beck, one of the subs. Obviously, he was addressing Julia and judging by the way he stared at her, the nickname he used was degrading. Maybe not degrading exactly, but the tone Beck used was inappropriate. Her head popped up from where she’d been intensely concentrating. Or at least, that’s the impression she portrayed. Her face reddened in a blush as she realized the entire table was staring at her now. She glanced around and turned to Lloyd for help, but he didn’t say anything, only no
dded.

  Chris frowned. It was obvious she was feeling overwhelmed in the presence of this sausage fest. He jumped to his feet. “Sure thing, Beck. But you don’t have to butter me up with heartfelt endearments. I’ll do it for free.”

  Beck glared up at him. “I wasn’t talking to you, Vaughn. I was talking to the pretty legs down there.”

  Julia’s face dropped onto her chest and her long, blonde hair slid forward. Chris stared at Beck, crossing his arms over his chest as he scowled. Beck visibly swallowed as Chris sneered at him.

  “Ms. Lindstrom is Lloyd’s newest project assistant. That means, she will be in charge of the facilitation and communication between the projects in the field and the office. That also means, Cranston,” he sneered as he uttered the man’s last name, “that she ranks much higher than you or me. So either I can get you that coffee or you can go out and get your own. It’s up to you. But I like the suggestion, so I think I’ll go and pour some for myself.”

  There was a general shuffling of paper and soft mumbling after his outburst. Cranston’s mouth dropped open in obvious surprise. Chris walked over to the coffee maker with its hot pot of coffee. He grabbed two mugs and poured some, going directly past Cranston, and setting the coffee cup in front of Julia. Her head snapped up, and her eyes were wide with surprise. He smiled and nodded. “Ms. Lindstrom. Would you care for some coffee?”

  She gripped the hot cup in her hands and nodded, “Um… yes, and thank you.” Her puzzled gaze stayed on Chris for a moment before she looked down at the cup of caffeine before her. He sauntered back to his seat. “See how it’s done, Cranston? I mean, sweetheart?”

  The man glowered as he sunk down into his chair. The meeting was strained for a few minutes after that but Chris ignored it. He grilled the structural engineer who was discussing the building straps that had to be added to the foundation when it was poured. It temporarily eased the tension until Chris glanced down towards the new hire again. She kept her gaze riveted on what she wrote except when it was focused on whomever was talking. Very serious. No fanciful glancing around. No inconspicuous analysis of the crowd she found herself in. Chris didn’t fail to notice that Lloyd never sought out someone who was remotely capable of doing the job as his personal assistant. He didn’t even pretend to.

  But so far, this one seemed to be trying.

  When the hour-long meeting ended, they were planning to walk the site, including the subs and architect, and perhaps Lloyd, but the rest were leaving. Half the table ducked outside in a hurry to take a smoke break. Lloyd stepped out with the owner and architect, deep in a discussion.

  Chris glanced up and saw Julia awkwardly shifting her weight from one foot to the other. She didn’t know whether to follow Lloyd, wait there, or perhaps take a tour of the site. Her hesitance showed in her furrowed eyebrows, lip-chewing, and the general air of anxiety that emanated from her. She didn’t so much as glance at Chris.

  After wondering if he should say something to her, he said simply, “Hi.”

  Her nervousness was palpable as anxiety radiated off her. No one needed to stress as much as she obviously was.

  Her mouth puckered in surprise at seeing him before she said, “Hello.”

  “If I were you, I’d skip the walk-through right now.”

  Julia straightened her back. “Because I’m a woman who wants to stay clean?”

  “No, because you don’t have the proper footwear and you might get hurt,” Chris replied. His tone was quiet without any accusation or offense in it. “Just a word of warning, you should keep a pair of boots with you at all times when you come out to the job sites.”

  Her shoulders dropped and she sighed. “I’m sorry. I falsely assumed… No, I shouldn’t have. And, thank you… for what you did earlier… I mean, the coffee.” She gasped out the sentence in distress.

  He smiled gently, trying not to scare her. She seemed so skittish. “No problem. Don’t let any assholes push you around. You’ll have to quickly grow a thick skin to survive on these job sites and be sure to give them that shit right back. For some of them, it’s like they’ve never worked beside a woman before. It’s pathetic, stupid, annoying, and detrimental to all workers in my opinion, but blatant sexism does exist.”

  Julia’s unsure smile gave Chris a fleeting glimpse of her well-aligned, white teeth. “It’s only my first week. I’m supposed to be a liaison between the field and the office. I have no authority here and all of you are way over me in rank.”

  “Are you talking about what I told Beck about you?”

  She nodded.

  “Well, no one else knows that. And he was irritating me so I wanted to humiliate him.”

  “Thank you,” she said quietly, her eyeballs darting furtively.

  He sighed as he side-stepped her and in response, she retreated timidly. He wasn’t even intending to approach her, but only trying to take the stack of papers to his desk, which was next to the plans table before throwing the garbage away. He held up his piles. “Just taking this stuff to my desk.” She stared at him curiously, her eyes narrowing. He added, “It’s behind you.”

  “Oh. Sorry, Mr. Vaughn.” Jumping to move aside, she clipped her hip on the corner of the table. She released an anguished cry as she rubbed it. Okay, not only was the woman a jumble of nerves, but she was clumsy too.

  “So… Julia. Do you care if I call you Julia? We use first names around here.”

  “Okay.”

  “And Julia, please relax. You’re new, you’re not being judged today on anything. I like everyone to feel comfortable enough that they can always speak to me. I know I’m big, but I’m not a jerk.” He tried a gentle, tentative smile.

  “You are quite big.”

  Chris flopped down on his desk chair, and the back ended at his middle back while his sides spilled over the seat by several inches. His legs were tucked up too high because it was too awkward to slide them under the desk. He crossed his arms over his chest and bit the side of his cheek to avoid smiling from amusement. Chris was sure Julia had no clue about what she just said, or that anyone else around there would soon be snickering and laughing over it. A pretty woman said that he was quite big. Thank God, she wasn’t overheard by the other laborers or subcontractors’ workers. They’d have been back-slapping, winking, and humiliating the timid, serious, quiet, but kind of funny woman before him now.

  “Yeah. Been told that before. But I’m harmless. Honest. You don’t have to look like you’re going to pass out. I’m not half as mean as I might appear.”

  She smiled and her gaze slid from his, running the length of his torso before it landed on his face again. He smiled back.

  “All right, Chris.”

  She had a cool voice with a professional-sounding tone, but there was an underlying timbre to it that suggested a streak of timidity.

  “Sit down, so we can talk about a few things. Lloyd didn’t mention he was hiring anyone or I’d have been sure to put more thought into this, but let’s wing it.”

  She shrugged. “He hired me a few days ago.”

  Chris leaned forward and set his hands on his desk. “Yeah? Where did you go to school?’

  “Uh… Calliston High School.” Her eyeballs darted nervously again and she cringed in obvious embarrassment.

  He smiled. Calliston, California was the small town that they lived and worked in. “I’m sorry. I just assumed… Lloyd usually hires recent graduates from USC or Peterson in Marsdale. He says he likes to give the new graduates a chance because it is so rare for them to find a good job right away.” To hear Lloyd’s explanation, it sounded as if philandering was his contribution to public service.

  Julia sat down, perching her butt atop the edge of the functional, metal fold-up chair. Smoothing her unmarred dress over her thighs, she modestly tugged it towards her knees where it had ridden up. It was only a few inches but Chris gulped as he tried to keep from staring. He was straining, and nearly falling forward to glimpse her bare, naked, white legs sporting the pair of
sexy high heels that slimmed and defined her calves so well. No. She was no more than a colleague. She didn’t deserve any ogling or objectifying. He owed her the respect and dignity of any man who sat in that chair, along with clear, straightforward communication and a chance to prove herself.

  “Lloyd hired me basically because of my dad’s recommendation. He’s known Lloyd for twenty years or more. They got to talking a few weeks ago and Dad mentioned I needed a job and Mr. Cartwright offered to meet me because the position was empty and he needed… and so…” She shook her head. “No one mentioned that I needed a college degree.” Her entire face bloomed into a vibrant blush. Shame. He shamed her.

  Leaning forward, Chris resisted the urge to reach across the desk and pat her shoulder. He didn’t see why she seemed so ashamed by her admission. “Oh, hey. It’s no big deal. Half the laborers here are the sons of former carpenters or subcontractors or the people staffing the offices. Nepotism exists across all genders, occupations, and pay grades, so I wouldn’t get too bent out of shape over it.” Lloyd was recently threatened with a lawsuit from his last project assistant. According to rumors, she came after him with a sharpened pencil when he tried to dump her. Chris hoped to God that Julia would be smarter than that woman was and not fall for the same shady ruses that Lloyd frequently employed.

  “Don’t you need to go show all those guys around the site?”

  “Yes. Whenever Lloyd comes back in. He first schmoozes it up with the owner, then he gets me and after that, all those who are waiting will be addressed. Way of the world, it’s all about pecking order. So I got some time. He’s usually a good twenty minutes or so.”

  “So I dressed all wrong and I don’t have the proper degree. And you know what? I didn’t even realize it. Smashing first week.”

  Chris sensed Julia was trying to appear polished and professional in her conservative, stylish and pretty dress. She would have been in most offices. Just not theirs. “Some days, your outfit could be perfect as long as you stayed in the main office. But most days, you have to be prepared. You’ll be the go-between for the superintendents, Lloyd, Phineas, and Margaret. You’ve met Margaret?”