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his smile— to resist that can-do attitude. Or his thoughtful way of interacting with the shelter staff. She recalled how he'd dealt with the horde of women taking such a ridiculous amount of time to make decisions; never once had he shown signs of impatience. She liked and appreciated how he always made time to discuss things with Big Pete.
    Startled, she realized maybe she didn't want to scare Jefferson away after all.

 
    Chapter 3
     
    "Jake—it’s one damned addition. What the hell is taking Jeff so long?" Harrison Traynor leaned forward in his chair, his expression disgruntled.
    "Chill, Harry. It's a little more complicated than that. The shelter has funding issues. We have to squeeze every dime or they won't have enough money to start— let alone finish." Jake leaned back in the old, leather chair, wincing when the springs squealed in protest. One of these days, he'd lean back and the damn thing was gonna keep on going. "In his defense— this project was dumped into his lap when Linc decided to take a month off without warning any of us. What's Jeffie late on now?"
    Harry sighed. "It's his billings again."
    "Anything I need to worry about?"
    "No— it's more annoying than anything," he admitted. "Instead of waiting on Jeff, I've just been going around him and getting the numbers from the project managers. What's the deal with him lately?"
    Jake stared at his cousin. He'd been wondering the same thing. His brother was distracted. Big time distracted. And there was no way a relatively small project like the homeless shelter could be the reason. "It's probably a woman."
    Harry's eyes narrowed. "Get serious. He's never let his women get in the way of Specialty business before. How many girlfriends cycle through Jeff's revolving doors each year?"
    "Maybe this one is different."
    "You're kidding, right? He doesn't have to do anything and they fall into his lap."
    He shrugged. "Maybe this girl is making him work for it."
    Harry shook his head. "It's gotta be something else. Maybe the project?"
    "Hank says everything is on schedule. They've got enough money to get rolling. He's starting out there next week with the sitework." The more Jake thought it over, the more certain he became. His brother's behavior suddenly made sense. The absentmindedness— the disappearing act. The homeless shelter did not require his presence on site three days a week. "No— it's a woman."
    "How can you be sure?"
    "Don't you remember how you were? C'mon Harry, it was only a year ago."
    "I'm not following you." He frowned. "Who was Jeff seeing back then?"
    "Not Jeff, dummy." Jake worked to contain his smile. Harry was so damned focused all the time. "I seem to remember you doing a pretty good impression of Jeff. You were distracted. You disappeared for days at a time." He ticked off the evidence. "You were completely focused on a certain site contractor. Does Adams and Rey ring any bells?"
    "Okay— I get it." His cousin reluctantly smiled. "Although I don't think 'disappearing' is quite an accurate description. I was protecting our investment."
    "And trying to score with that cute girl from A & R. What was her name again?"
    "Kendall was not the sole reason I was distracted-"
    Jake held up a hand. "Yeah— whatever. How's she feeling, by the way?"
    "Pretty queasy the past few weeks but I think it's easing up. The past two days I haven't had to run downstairs at dawn for crackers." He smiled. "And Ken's a little less cranky."
    "Dude— consider yourself lucky. Jen hurled every day for three months with the twins." Mention of his wife made Jake smile. No way could he have predicted how great his life would turn out. In a year's time he'd gone from being completely alone to landing his beautiful wife and her two kids. Two months earlier, they'd been gifted with the twins. His life had been truly blessed.
    When someone tapped on the office door, Harry rose from his chair, using it as his signal to leave. "So— I assume we're cutting Jeff some