Free Beauty and the Wolf by Lois Faye Dyer Page B

wanted to impress his superiors with the presence of the entire department.
    Disappointed that she had to cancel her plans with Eli that evening, Frankie dialed his cell phone several times, but each time the call went immediately to his answering service. As the morning flew by and became afternoon, she grew more concerned that she wouldn’t be able to catch him before he left the house to pick her up at her condo.
    She tried reaching him at the office, but when the message center picked up, she remembered Eli telling her that he’d given the secretaries the afternoon off. She left a message with the answering service but the operator couldn’t guarantee Eli would get it before Monday morning when the office staff returned and picked up messages.
    Frankie hated the thought that Eli might think she’d stood him up but couldn’t think of another way to reach him.
    Unless she could catch him on a job site, she thought with sudden inspiration.
    She collected her purse and left her office in Liberty Hall. She was fairly certain she knew the address of the Wolf Construction site not far from campus. She had no idea whether Eli would be there or not, but she hoped to find someone who could tell her how to contact him. Within ten minutes, after a wrong turn that had her backing out of a dead-end street, she found the site.
    The skeleton of what would become an upscale, five-story condo building rose in the air above her as she turned off the street and onto the bumpy dirt lot. Puddles of water left by the early morning downpour dotted the ground, and Frankie avoided them as best she could. Still, she knew her just-washed BMW would need another bath, and soon.
    A contractor’s trailer stood at the end of the lot, and several pickup trucks were parked in front of it, two of which had Wolf Construction logos on their doors. Frankie hoped that meant Eli was in the trailer, and she mentally crossed her fingers as she parked next to one of the trucks and got out.
    Skirting a muddy puddle, she climbed the two wooden steps and knocked on the metal trailer door.
    â€œCome in.”
    Frankie didn’t recognize the deep male voice, but nevertheless she pushed the door open and stepped inside, halting abruptly.
    Three men stood at a drafting table that was littered with blueprints and notes. A fourth man, his eyes bright blue in a lined face below a shock of white hair, sat in a battered office chair, one foot propped on the opposite knee as he leaned back.
    None of the four were Eli. All of them were big, broad and dressed alike in faded jeans, plaid flannel shirts and muddy work boots. And all of them watched her with alert male gazes.
    Frankie returned their interested stares with a friendly but reserved glance. She’d never met Eli’s brothers orhis grandfather, but the resemblance was unmistakable. These four had to be related to him.
    â€œHello. I’m looking for Eli Wolf.”
    â€œI’m his brother Connor,” one of three men at the table drawled. “You’re too pretty for Eli, honey. I’d be happy to help you—with whatever you need.”
    Taken aback, Frankie was speechless for only a second before the twinkle in Connor’s eye reassured her. She smiled. “Sorry—honey—but it’s Eli I need to find.”
    â€œSmart woman.”
    The deep, amused voice came from her left, and before Frankie could fully turn, Eli slipped an arm around her waist and bent to brush a quick kiss against her cheek.
    â€œHi, Frankie. What are you doing here?”
    â€œI’ve been trying to reach you, but you didn’t answer your cell phone,” she told him. “I have to go to a faculty cocktail party right after work, so I can’t make dinner at Harry’s tonight. I’m sorry to cancel so late, but my boss just informed me attendance is mandatory. Apparently, the department head wants to impress the university president with our show of