The Boss's Proposal by Kristin Hardy Read Free Book Online

“Don’t forget, weekends, too.”
    â€œWhat if I have plans?”
    â€œBreak them.” He grinned. “Until that proposal’s done, you and I are going steady.”
    â€œOh, goody. Do I get your letter jacket or your class ring? Or you could just give me back my painting.”
    â€œCan’t. It’s enjoying staying with me. I’ll let you visit it, though, if you’re good.”
    â€œI’ll pass.” Max reached for the mouse again. “We’ve got some meetings set up over at Portland General that should help us get a bead on what to deliver for the final proposal. Our in-house design review is next week, then we present the proposal and you do your rain dance.”
    He unbuttoned his cuffs and rolled them up. His forearms were sinewy and powerful, and as tan as the rest of him. Max dragged her gaze away.
    â€œWhat’s been done so far?” Dylan asked.
    â€œSome background work and preliminary design.
    I’ve made a list of some recent health care trends we’ll want to address and some code issues to keep in mind.” She opened up another folder. “We can run through some of our more recent layouts and what we sent in to make the short list. I can also show you Jeremy’s notes, if you like.”
    â€œDon’t worry about it. I’ve seen his work.”
    Max stopped and turned in her chair to look at him. “You know, I think I could actually grow to like you.”
    â€œAdmit it, you already do.”
    She felt a smile tug at the corners of her mouth. “Don’t get ahead of yourself. So, let’s see, we have a couple of preliminary floor plans in the works but they’re pretty much all variations on a theme—lab and diagnostic imaging on the ground floor, and outpatient treatment, including examination rooms, infusion and day surgery on the second floor. The patient rooms will be on the third floor, which will connect with the existing surgical ward in the main building. The fourth floor features offices with a rooftop garden.”
    He nodded, taking the mouse from her to roam around the various plans. He sat for a moment, drumming his fingers thoughtfully. “Do you have printouts of the drawings?”
    â€œOn the wall behind you.”
    Dylan crossed the office to pull them down, then laid them on the worktable. Max rose to join him.
    â€œComing to help?” he asked.
    â€œI’m the tour guide.” As she watched, he bent over the printout, one hand holding it in place, and began to draw red crosshatching over the rooms in the center of the floor plan.
    Without having spent more than five minutes looking at it, Max thought, feeling the quick whip of shock and irritation. Those plans represented months of work from the entire BRS team. If nothing else, they at least deserved a careful review before he made wholesale changes.
    â€œIf we pull all of this out of here, we can have an atrium at the entrance with a vaulted concourse that continues along the length of the addition,” Dylan explained, not noticing her reaction. “It’ll have seating groupings at a couple of points, maybe a water feature or two. Basically, it’ll function as an elongated lobby.”
    â€œAre you aware you just crossed out the recovery area for the day surgery center?” she asked, keeping her voice even.
    â€œSo we put it somewhere else.” He pulled the third floor plan over, then pushed it aside.
    â€œWhere, exactly, do you think that’s going to be? We’ve spent weeks on these plans. All the space is spoken for.”
    â€œSo we make trade-offs. You’re talking about the main entrance to a major medical center. It’s got towow them.” He found the floor plan for the ground level and attacked the entry area with careless red swipes. A sheaf of dark hair fell over his forehead and he pushed it back impatiently. “We also need a reception area and an information