Don't Marry Your Contractor*

Chapter 15 - Take Your Girlfriend to Work Day

Present Day:

On an early spring morning, Charlotte awoke from a deep sleep to the sound of the shower. She reached over and felt the warm place in the bed recently vacated by her lover. She turned over, put a pillow over her head and tried to get back to sleep. Charlotte must've dozed off again and then woke as Justin turned off the light and left the en suite. Charlotte removed the pillow and smiled at Justin. "Sorry J. Was way late last night, just got in a couple of hours ago."

He walked over to the bed and kissed her on the cheek. "Sorry for waking you, go back to sleep, babe."

She looked up in the dim light and noticed that Justin was actually wearing a tie. "Right, that big meeting you told me about."

He nodded. "Right, and I most definitely don't want to be late. I'll call you later."

Charlotte smiled, put the pillow back over her head and was asleep almost instantly. She slept for a few more hours and finally got up just after 10 AM. She showered and changed into jeans and a comfortable T-shirt and went into the kitchen. As she was making coffee, Charlotte noticed that the table was still set complete with candles, wineglasses, and the nice dishes she had inherited from her grandmother. The night before she was supposed to have been home by 5 PM and Justin had come over and was going to prepare a nice romantic meal for the two of them. He had previously mentioned that there were a couple of important things he wanted to talk to her about. Unfortunately, between some aircraft maintenance issues in Los Angeles and bad weather in Seattle, she didn't make it back to Boise until well after midnight.

Charlotte sipped her coffee, started a load of laundry and took care of a couple of other domestic chores. At just after 11 AM her phone alerted with a text from Justin.

//C. Meeting went great. I got the house on Warm Springs! Meet me there and I'll show you the plan. I'll take you for a late lunch. Have resv at Cottonwood Grill at 130. J//

Charlotte immediately returned the text.

//Awesome J! I'll meet you there in 45. ❤C//

Charlotte finished her coffee while wolfing down a granola bar and some melon to hold her over until lunch. She then put the laundry in the dryer and went to her room to change into something nice. The Cottonwood Grill was right on the Riverwalk and catered to a fairly high-end business crowd during the week and families who went there after church and the like. For some reason, she was feeling sexy and put on a nice knee-length green strapless dress which equally showed off her nice legs and bare shoulders. She also put on her mother's old hand-made leather thong necklace and tucked the gold nugget between her breasts. She locked the house, went to the detached garage and got into the 1964 Mustang she had inherited from her grandfather. Luckily, it was just warm enough to leave the top down which she did. Charlotte drove the back way from the North End, past old Fort Boise, the massive St. Luke's hospital complex and finally onto Warm Springs Blvd. That street was named for the geothermal hot Springs that heated most of the houses on it for over 100 years.

The old Victorian mansion Justin had just purchased was easy to spot as it had a fanciful three-story turret with a million-dollar 360-degree view of downtown Boise, the State Capital, the nearby foothills and even a bit of the Boise River. Justin was standing at his truck with a big smile on his face. Charlotte parked the Mustang behind Justin's Ford and got out. He took a long look. "Wow, must be my lucky day a beautiful babe in a hot car, or is it a hot babe in a beautiful car?"

Charlotte rolled her eyes but very much enjoyed the compliment. She had worked very hard to restore that car after all. "Hi J. You look pretty nice yourself. Guess you wowed those bankers with your killer smile and savvy business plan."