“No. I just assumed he’d be on-site since he owns the property.” My stomach churned. What if I got it all wrong and Andrew Hanes was no longer the principal on the project? If he lost interest, he might have sold the land to another interested third party. Thanks to my degree in journalism, I was an ace researcher, but shit always happened the second you closed the book or logged off your computer. I might have blinked and missed a pivotal switch.

One of the men, a silver fox who’d probably be played by Gregory Harrison in the Autumn in Pleasant Hollow movie adaptation, nodded. “Andrew Hanes is definitely the man in charge.”

My shoulders relaxed.

“But he’s not here.”

The tension returned.

“A project in upstate New York doesn’t rate high enough for Hanes’s in-person presence, but his project manager—we call him Mini Andrew—is in there.” He gestured to a white mobile office trailer parked about two hundred feet away.

I’d have preferred an interview with Hanes himself, but I could make do with his project manager. “Great. Thank—”

“Do you have an appointment?”

I crossed my arms over my chest. “Are you his assistant?” I doubted it since his hard hat said FOREMAN.

“Not a chance,” he answered with a smirk.

“His bodyguard?”

“Does he need one?”

I chuckled as he gave me a once-over in a strictly teasing and not-at-all-douchey way. “He might, but definitely not to protect him from me.”

“Okay then. Go get ’im…what did you say your name was?”

Already on my way, I glanced over my shoulder. “I didn’t!” I smiled at the laughter I left in my wake.

When I reached the trailer, I climbed the four steps to the entrance and paused with my knuckles inches from the door. My hands shook as I removed my ruled notebook with my interview questions from my purse. What was I so afraid of? It wasn’t the first interview I’d ever conducted, and my interviewee wasn’t Stacey Abrams, Joe Biden, or anyone intimidating for that matter. It wasn’t even Andrew Hanes on the other side of the door. It was his lackey! My pulse slowed. I had this. I so had this. Before this newfound confidence slipped away, I double-checked the pen was in place within the spiral-bound spine of my notebook and knocked three times.

“Come in.”

There was no backing down now. I stepped inside and nearly stumbled at the sight before me.

Chapter Nine

Chapter Nine

Finn?”

“Adina. What are you doing here?”

“You’re Mini Andrew?” I said, stating the obvious while willing my knees to be still.

He chuckled. “I see you’ve met the construction staff.”

“Why didn’t you say something?”

“You didn’t ask.” His grin could be showcased in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary under the word “cocky.”