“Well, if you change your mind, tomorrow it’s at eight a.m. downstairs, or anytime in your room if you tell me ahead of time.” She snapped her fingers. “Before I forget to say it . . . you’re already good luck for us. I have another guest checking in today. No one for months, and now two.”
Nicolette tensed. Please don’t let it be Delinda. “Another guest, that’s great. Who is it?”
“A man from New York. I’ve never heard of him, but he’s in the area on business, something about scoping out potential sites for his robotics company. Imagine that—imagine if we had a big business relocate to our area? That’s what we need—jobs. And he’s staying here. Thank God you are, too. Do you think you could schmooze him a little? I should ask Bruce to keep Tera away for a couple of days.”
“No, you shouldn’t. Your niece is a hoot. And I can’t imagine a child could say anything that would sway a businessman one way or the other.”
Paisley chewed her lip nervously. “You’re right. I don’t want you to think I don’t adore Tera. It’s just that she can be a handful. This is important.”
“Be yourself, Paisley. Whoever this guy is, he puts his pants on one leg at a time just like us.”
“You’re so calm.” The woman swallowed visibly.
“People are people, right?” Nicolette joked, and a smile returned to Paisley’s face.
“I’m sure he has a Realtor to show him around the factory. All you’d have to do is make MacAuley sound like a good place. People with money listen to people with money.”
“I don’t—” She almost said she didn’t have money, but the truth wouldn’t help Paisley or her town. The Westerly name did carry some weight. Could it help MacAuley? Would using it for good be the ultimate act of hypocrisy? “I look forward to meeting him.”
“He’s arriving soon.” Paisley was still smiling, oblivious to where Nicolette’s thoughts had gone. “Our luck is finally turning around. I can feel it.”
The yearning in Paisley touched Nicolette’s heart. A factory opening in MacAuley would mean jobs. Jobs meant income. Income meant that people would move back to the area. It was a much more powerful solution than trying to draw the attention of a few tourists. “I was planning to meet Mrs. Nelson, but I can do that afterward. She offered me a tour. Do you think she’d like to give him one as well?”
“I’m sure she would, and that would be perfect. Oh God, look at the time. I need to finish setting up his room. And decide on dinner. I was nervous enough when it was just you.” Paisley rushed over and swept Nicolette into a hug. “I’ve got a really good feeling about this. Thank you.” With that, she bolted back into the hallway.
“I haven’t done anything yet,” Nicolette said to an empty office.
She headed to the kitchen and stopped. I should have asked Paisley if she minds if I rummage through the fridge on my own. Her stomach rumbled again. I’m sure it’ll be okay. She made herself a sandwich and salad, poured herself a glass of water, and headed out of the kitchen with her lunch. She was standing in the hallway, debating if taking her food out onto the porch would require a light jacket or if the fall day would be warm enough for a T-shirt.
A knock at the door was followed by a ring of the doorbell. Nicolette was in the process of hunting for a place to put down her plate when Paisley sprinted by her.
“I’ll get it,” she said. “That must be him. Bruce was supposed to call me.” She shook her head in frustration, smoothed down her apron, and squared her shoulders, then looked pointedly at Nicolette’s food.
“Oh, right.” Nicolette stashed her plate and glass on a table in a room just off the hall, then went to stand beside Paisley, who still hadn’t opened the door. She put a hand on her arm. “It’ll be fine. You have a beautiful place and a great little town. He’s going to love both.”
With a nod and then a brave smile, Paisley threw open the door. “Mr. Taunton, welcome to Paisley’s B & B. I’m Paisley. But you probably guessed that. Did Bruce find you? Of course he did, or you wouldn’t be here, would you?” She came to a nervous stop and glanced at Nicolette for support.
Unfortunately, Nicolette was still trying to come to terms with the fact that the man Paisley wanted her to schmooze was someone she thought she’d never see again—the same man her mother had warned her about.
And sober Nicolette found him just as good looking as drunk Nicolette had. Could a man be beautiful? He was, with the kind of perfect, chiseled features that any artist would appreciate. What is he doing here?
How did he find me?
Alessandro?
His evil, revenge-plotting father?
Nicolette shook her head at that last thought.
Whatever had brought him to MacAuley, she was pretty damn sure it hadn’t been a desire to look at an abandoned factory. Even while part of her reveled in the idea that he hadn’t forgotten her, another part of her resented his intrusion.
He’d lied to Paisley and built up her hopes needlessly. Now, instead of enjoying getting to see MacAuley and meeting the locals, Nicolette’s day already needed damage control.
“Please, call me Bryant. And your brother very kindly offered me a ride, but I had already arranged for a car.” Dressed in dark slacks and a black button-down shirt, he was an unwelcome, dangerously handsome sight. His gaze locked with Nicolette’s, and for a heartbeat he looked guilty as sin before smiling like a man who was used to being easily forgiven.
Bastard. If this is some kind of game to him, he does not know who he is messing with.
“What a surprise to see you again, Bryant.”
Paisley’s head snapped back and forth. “You know each other?”
“We’ve met,” Nicolette said in a tight tone.
“That’s great,” Paisley said with some uncertainty.
“It is.” Bryant stepped into the house and placed a suitcase beside the door. “An unexpected pleasure.”
“Unexpected for sure. It feels like I just saw you.”
“Feels the same for me.”
When Paisley closed the door, Nicolette caught a glimpse of her worried expression, and her stomach twisted painfully. Anger and frustration washed over her. I thought you were a good guy. What are you doing here, Mr. Taunton?
She forced a bright smile. “I was just about to have lunch. Would you like to go out somewhere, Bryant? Get something to eat in town?”
So I can get the truth.
And you can learn what I really think of your arrival.
“Great idea. I’m starving,” Bryant said, feeling pretty good about how his plan was rolling out. Like Alessandro, he wasn’t a good liar and had been taken by surprise when the owner of the bed-and-breakfast had asked him what was bringing him to MacAuley. He’d said looking at local abandoned manufacturing sites just to say something, not because he had any interest in them. No harm done. People considered property all the time with no expectation of a deal coming from it.
Nothing he’d read in the background checks had raised red flags, nor had anything he’d seen on the drive in. The town appeared safe enough, if a little outdated. The same could be said for the bed-and-breakfast. Both felt stuck in an earlier time. Still, nothing to imply that Nicolette was in any danger. He wouldn’t be satisfied, though, until he got a better sense of the people she’d connected with in MacAuley.
On the good side, she was taking his arrival better than he’d expected. Alessandro had said she’d turned off her phone. For all he knew, she might not have even seen his message.
“I’ll take your things to your room,” Paisley said.
“Oh, I can do that.” Bryant bent to pick his bag back up, but Paisley snatched it from him.
“No, go and have lunch. I was just finishing up your room anyway. Everything will be all set by the time you get back.”
“Thanks,” Bryant said absently. His attention was riveted to the brief displeasure that crossed Nicolette’s face before she smiled and waved goodbye to Paisley. Had he imagined it? He followed Nicolett
e down the steps, held open the car door for her, then slid into the driver’s seat, buckled in, and started the engine. “So where would you like to go?”
She folded her arms across her chest. “Do I look stupid to you?”
Uh-oh. He hadn’t made it to the age of thirty without learning what that tone meant. “No.”
“Then let’s drop the story of how meeting me here was a coincidence.”
“Alessandro asked me to check in on you.” Bryant braced himself for her response.
She let out a harsh sigh. “Alessandro? Why?”
“He’s worried about you. When you skip out the way you did, you can’t expect no one to be concerned.”
She turned to look out her window, waved at Paisley, who had come out onto the porch of the B & B, and said, “Could you please drive away before she comes down to ask us if there is a problem?”
“Sure.” He pulled onto the road. “I’ll just pick a direction, and we can stop at the first restaurant we come across.”
He glanced at her while he drove. If looks could kill, he would have been dead already.
“Just pull over. We’re not actually going anywhere.”
He did, then turned to face her. “You’re obviously upset.”
She threw a hand up. “Damn straight I am. I want to help this town. I have a plan to. You coming here is messing that up.”
“I don’t understand.”
She pinned him with her gaze. “Tell me, are you seriously looking into purchasing property and potentially relocating some of your business here?”
Okay, this was awkward. “No.”
Nicolette leaned forward and covered her face with her hands. “I knew it. I’m the opposite of a good-luck charm. I don’t know if you’re here because you like me, or because Alessandro really sent you, or for some other nefarious reason, and I’m not sure I care.”
Bryant drummed his fingers on the steering wheel while he unpacked all she’d said. “The truth matters. At least, it should.”
“Says the man who lied about why he’s here.”
Damn, she sliced through bull like a hot blade through butter. Another man might have found it intimidating, but Bryant liked that she didn’t cut him any slack or worry about impressing him. “Nefarious? Is that the impression I left you with?”
She shook her head. “No, I don’t know why I said that. I just don’t understand what you’re doing here or the reason for your cover story.”
“Full disclosure, it all started with that red dress. I haven’t been able to get you out of my head since.”
She turned in her seat to face him. “Did you seriously just say you flew to Iowa because of what I wore to the wedding?”
The sizzle in the air told him he wouldn’t get smacked for the truth. “It was one hell of a dress.”
She choked on what he hoped was a laugh. “Well, I’m sorry to disappoint you, but it didn’t even belong to me.” She took in her jeans and T-shirt with a wave of her hand. “This is what I normally wear.”
His grin only widened. “Not disappointed.”
She folded her arms across her chest. “I don’t care.” The flush on her cheeks belied her words.
“While we’re sharing openly, you’re fucking hot when you lose your temper. I’m not suggesting you wouldn’t benefit from an anger-management course, just saying it’s a good look.”
She frowned. “Are you trying to piss me off?”
No, he was trying to get her to laugh, but it was no easy feat. “Would you believe that I’m doing it with absolutely no effort?”
“You’re an ass,” she said, but there was something in her eyes that told him he was gaining ground.
“Maybe, but at least you don’t have to wonder what I’m thinking. Whoops, there, I just pictured you naked. Now what were we talking about? Quick, before . . . Oh, damn, I just did it again. It’s difficult to sit this close to you and concentrate.”
A corner of her mouth twitched as if she was about to smile. “Not funny.”
He was close to winning, and it had his blood pumping. “Not even a little? Oh, crap. In that one you were in the buff, but your skin was green. I must be watching too much sci-fi.”
This time she did smile. “Green, huh?”
He reached out and touched her cheek gently. “You are stunning when you’re angry, but when you smile—I can hardly breathe.”
“Bullshit,” she said, but didn’t pull back from his touch.
He took her hand and laid it flat on his chest. “Feel that? It hasn’t done that since high school.”
“What—beat?” she asked, but her own breathing was becoming less even.
I shouldn’t do this—it’s not why I’m here, but she’s hell on my resolve. “No, try to leap out of my chest. I knew you’d be trouble.”
She pulled her hand free. “I wouldn’t be if you hadn’t followed me here.”
“Or if you hadn’t asked me on a date.”
“I didn’t.”
There was a spark in her eyes when he riled her up and when they flirted. He was willing to do more of both if it kept the sadness from her expression. “You did ask me to lunch.”
“Because I wanted to get you alone.”
“Exactly.”
Her bottom lip jutted out just a little, a hint of what he’d seen from drunken Nicolette, and it was adorable. “Not like that.”
“Then you told me to pull over. I know this is awkward to discuss, but I don’t want you to think I’m easy.”
He wondered if she knew she was smiling even as she narrowed her eyes. “Your virtue is safe with me.”
Time to go in for the kill. “Now, if you want to fuck tomorrow, I’d be fine with it.”
A reluctant chuckle rang out of her. “Good to know.” Then her expression sobered as she shut him out again.
A short silence followed.
Bryant spoke first. “What are you thinking?”
Alessandro’s words came back to Bryant then. “She needs someone on her side, someone she can trust.”
I want to be that person. “All joking aside, you have no reason to trust me, Nicolette, but I’m a pretty decent guy. Not perfect. My friends would tell you that I work too much, forgive too easily, and my poker face is absolute shit—but at the end of the day, they’re willing to overlook all that, because when I care about something or someone, I’m all in. Right now, I don’t know you very well. I have no idea what you’re doing out here, but if there’s a way I can help you with it, all you have to do is ask. Tell me to leave and I’ll go, or let me in and watch the magic begin.”
“Magic?” She withdrew behind cynicism again.
“How else would you describe the way everything changes when two people start caring about the same thing? Things start happening. Barriers fall away. More people join the cause, and suddenly the impossible is a reality. Magic.”
“Is this the bullshit that usually gets you laid?”
He grinned. “Normally all I have to do is show up, but get your mind out of the gutter. I’m sharing a life philosophy with you. Good things happen when you realize you’re not alone.”
She turned away.
He started the engine and pulled out onto the road. “Let’s get something to eat.”
“You still want to go to lunch?” She gave him a confused look that was priceless.
“Don’t you?”
“I don’t understand what is happening here.”
He wiggled his eyebrows. Her eyes narrowed. “You’re looking for deeper?”
She clasped her hands on her lap. “So I’m a challenge to you?”
If she needed more, he’d give it to her. “What if I told you that I’ve been where you are, and I’m paying forward what someone else did for me.”
She turned to look out the window. “Where I am? You don’t know anything about me.”
“So let’s change that.”
They rode for about a mile without speaking. When they came across a diner, he pulle
d into its parking lot. It was blue and silver with frosted glass squares in place of solid walls. Nondescript and familiar all at once. “If you want me to drive you back to the bed-and-breakfast, I will.” He released his seat belt and turned toward her. “Or let’s go eat, because I’d love to hear about what you’re working on and anything else you want to share.”
When her eyes met his again, they burned with whatever was tormenting her. “Because you want to help me?”
Nicolette didn’t give a man an inch, but that was okay. Bryant wasn’t a man who required the easier road. Life wasn’t easy. It was often harshly unfair, but how a person responded to adversity spoke to their character. That belief was the cause of the rift between Bryant and his father. His father had stood by his wife during the first part of her fight with cancer, but when she’d been diagnosed as terminal, he’d retreated, claiming it was too hard to watch the woman he loved suffer and waste away.
Bryant knew the truth—the fate of the family business trumped the fate of the family.
His father’s greatest achievement was the rebuilding of the Taunton fortune, but it should have been learning how to bathe his wife so Bryant and strangers wouldn’t have had to. Hard to see his wife’s beauty and health waste away? For Bryant, the harder-to-stomach sight for his father should have been looking at himself in the mirror.
Alessandro had asked Bryant to make sure Nicolette was safe. Bryant was there to protect her, but she was also hot as hell, and that was messing with his head.
“I never thanked you for taking me home,” she said, pulling him back to the present. “That whole night wasn’t one I’m particularly proud of.”
“We’ve all been there at one time or another. As long as it doesn’t hit social media, it never happened, right?”
“I like that.” She smiled briefly, then was quiet for a moment. “I know I have everyone back home worried, but this was actually a good move for me. I’ve been traveling so much this past year and working on things that often didn’t go anywhere. It was time to reassess and make some changes in my life. When I got an email from Paisley asking if I could photograph the town and build a website for them to help bring tourism here, it was something concrete I felt I could do.”
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