One Shot At Love: A Billionaire Single Father Romance

by Weston Parker

  “What do you mean?” Kayla asked in surprise.

  “He’s been avoiding me, or something. I haven’t seen him. I mean, it hasn’t been very long, this all just happened on Wednesday. But Thursday, he barely gave me the time of day. And I didn’t see him at all yesterday. I don’t know if it’s the Ian thing or what.”

  Kayla frowned, considering her words carefully. “You have to remember that you’re the first woman he’s even looked at since Beth,” she finally said. “I mean, I think so anyway. I don’t know him all that well. No one does. Or not anymore; he used to be different, back before.” She shrugged. “But anyway, what does that have to do with Ian? Does he know about the two of you?”

  “Oh, he knows,” I said, rolling my eyes. “Or rather, he suspects a lot more is going on than there actually is. He caught us kissing and totally chewed me out for sleeping with one of my employees. I don’t know why he doesn’t just go back to Vegas anyway. He’s got shit to do with the casino there, I know it. And as much as I want him here, I just didn’t even expect he’d be able to take the time off for the holidays, and now he’s coming on so strong. You know?”

  Kayla looked uncomfortable, and I frowned at her. “What’s up?” I asked her. “What do you know?”

  Kayla shook her head but then sighed. “I didn’t want to say anything,” she said. “I wasn’t supposed to hear this. But he was talking to someone on speakerphone one day in your office and I went looking for you and happened to hear part of the conversation. Um.”

  “Go on,” I said, nodding encouragingly, even as my mind was reeling through different scenarios as to what she might have heard.

  “Honestly, it sounds like things with the casino aren’t going so well at the moment,” Kayla finally said, and I could tell she was definitely reluctant to tell me anything.

  As for me, I was shocked. “How is that possible?” I asked. “I mean, I’m not part of the company anymore. I still have some investments there, I guess, but I don’t follow all the news. But when I left, things were on the up-and-up. Getting better all the time.” I frowned, still puzzling over this news. Kayla must not have heard right, though. She had misunderstood something. “What exactly did they say?”

  Kayla made a face and then shrugged. “Honestly, it sounded like Ian’s made some really bad calls with the company. Like he’s buttered up the wrong people and that sort of thing. I don’t know. But you may want to check with the casinos and just, I don’t know, make sure everything is going okay.”

  I shook my head. “I can’t do that,” I groaned. “Not after I was so adamant that Ian had to stay out of my own business and quit checking up on me.”

  “That’s your call,” Kayla said. “Just, I don’t know if Ian is really here just because he wants to check up on you. And if he’s been a little intense lately, there may be a reason for it. I guess. I don’t know. But you may want to talk to him, at least.”

  I snorted. “I can just imagine how that conversation would go,” I said, thinking it over. No, Ian would never suffer to let me ask how the casino business was really going. And if I said anything about this supposed phone call, he would totally fly off the handle.

  Besides, Ian couldn’t really be doing as badly as Kayla seemed to think. He had had quite a bit of responsibility in the company even before Dad passed away, and he wouldn’t have changed anything too radically since the funeral. I didn’t think so, anyway. Kayla must have just misunderstood something about the conversation.

  Although, she was right. If Ian wasn’t doing well with the casinos, it could explain a lot of his behavior lately. The way he felt he needed to take over here, like he had something to prove. The way he felt the need to assert his position as my older brother and protector. The snippiness with everyone, from myself to Adam to other people around the resort. The fact that it didn’t seem like he really had a timeline on his return to Vegas.

  So many things that could be explained away if the casinos weren’t doing well. But no, it couldn’t be that. He was just trying to help me out, and coming on a bit too strong in the process. He had chilled out the past few days, and things were going to get better from here. I firmly believed that.

  36

  Adam

  By midway through the next week, I could barely believe that I had thought I was all caught up on my duties, enough so that I had been able to take last Saturday off. Once the tourists had really started arriving in droves, it seemed like everything went to hell, and fast. From blown lightbulbs to malfunctioning appliances, from finicky lifts to broken snowmobile belts, it seemed like every time I turned around, there was something else wrong.

  Right now, it was the lights in one of the conference rooms. We were due to have a group of ski instructors from all around the country convene in there that afternoon for some indoor training followed by outdoor training the next three days. But at the moment, half the lights weren’t working. I finally managed to narrow it down to the fact that one of the bulbs had blown; apparently, this place was wired like a Christmas tree so that if one bulb went out, the rest wouldn’t light either.

  Stupid lighting. I made a mental note to put it on my long-term task list, but I knew that I probably wouldn’t get to something like that until the resort shut down in the spring. Too much traffic in the conference rooms otherwise, and the last thing I needed was to blow the electricity in half the lodge while I fiddled around with rewiring.

  I carefully pulled down the blown bulb and set it off to the side, wiping my hands off on my jeans before reaching for the new bulb. I frowned down at the box and then shook my head. I had been surprised to see the new bulbs that had been put away in the supply closet, and not just because my whole system was screwed up. But these were much nicer bulbs than normal, and from a different company than we normally stocked them from.

  Curious, I had looked at the sign-off for the order and saw that Ian was responsible for them.

  But hey, it wasn’t my job to say anything. My job was just to get those lightbulbs fixed as needed. So that’s what I did right now. I was just coming down the ladder to try the lights when Bailey walked in. For a moment, I froze, startled. But then, I forced myself to smile at her. Whatever else had gone on between us, she was still my boss.

  “Just getting these lights working for this afternoon,” I told her, gesturing up towards the ceiling. “You mind hitting that third switch from the left?”

  Bailey hit the switch, and all the lights in the room came on. I nodded. “All set,” I said, putting the old bulb into the box that the new bulb had come in. “You getting everything set up for this afternoon?”

  Bailey shook her head, coming over and hopping up on a table near me, studying me. “You’ve been avoiding me,” she said.

  I raised an eyebrow at her. “I’m right here,” I pointed out. “I’m not hiding.” That didn’t exactly counter her accusation, but what was I supposed to say? The truth was I hadn’t exactly been avoiding her. But I had definitely been keeping to myself over the past few days. It was just easier that way. I had a lot to focus on, and I was trying not to get too wrapped up in my thoughts about her.

  Because the truth was, the more I tried to stay away from Bailey, the more I just wanted to see her again. I wanted to take her out to dinner again, I wanted to have that ski date with her and Ethan like we had talked about. There was so much that I wanted. But I couldn’t have any of that. Not while Ian was here, and not after he went back to Vegas either.

  He had been right. Bailey and I just weren’t meant for one another. And I wasn’t about to commit to something that could never last. Bailey just didn’t understand what she was getting into in the first place. She was just having a little fun, playing as the owner of a ski resort, but then she would eventually leave. I couldn’t let myself go to pieces when she left. I couldn’t let her play with my heart like that.

  “It’s been really busy,” I said to Bailey, to cover up the accusatory silence she was fixing me with. I gestured towa
rds the lights. “Think this is the fifth project I’ve finished up this morning, actually.”

  Bailey sighed. “I know it’s been busy. But how many times do I have to remind you that I can help out with some of this stuff? Changing lightbulbs is in my wheelhouse.”

  “Sure, but I didn’t know that it was a blown bulb when I first came in here,” I said, shrugging one shoulder. “Anyway, I’m not sure you could have reached these ones, even on a ladder. They’re pretty high up there.”

  “Ian could have,” Bailey maintained stubbornly. “You could have told me what needed to be done and I could have found someone to do it.”

  “I’ll keep that in mind,” I said, even though I knew that I would never ask for her to get me help, no matter how long my list of tasks got. “How long is Ian sticking around, anyway?”

  Bailey sighed and shrugged, kicking her feet a little. “I honestly don’t know,” she said. “Why, is he still giving you a hard time?”

  “No,” I said, shaking my head. Now that it was clear to him that I wasn’t pursuing his little sister anymore, Ian had kept his distance. He hadn’t gone back to being friendly with me, but he at least wasn’t seeking me out to have words with me about how my job was just one step up from a plumber’s.

  “That’s good,” Bailey said. “He’s quit interfering in the business too, so I don’t know, I’m kind of just enjoying having him around.”

  I raised an eyebrow at her. I hadn’t intended to say anything to her about the more expensive lights, but Ian had just signed off on them a couple days ago. It didn’t really sound like he was keeping from interfering in the business.

  “What’s that look for?” Bailey asked, while I was still trying to figure out a tactful way to tell her that.

  I shrugged and held up the box. “These lights are way more expensive than what we normally order, and they weren’t ordered in bulk through the supplier we normally use,” I finally told her. “Ian’s the one who signed off on them, just a few days ago. I don’t know where he got them from or anything.”

  Bailey made a face. “Seriously?” Then, she shook her head. “Thanks for telling me.” She paused. “Adam, you know – “

  Whatever she was going to say, I could tell that it wasn’t about the lightbulbs, or about her brother. I quickly interrupted her. “You know, I have a bunch of other things on my list for this afternoon. But I’ll definitely let you know if I need help with any of it.”

  Bailey frowned at me and stood in front of me as I started to make a hasty exit. “Wait,” she said imperiously. “Look, I get that you don’t want to talk to me about this” – she gestured between the two of us – “here, but we clearly need to talk. Let’s go to dinner tonight.”

  “I’m not sure I can do that,” I said quickly, shaking my head. “I have to get Ethan. And I promised him that we would have, um, pizza for dinner.” I knew that Bailey would hear the hesitation, that she wouldn’t believe me.

  And sure enough, she stared at me for a moment, and I could practically see her discard all the different things that she wanted to say to me. Finally, she shook her head a little. “Can you ask your father to watch him for the evening?” she asked. “I’m not really asking you. I’m telling you, as your boss, that we are having dinner together tonight.”

  I stared at her for a moment, wanting to protest. But really, what was I supposed to say? If I told her that it was short notice and that I couldn’t do it tonight, then she would ask me about tomorrow or the next night. I was going to have to have this conversation with her at some point; I couldn’t put it off forever.

  Besides, there was a part of me that wanted to hear her out. To hear what she was thinking about this whole thing. Why was she still so concerned about if I was avoiding her or not? Hadn’t she woken up to realize how wrong we were for one another yet? There was a part of me that just wanted to spend more time with her. Surely Ian couldn’t be upset about it if she was the one insisting that I go to dinner with her. After all, if she was invoking the fact that she was my boss, who knew what the consequences could be otherwise. She might even fire me.

  I hoped that that wasn’t what she was thinking, but I didn’t want to ask her about it. Anyway, asking her what the consequences would be would only make her more certain that I was avoiding her for some reason. I didn’t want to upset her.

  I doubted Ian would care about my reasons for going, though. He would rather I was fired, anyway; he had made that clear when he tried to hire a maintenance company to replace me before. So that meant that if I didn’t deal with Bailey tonight, I’d be stuck avoiding her retribution later in the week, but if I did go to dinner with her tonight, I’d have to face up to Ian again. Catch-22.

  But Bailey nodded at me, as though things were decided. “I’ll see you later,” she said, turning to walk out of the conference room while I just stared after her.

  I sighed and ran a hand back through my hair. Then, I pulled out my phone and called Dad. “Hey, I was wondering if you could watch Ethan for a little longer tonight,” I said. “Sorry, but I have a work thing that I have to attend.” I didn’t want to tell him that I was going to dinner with Bailey.

  I still remembered his conversation with me last weekend, about how I should apologize to Bailey and make things right with her. He was clearly rooting for things to work out between the two of us. I didn’t want to tell him about the real problem, the fact that Bailey was so far out of my league, the fact that as Ian had pointed out, she deserved much better than me. Dad had always been glad that I took to skiing when I was a young kid, but I think sometimes he wished that I had been a little less interested in it, that I had managed to start a better life for myself. I didn’t want him to remind me that I was smart, that I could have done anything with my life.

  This was the life that I wanted. Beth had always accepted that. I had never had a problem providing for Ethan, and I liked my job a hell of a lot more than I would have liked some office job. If this meant that I couldn’t have Bailey, then I supposed that was the price that I had to pay.

  Not a conversation I wanted to have with Dad. But he took what I said at face value. “No problem,” he said. “I’ll get him fed and everything, and if you’re late getting back home, I’ll make sure his homework’s all done and that he gets to bed early.”

  “Perfect,” I said, even though there was a part of me that almost wished he would say he couldn’t watch Ethan that night and that I would just have to come straight home. I knew, logically, that that wouldn’t solve anything. Bailey would just want to see me on a different night if I put forth that excuse. But it would have given me more time to think about what I was going to say to her.

  I needed to just pretend like everything was normal, I decided. Like I hadn’t been avoiding her. But like our one night together had been just that; one night together. This was a ski town full of seasonal workers. There was no ‘forever’ here.

  “I’ll be home as early as I can,” I promised Dad before hanging up. I forced myself to go about my afternoon tasks as though the conversation with Bailey had never happened, as though the thought of dinner with Bailey that night wasn’t hanging over me with every new thing that I did.

  I just had to act normal. Do my best to keep my job, and hope that it all worked out in the end.

  37

  Bailey

  I glumly walked back to my office on Wednesday afternoon. I had really hoped that Adam would agree to dinner with me without me having to invoke rank. But it was hard not to see his hesitation as just another sign that he wanted nothing to do with me anymore. I didn’t know where things had gone wrong, but he was definitely avoiding me. I had barely seen him since we had slept together, and I didn’t know what to do about that.

  Of course, there wasn’t really any reason for our paths to cross regularly around the resort. He didn’t need me around to keep him on track with work. That’s what Gretchen was for. And he certainly didn’t need my help, even though I could tell that he was d
riving himself into the ground with each passing day. He had too much on his plate, and I almost wished that I hadn’t stopped Ian from hiring that maintenance crew to help him out.

  But until he told me that he couldn’t keep up with all his work, there wasn’t much that I could do about it.

  I was sure that he and I needed to have a little talk, though. I just didn’t understand what had gone wrong. I had thought, last Wednesday night, that things were good between the two of us. And it wasn’t even that I was that desperate to have sex with him again. I just wanted to make sure that he was okay. Something was off, and I wanted to know what it was.

  I hadn’t worked so hard to get him to open up to me just to ignore him as soon as he shut me out again.

  For now, I headed back to my office, resigned to my apparent afternoon task; going through the expenses and seeing what the hell Ian had been up to. That didn’t cheer me up at all either.

  I had thought that Ian was keeping out of my business here. He was still hanging around, and he wasn’t skiing all day every day. It wasn’t like I was going to kick him out, though. I still hadn’t talked to him about Vegas. I still hadn’t done what Kayla had recommended and talked to other people who still worked for the casinos to see what was up.

  Was it possible that Ian had screwed things up there and was basically in exile here? Sure. But I doubted it. He was just hanging out until the new year really got under way. That was all. It had to be.

  But I hadn’t realized he was actually still meddling in anything to do with the ski resort. Adam wasn’t the only person to mention certain strange purchases that had been made, though. I wanted to get to the bottom of it. Now.