One Shot At Love: A Billionaire Single Father Romance

by Weston Parker

  I poured over the business receipts, growing more and more upset and worried. Adam was exactly right; the new lightbulbs that had been ordered had been extremely expensive compared to the ones that we normally bought. I knew that he had used at least one of them already, and I wondered about the rest of them. Was there any chance that we could send them back?

  Probably not.

  There were also a couple new cappuccino machines. Some new merchandise from a different supplier than we usually worked with. A bunch of little things that added up to one big chunk of our profit that had been eaten up. And sure, it had been an amazing year thus far. But because of that, we had already planned a bunch of improvement projects that all our extra profit would be going towards. Given that some of those projects had already been announced to our season pass holders, we couldn’t really go back on any of that now.

  And anyway, Ian had no right to be ordering all of this stuff and making all of these changes. I sat there fuming over it for a moment and then stalked off to go find him and drag him back to my office. I almost wanted to ream him out in front of everyone, just so that everyone would know that he had no right to be doing any of the stuff that he’d been doing lately.

  But this was my brother, and I couldn’t do that to him. Besides, most of the people out in the lodge at the moment were our customers, getting ready to head home for the day, taking their boots off and sipping at warm-up hot chocolates. I didn’t want to cause a scene in front of all of them.

  Put simply, though, I was livid. “What the hell have you been doing with my business?” I snapped the moment the door was closed behind the two of us.

  Ian raised an eyebrow at me. “Your business?” he echoed.

  “Yes, my business,” I snarled. “I’m the one who bought this place, remember? And I thought you understood that I didn’t want you involved in it anymore.”

  Ian sighed. “Come on, Bailey. I’m just trying to help.”

  “Help with what, exactly?” I asked archly. “Driving us into bankruptcy?”

  Ian snorted. “Don’t be dramatic. I haven’t done that much. I just thought this place could do with a few changes. They’re all things that you can easily afford. Don’t worry, I crunched the numbers on all of it.”

  I shook my head. “Ian, we can’t afford all of this,” I said. “I know it’s been a good year for us, but that doesn’t mean that we can spend every dollar that we earn.”

  “I know you’re worried that next year won’t be as good, but that’s even more reason to make some changes now,” Ian explained. “What you’re worried about is that the skiing won’t be as good, so you won’t get as many skier visits. Right? So all you need to worry about is getting people out to the resort either way. Give them reasons to come here. If you put in some nicer lights in the conference rooms, you could hold more business meetings here, or small-scale conventions, or even wedding receptions. Serve up some better food and drinks in the lodge and suddenly you’re a high-class restaurant with an awesome view out the windows, designed to appeal to anyone in town rather than just skiers.”

  I stared at him as though he had sprouted a second head. “That’s not what this place is, though,” I said. “This is a ski resort. And sure, we want to have restaurants and the condos and stuff like that, but we’re not trying to draw businessmen in here. We’re trying to draw in skiers. Through improvements that directly benefit the skiers here.”

  It shouldn’t be that hard for him to understand, I didn’t think.

  Ian shrugged, though. “Yeah, well, you’ve said yourself that it’s a good winter. Lots of profit already. So you can do a little bit of both. Improve the base area that you’ve already got, and put some of the extra money towards improving the skiing experience. Although I don’t really know what you’re going to do there. It’s not like you can get approved for expansions or any of that in a year.”

  “There’s plenty of other stuff that we can improve beyond expansions,” I snapped, because I had been through all of this with various personnel at the mountain. We had already brainstormed and come up with some long-term goals as well as short-term goals. That was part of the problem with Ian just spending money left and right; we had already figured out right where we wanted out money going. And it wasn’t to cappuccino machines and fancy lightbulbs.

  “Okay, but you’ve got a lot of money to throw around. Better to reinvest it than just pocket it. That’s just common business sense.”

  “Yeah, but the thing is, even if we’re turning a huge profit right now, we kind of have to,” I reminded Ian. “This is the busy time of the year. But half the profit we’re making right now is earmarked for some lift improvements next summer as well as just keeping us operating through the summer as a sightseeing resort. This isn’t like a normal company where if you make an extra profit in one quarter, you can just pocket it.”

  “I’m not recommending you pocket it,” Ian protested. “Like I said, I’m recommending that you reinvest it, just like you normally would in any other company. Make this place a little nicer, draw in a richer clientele, and they’ll be spending money left and right. Yes, on cappuccinos and other things that you’ve never sold here before.”

  “That’s not what I’m trying to do here, though,” I countered. “I don’t want this place to be the next hoity toity haven for the rich. I like that it’s comfortable and down-to-earth. I like that we sell the basics, comfort food, in the lodge. I like that – “

  “But that’s so short-sighted!” Ian exploded. “You’re going to spend the rest of your time here barely scraping even, especially with your operations costs going up and up every year. With climate change, you can’t count on the snow coming every year. Eventually, you might not even get snow at all. And what are you going to do then?”

  “If I wanted to run a restaurant, I would have bought a restaurant,” I said. I shook my head. “From now on, Ian, I don’t want you involved in Brooks Mountain at all. Not a single thing. And if I catch you using company funds or otherwise meddling in it again, I will take you to court over it. Mark my words.”

  I was definitely pissed with him, and I wanted him to know it. I think we both knew that I could never take him to court, though. He was still my brother at the end of the day. Hopefully, he got the message and quit meddling, though. I didn’t know exactly what I would do if he refused to quit it.

  Ian stared at me for a moment like he wanted to protest. Then, he narrowed his eyes, turned around, and stalked out of there.

  I sighed and fell back in my chair, staring up at the ceiling and wondering how things had all gone so wrong so quickly. Had it really only been a few months since Dad had died? Ian and I had been closer than hell back then, and now? Well, now we could apparently barely be in one another’s presence. He seemed to think that everything that I was doing was wrong. And I couldn’t figure out where the hell my supportive and friendly brother had gone.

  This wasn’t the Ian that I used to work with, that was for sure. He was way too impulsive, and he didn’t seem to be thinking things through. And the fact that he repeatedly went behind my back to do things to my business when he knew full well that he wasn’t even an employee here? That was just above and beyond.

  Suddenly, I started to wonder if maybe Kayla had been right. Was the casino business having problems? Was that what had brought Ian here to meddle in things at Brooks Mountain? I didn’t really want to know. But suddenly, I realized that I had to know. If Ian was having problems, I wanted to figure out a way to help him. Especially if it meant that I no longer had to deal with his attempts to help me out with things I didn’t need help with at all.

  My first order of business was to cancel half the orders that Ian had made. I couldn’t get a full refund on a lot of the stuff, but hell would have to freeze over before I agreed to put fancy cappuccino machines in our lodge here. I wanted to keep the rustic charm here, and Ian knew that. I still didn’t know what the hell he had been thinking.

  With that
finally done, I turned towards my computer, drumming my fingers against my desk for a moment as I warred with my indecision. Finally, I opened up a browser tab, looking for any news about the casino business. Honestly, I didn’t expect to find much. I thought I was going to have to call up my contacts with the company and check into things with them.

  Instead, I found half a dozen news articles directly related to Ian and the investigation that the shareholders had launched against him. No one went so far as to say that he had misused company funds, but there were definitely more than a few shareholders who were pissed off with the way that he had carelessly blown through all their money. And same as with Brooks Mountain, it sounded like a lot of the stuff that the money had been spent on wasn’t anything that was really needed.

  I swallowed hard, reading further. Then, I called up one of my friends who still worked for the company to get his take on things. When I hung up, I couldn’t seem to wipe the grim frown from my face. Kayla was right, it seemed. Things really were looking bad for Ian. At best, he was probably going to lose his job.

  How had things gone so wrong in the mere months since Dad had died? But when I really thought about it, I remembered conversations that Ian and I had had before, about how if he was running the company, he would do things different. He had had too much respect for Dad to try anything while Dad was still alive, even when Dad had handed plenty of responsibility over to him. But with Dad gone, it seemed like Ian had decided that he could finally make all those changes that he’d always wanted to make.

  And when things had tanked with the casino business, he had come up here to prove that he really did know a thing or two about business. I swallowed hard, mind whirring as I tried to figure out how to approach Ian about all of this.

  But before I could form a plan of action, there was a light knock on my door. Adam peeked inside, and I glanced at the clock, surprised to find that the afternoon was already gone and that the resort was already shut down for the night.

  “You ready to go?” Adam asked, his expression carefully neutral.

  Suddenly, I regretted that I had asked him to dinner with me tonight. Forced him to dinner with me, was more like it. He clearly didn’t want anything to do with me. He was clearly uncomfortable. And I had so much else on my plate at the moment anyway. For a moment, I debated calling the dinner off. But I needed to talk about this with someone, and Adam was the best person for figuring out how to handle Ian. The two of them might not be close anymore, but they used to be friends.

  And suddenly, it felt like I barely even knew my brother anymore. I could use another opinion.

  Not only that, but I sure as hell needed to get out of there.

  I nodded at Adam and stood up, grabbing my coat. “Yeah, let’s go,” I said.

  Adam followed me wordlessly out to the parking lot.

  38

  Adam

  I frowned as I followed Bailey out towards the parking lot. I was trying to figure out what was going on in her head. Earlier in the day, she had been so adamant that she wanted me to go to dinner with her tonight, but now, it almost seemed like I was the one dragging her out. There was something going on in that head of hers, something that I couldn’t quite figure out.

  We were almost at the parking lot when I finally grabbed her arm and drew her to a stop, staring worriedly down into her eyes. “Are you all right?” I asked her.

  Bailey sighed and rubbed at her temples. “Look, I know this was all my idea in the first place, but is there any way that I could take a raincheck? I don’t really want to go out tonight.”

  I stared at her for a moment. I would have expected to feel elated at the fact that she was letting me off the hook so easily. Of course, I had no doubts that she would want to reschedule this, but even a little more time to plan what I would say to her would help. But instead, I just felt even more worried about her. I knew that I wasn’t her only friend there. If something was really wrong, she could talk to Kayla.

  But she had been alone in her office, and I knew that Kayla had gone home a little while ago. She clearly didn’t want to talk about whatever this was with Kayla. And I suddenly knew that I couldn’t let her just stew in her own thoughts all night.

  So she didn’t want to go out to dinner? “Why don’t we stay in?” I suggested. “Let’s go back to your place and I’ll cook you a nice meal and you can just relax a little. I know things have been busy lately.” I said that last hoping that maybe I would get some clue out of her reaction. Maybe she was just tired. But she looked preoccupied more than tired.

  She gave me a surprised look and then smiled faintly. “I’d really like that, actually,” she sighed.

  I nodded and followed her towards her condo. When we got there, she tossed her keys on the table and kicked off her shoes, padding into the kitchen and pulling open the fridge. “I honestly don’t even know if I have anything to make a meal out of here,” she said, laughing self-consciously.

  I caught her by the shoulders and spun her towards the living room, giving her a little push. “I’ll figure something out,” I told her. “And if I can’t, then we’ll, I don’t know, order a pizza or something.” I pulled a beer out of the fridge and opened it, putting it in her hand. “Now, go and relax.”

  Bailey’s smile was a lot more solid that time, and I mentally congratulated myself on getting that much out of her at least. “Thank you, Adam,” she said quietly, heading towards the other side of the counter and hopping up on a stool where she could watch me while I cooked.

  I began pulling various things out of her fridge, okaying them with her as I went. Slowly, I started to put together a nice Asian stir fry and some rice. “It’s nothing fancy, but it’ll be warm at least,” I said as I cooked.

  “Honestly, I’m just glad not to have to worry about anything right now,” Bailey admitted. She shook her head. “I’m sorry, I know I’m the one who invited you out to dinner, and this isn’t what I planned for tonight.”

  I shrugged. “Don’t worry about it. I actually kind of like cooking. It’s peaceful.”

  Bailey hummed in response. I wanted to ask her what was going on, but more than that, I wanted to keep her mind off of it, I decided. Whatever it was, she would no doubt tell me about it when she was good and ready to. Or she would decide that Kayla really was the person that she wanted to talk to about whatever it was.

  Honestly, it was sort of a relief to be here in the privacy of her condo for dinner. No chance that anyone would see us here, and maybe I wouldn’t have to deal with Ian in the aftermath after all. I could dream, anyway.

  To keep her mind off whatever it was that was bothering her, I found myself chattering away almost as much as Ethan tended to, telling her all about my week and some of the sillier tourists that I had seen recently. Soon, I got an actual laugh out of her, and I found myself grinning in response.

  Maybe she and I could work through things. Forget all about the fact that we had slept together and just be friends. I realized that I would really like that. I would have to be careful not to make this anything more than that, because she deserved much more than I was capable of giving her, but if I could manage to tread that line carefully, there was no reason that we couldn’t be friends.

  Ian would probably be grateful if it meant that I was back to looking out for his sister here rather than trying to sleep with her.

  I set a bowl down in front of Bailey with a flourish. “Dinner is served,” I told her. “You want me to grab you another beer?”

  “No, thanks,” Bailey said, shaking her head. “Still working on this one.”

  I sat down across from her at the counter and took a bite of my own stir fry, nodding approvingly as I chewed it.

  Bailey laughed. “You look so full of yourself,” she said. But when she took a bite, she smiled. “This is pretty good, though. Not that your ego needs any stroking.”

  I shrugged unrepentantly. “Hey, I haven’t made this in a while. Beth and I used to have this a lot when we first m
oved in together. Couldn’t afford much else.” The words rolled easily off my tongue, and I could see Bailey’s eyes widen a little.

  “Beth was your wife?” she asked quietly.

  I nodded slowly. But Bailey, although she was clearly filing that information away in her head, didn’t ask me anything else about her. I exhaled in relief.

  Then, I laid both my palms flat on the counter. Time to ask her the difficult questions. “Bailey, what happened this afternoon? Is something wrong with the resort?”

  Bailey looked surprised and then shook her head. “Don’t worry about it,” she said. “It’s just something that I have to figure out.”

  I frowned, wanting to ask her more about it. But I wasn’t sure what to say. It wasn’t like I had any right to ask her to open up to me, not when I was being so careful not to open up to her and tell her all about my insecurities and uncertainties. Not when I wouldn’t even tell her what Ian had said to me last week about not deserving to be with her.

  No, I couldn’t ask her to spill her worries to me, as much as I wanted to fix everything for her. If she wanted to sort through things on her own, I had to respect that. So I let her change the topic of conversation to something else.

  But I couldn’t help spending the rest of the night wondering if I had done the right thing in suggesting this. I had meant for it just to be two friends hanging out, trying to get Bailey’s mind off whatever it was that was bothering her. I mean, she had been the one to ask me to dinner in the first place, and that as my boss.

  This felt date-like, though, in ways that I couldn’t describe. It was like we were getting to know one another, with the promise of more than friendship at the end of things. And that feeling only intensified later, as I stood at the counter doing the dishes.

  Bailey laughed and tried to grab the saucepan out of my hands. “Come on, you don’t have to do that,” she insisted. “You already did the cooking. Let me wash up. Please.”