The Prize: An Enemies-to-Lovers Romance (Diamond Lake Romance Book 3)

by K. L. Middleton

  I giggled. “Seriously?”

  He grinned, looking a little embarrassed.

  “That’s… that’s so sweet.”

  Adam laughed and then closed his eyes. “As long as we’re being honest, I suppose I should tell you - Rory could have joined us at Rob and Lina’s house. He actually helped his parents move much earlier in the day.”

  I snorted. It didn’t surprise me at all. “Oh, really?”

  “I just really wanted to get you alone.”

  “Secretly, I think I wanted it to just be the two of us, too.”

  He tightened his arm around me. “I’m so relieved that we made up. Let’s just forget about last week and what a dumbass I was. I’m never drinking tequila again. I’m also never going to doubt you again. I love you, Chloe. I don’t ever want to lose you. Not ever again.”

  I smiled. “I love you, too. Ghost hunter.”

  38

  Adam

  We fell asleep and about an hour later, my cell phone woke me up. Rory had sent me a text.

  Rory: We have problems.

  Me: What kind of problems?

  Rory: Mara. She’s asking for more money.

  Me: Why?

  Rory: She’s worried it’s too dangerous.

  Me: Where is she?

  Rory: We’re just outside of the bungalow.

  Me: I’ll be right there.

  I got out of bed and started getting dressed. Chloe woke up and asked me where I was going.

  I sighed. “Mara is asking for money. I’m going to talk to her.”

  She looked pissed. “Why does she want more money?”

  I told her.

  “Wait, she actually thinks your lives are in danger?”

  “Apparently.”

  “Doesn’t that scare you?”

  “They’re just spirits. It’s not like they can shoot or stab us.”

  “What about the accidents you were talking about? With the construction people?”

  “Honestly, those could have all been coincidences. Or, just stupid mistakes.”

  She looked worried.

  “Nothing bad is going to happen to us.”

  “But the medium is saying otherwise?”

  “That’s why I’m going to talk to her. Rory is with her now. They’re just outside.” I pulled my shirt over my shoulders. “Don’t worry. I’ll be right back.”

  “Okay.”

  I stepped outside and found Rory and Mara talking over by Chloe and Blair’s bungalow. I walked over.

  “What’s this I hear about you wanting more money?” I asked.

  “I’ve been some very strong vibes about going back to the eleventh floor,” Mara said. “I’m frightened.”

  “But, they’re just ghosts,” I replied. “Right? They can’t hurt us.”

  She snorted. “Who told you that?”

  “They’re just made up of energy, right?”

  She nodded. “Very strong energy. You heard them slamming the doors. They can move objects. They could potentially hit you over the head with something. Push you out a window. Shoot you with a nail gun.”

  I frowned. “Then we’ll just have to be careful.”

  “Exactly,” Rory said. “We’ll be fine.”

  “I’m sorry, but my welfare is worth more than what you’ve already paid me. If you want me to return, I’m going to need another ten thousand dollars.”

  My jaw dropped. “What? We’re already paying you ten. That’s a lot of money already.”

  “And my life is worth much more,” she replied.

  “You agreed to work with us for ten,” I said angrily.

  “In the contract that I sent you, you’ll find a clause that states if I feel my life is in danger, I am not obligated to fulfill my end of the bargain without further compensation,” she replied.

  I looked at Rory. “You signed the contract. Did you notice that?”

  He gave me a weak smile. “I guess I didn’t read all the fine print. She showed it to me, though. It’s definitely in the contract.”

  I clenched my teeth.

  “So, you’ll either need to pay me the additional amount, or our contract ends here. Obviously, there are no refunds,” Mara said.

  “Hold on.” I pulled Rory to the side. “Do we really even need her?”

  “How are we going to communicate with the dead without her? She can talk to them. We can’t.”

  I sighed.

  “Listen, we should be making a killing off of this once it goes viral. Twenty-thousand dollars will be nothing. Nothing compared to the kind of money we could potentially make in the long run. Think… think Hollywood, dude. This hotel investigation could end up making us millionaires.”

  I glanced over at Mara, who was watching us. I had to admit, Rory had a point. This definitely could make us both rich.

  I gave in. “Fine. But, make sure that you get it in writing that she won’t receive a cent more and that she has to fulfill her end of the bargain if we pay her the extra money. Also, we’re not paying her the rest of the money until Sunday.”

  He nodded. “Agreed.”

  We walked back over to Mara and told her our demands.

  She smiled. “That’s fine. You’ve already paid me the first half, so I trust you. But, we need to draw up the other contract again before I set foot on the eleventh floor again.”

  “No problem. We’ll draw one up in the morning. Together,” I replied.

  “Okay.” She glanced over toward the main hotel and suddenly looked anxious. “Would one of you walk me back to the hotel? It’s dark and…”

  Before either of us could answer, Blair opened up the door and peeked outside. “Rory. Are you coming in? The movie is about to start.”

  “Yeah, we’re just finishing up,” he replied.

  Blair looked at me and smiled. “Hey, there Adam. How are things going at your place?”

  I grinned back. “Much better, thank you.”

  “Glad to hear. Say hi to Chloe for me.”

  “Sure.”

  Blair ignored Mara and closed the door.

  Rory looked at me.

  “Don’t worry about it. I’ll walk Mara back,” I said, knowing he wanted to get inside.

  “Thanks.” He looked at Mara. “What time should we meet you?”

  “How about ten a.m.?” she replied.

  He nodded. “Okay. Sounds good.”

  Rory disappeared into the bungalow and I walked Mara to the hotel. When we reached the entrance, she turned to me and smiled. “Would you be interested in a nightcap?”

  “No, thank you.”

  She touched my arm. “Are you sure? What if I knock off a thousand dollars from the price?”

  I stared at her in disbelief. From the way she was looking at me, I knew exactly what she wanted. It was strange getting propositioned by a woman. Especially for sex. “Let me get this straight, you’re willing to give us a discount if I fuck you?”

  Noticing the coldness in my voice, she removed her hand. “I never said anything about having sex. I just wanted some company. You’re the one putting words in my mouth.”

  I didn’t believe her for a minute.

  “Goodnight, Mara.” I turned around and headed back to the bungalow.

  39

  Chloe

  When Adam returned, I could tell he was frustrated.

  “What happened?” I asked, when he crawled back into bed with me.

  “We’re paying her another ten thousand dollars, because she’s scared,” he muttered. “That’s the gist.”

  My jaw dropped. “Seriously?”

  He nodded and rubbed a hand over his face. “Yeah. I know it’s bullshit, but she’s a big part of this. We need her.”

  “I can’t believe you’re paying her twenty grand total. That’s insane.”

  He rolled over and faced me. “I know.” He moved my hair over my shoulder and his eyes softened. “It is what it is.”

  “Are you sure she’s legit and worth it?”

&nb
sp; “They communicated through her. She gave us information we didn’t know.”

  I didn’t trust Mara. Not with him. Not with their work. I still wasn’t even convinced that she was a real medium. “So, let me get this straight – she’s frightened about getting seriously hurt, but another ten grand makes it all better?”

  He chuckled. “Yeah. I know. It sounds fucked up even to me.”

  “I hope, for your sakes, that she’s not a fraud and ripping you off. I mean, we are in California. People here will do anything for money.”

  “People will do anything in any part of the world for money,” he replied softly.

  I nodded.

  “We’ll keep a closer eye on her tomorrow. If she’s faking it, we’ll know.”

  “You bet you’ll know because I’m going to be there too,” I said firmly. Sometimes it took an outsider to see what was really going on. I wasn’t psychic, but I definitely didn’t trust Mara. For several reasons.

  He smiled. “Good.”

  The next morning I headed back over to my bungalow, after Rory returned, and took a shower. The four of us then met for breakfast in the hotel.

  “I still can’t believe she’s trying to get more money from you guys,” Blair said, looking disgusted. “What a bitch. I bet she’s not even really frightened of the spirits. She’s just using it as an excuse.”

  “It doesn’t matter. There’s more ghost activity going on in this hotel than I’ve ever seen before. Like I was telling Adam last night, this could potentially make us millions,” Rory said.

  “Then why do you even need her?” Blair asked. “Can’t you just record what’s happening?”

  He nodded. “Yes, but she communicates with them and that’s what makes it more exciting. So, yeah… it sucks having to pay her more money, but worth it in the end.”

  “When are you supposed to meet with her?” I asked.

  Adam looked at his phone. “In thirty minutes.”

  “Do you want us there?” I asked.

  “No. You two girls should try to enjoy yourselves. Go to the beach or do some shopping,” Adam replied. “We’ll meet you afterward.”

  “Okay.” I looked at Blair. “You wanna go shopping first?”

  She smiled. “Well, duh.”

  After breakfast we left the guys and headed away from the hotel, to a strip of shops only a couple of blocks away. We stopped at Starbucks first, grabbed a couple of frappes, and then spent the next hour shopping. At eleven, the guys met up with us.

  “I’m shocked. I would have expected to see you carrying bags of clothing by now,” Rory said, when he noticed we each only had one small bag.

  “Everything is so expensive out here,” Blair said. “Plus, we’re college students. We don’t have a lot of money. Which sucks, because we stopped into a tattoo parlor earlier and I saw this one I loved.”

  “No problem. I’d like a new tat too. Something to remember this weekend by. Let’s get one together,” Rory said. “On, me, of course.”

  Blair’s eyes widened. “You don’t have to do that. Seriously.”

  “I know but I really want to. I insist,” he replied.

  She smiled up at him lovingly. “You spoil me, you know that?”

  “I like making you happy,” he replied. “When you smile, the world seems sunnier.”

  She put her hand over her heart. “That is the sweetest thing anyone has ever said to me.”

  They both kissed.

  Adam grabbed my hand. “What about you? Want some ink?”

  Needles made me nervous. “Eventually. Maybe not today though.”

  “No problem, I have a better idea. What do you feel about sparkly things?”

  “Sparkly?” I repeated.

  Ten minutes later, Rory and Blair left us to check out a tattoo parlor. Meanwhile, after some coaxing from Adam, the two of us walked into a jewelry store.

  After looking around for a few seconds, Adam dragged me over to a counter which featured a number of pretty gemstone bracelets.

  “See anything you like?” he asked, as we stared down into the case.

  There were so many beautiful pieces and I found a lot of things I liked. But, they were expensive. “Adam, you don’t have to buy me anything. Seriously.”

  He ignored me. “How about that emerald tennis bracelet? It matches your eyes.”

  “It’s beautiful, but-”

  He called out to the sales woman who’d greeted us when we’d walked in. “Excuse me, miss? Could we have a closer look at this piece right here?”

  The woman grinned. “Of course.”

  Thirty minutes later, we were heading over to meet Rory and Blair, who were still at the tattoo parlor, and I had the new bracelet on my wrist. I’d tried talking him out of it, but Adam had been stubborn about buying it for me.

  He grinned and pulled my hand up to look at it under the sunlight. “Don’t look so glum. You know you like it.”

  “I love it. But, it was five-hundred dollars. That’s way too much.”

  “Not for my girl.” He leaned down and kissed my lips. “And from now on, when we’re in bed, that’s the only thing I want you wearing. Well, maybe some heels. Shit,” he stopped walking. “Maybe we should get you an ankle bracelet too.”

  I shoved him playfully. “Stop. You’re not buying me anything else.”

  “Fine. There’s always your birthday. When is it?”

  “Next weekend.”

  He stared at me in shock. “Were you going to tell me?”

  I shrugged. “I’m just going to be twenty. It’s not a big deal.”

  “Of course it’s a big deal. We’ll have to celebrate.”

  “We can do that. Just don’t get me anything else. This bracelet is more than enough.”

  He smiled.

  “I mean it.”

  “I love it when you’re bossy.” He leaned closer and nibbled on my ear. “Especially, in bed. By the way, my back has never been better. Even after last night.”

  I giggled. We’d barely gotten any sleep and every part of my body seemed to be sore from the crazy positions we’d tried. “Good.”

  When we reached the tattoo parlor, the artist was just finishing up with Blair. Both of them had gotten matching tattoos of four-leaf clovers on their shoulders. They were small but cute.

  “For luck. Plus, we’re both Irish,” Blair explained. “And we didn’t want to get anything too crazy.”

  “Simple, but cute,” I replied as they showed us.

  “Nice ink,” the tattoo artist said to Adam, staring at the tattoos on his arms. “Need any more?”

  “Not today. Thanks, though.”

  The guy nodded. “Sounds good. Hey, aren’t you Adam Knight?”

  He nodded. “Yeah.”

  “You still racing?”

  “Not at the moment.”

  “You all just here on vacation?”

  “Those two are ghost hunters. They’re investigating the Summit Hills Hotel,” Blair said.

  The guy laughed. “Ghost hunters, huh? If that’s the case, you’re wasting your time.”

  Rory frowned. “What are you talking about?”

  “Everyone use to think that place was haunted, but it’s just a bunch of nonsense that was created to drum up business.”

  “Wait, wasn’t the original owner murdered in the hotel by his wife?” Adam asked.

  He snorted. “No. The couple that built the place, Mike and Edna Stratton, still live here in Santa Barbara. Their children took over the hotel about ten years ago.”

  Rory and Adam looked at each other.

  “So, it’s not really haunted?” I asked.

  “If it was, I’d be highly surprised. Tell you one thing, if there are ghosts, they have nothing to do with the Stratton family.”

  40

  Adam

  We left the tattoo parlor and headed back toward the hotel.

  “So, what do you think?” Rory asked. “Have we been had?”

  “Maybe by Mara, but Earl
? What does he have to gain by all of this?” I replied.

  “He wanted to be on the web show,” reminded Rory.

  “Yeah, but I don’t know. That’s not that big of a deal.”

  “Look, you can’t deny that something happened yesterday. The door slamming and the shrieks we heard, those were real.”

  I nodded.

  “Here’s what I think – the place is really haunted and Earl, as much of a creep his is, brought us here because he really believes it’s haunted. As far as Mara goes, she’s the one who spun the lies about the spirits being the original owners. If anyone is lying, it’s her.”

  “And she’s the one who’s getting paid,” Blair said dryly. “I mean, she has the most to gain, right?”

  “Exactly. But, what do we do with her now?” Rory replied.

  “If we confront her, she’ll just change the story. She’ll probably claim that she just got the ghosts wrong. I don’t know. Maybe we should just quit while we’re ahead? We haven’t paid her the extra ten grand yet. Maybe we should just kick her to the curb?” I replied.

  “But you still paid her though. And if she’s a fraud, you need to get your money back,” Chloe said.

  “I doubt we’ll ever receive a cent of that back,” muttered Rory.

  “How did you pay her? Cash? Credit card?” Chloe asked.

  Rory grinned. “I used my business credit card.”

  “Correct me if I’m wrong, but can’t you dispute a charge if it was due to a scam?” Chloe asked.

  “Not only that, but if she’s a fraud, she should be arrested,” I added.

  “Good point. But… how do we prove it?” Rory muttered.

  “I don’t know. But, we’ve got to try,” I said.

  Chloe grinned. “I have an idea.”

  She told us.

  “That’s a great plan, but we don’t have a key to get into any of the rooms up there,” Rory replied.

  I suddenly had an idea.

  When we arrived back at the hotel, Rory and I took the elevator up to the tenth floor. When we got out of the elevator, we noticed many of the rooms were in the process of being cleaned. Including the one that was just below the haunted suite.