by Anthology
“Done.” He could barely contain his grin. He looked like a schoolboy who just won the spelling bee. “It’s going to be great. You’ll see. Besides,” he added with a wink, “now you won’t have to make up excuses to come see me.”
CHAPTER 6
Trent felt like celebrating as he saw Samantha out to her truck. Although he was almost positive it was a premature celebration, it was a celebration nonetheless. She’d agreed to the band. And maybe it wasn’t the war, but he’d definitely won the battle. And that was something. More than something.
Now, if he could have convinced Samantha to stay and have dinner with him, instead of rushing off to the date she said she had—if that’s what it really was—he would have had a real cause for celebration. But it was for the best. The last thing he needed was a date or God forbid, a relationship. A kiss was one thing, but dinner, or anything more…no. He couldn’t go there. And Samantha wasn’t the type of woman to have a one-night stand with. No. It was best she’d turned him down.
He waited until her truck left the lot and drove out of view before he headed back inside. He was almost across the marble floored lobby when a voice stopped him.
“Brother.”
He turned to see his brother Dylan walk toward him with a grin spread across his face. Trent, matching his little brother’s smile, strode across the floor to meet him. “What’s up, little brother? Is there something we need to discuss?”
Trent asked the question despite the fact that he was perfectly aware of the answer. And it wasn’t a surprise when Dylan clamped his hand on his shoulder and squeezed. “Oh, I think we both know what we’re going to talk about.”
He had two choices. He could play dumb with his brother or he could play along and tell Dylan what he knew he wanted to hear. It wasn’t a secret that he’d met Samantha, and there was no doubt he’d seen them together. If Dylan was half as observant as Trent gave him credit for, he would have definitely noticed the heat between them, which is undoubtedly why he was here talking to him at that moment. Trent didn’t do relationships. He didn’t pursue women and he definitely didn’t invest any type of emotional energy in a woman. Which is why it was absolutely insane that every single moment he spent with Samantha made him feel like all his nerves were on fire. It shouldn’t be happening. He was too professional for that. Way too in control.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He slipped away from his brother and together they walked through the lobby in the direction of their offices. “Things are looking good around here, aren’t they? Almost ready for the opening.”
“Don’t try to change the subject.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it.”
Dylan shot him a look but didn’t press the issue.
“She’s cute,” was all he said.
Trent nodded. It’s not like he could disagree. She was cute. She was also hot in a feisty, he-needed-to-have-her-or-burst kind of way, but he wasn’t going to tell his little brother that. Especially not after he’d almost single-handedly ruined Dylan’s own happy ending with Carmen.
But that was in the past, and neither of them seemed to hold a grudge against the fact that he’d basically tried to sabotage their relationship from the get-go. Ultimately, it’d all worked out fine and that’s all that mattered. The how and why of everything wasn’t important.
“Really cute,” Dylan pressed, and when Trent didn’t take the bait, he added, “She seems to like you, too.”
“Do you think so?”
A moment too late, Trent realized he’d fallen for it.
“I do,” Dylan said. “And it seems my big brother also thinks so. Who is she?”
“I don’t think…” There was no point in lying. “She owns the Grizzly Paw, the—”
“Pub in town.”
Trent looked at his brother with a raised eyebrow.
“What?” Dylan held up his hands. “I know the local business. It’s kind of our job to know the businesses of the town we’re coming in to.”
Trent’s faced flamed and he looked at his feet while they walked through the hallway. Dylan was right. It was their business. Or at least, it should have been. He’d wasted too much time thinking he could come into Cedar Springs and make the resort its own separate entity. He’d been naive and arrogant. Meeting Samantha had taught him that.
“Yeah,” Trent mumbled after a minute. “We should know what’s going on with the town, which is why I agreed to help out with the summer solstice festival.”
Dylan stopped in his tracks and it took Trent a moment to realize his brother wasn’t walking next to him. When he noticed a second later, he paused and looked over his shoulder. “What?” Trent wasn’t stupid. He knew exactly what. And he didn’t wait around to hear about it firsthand.
When Dylan caught up to him, he grabbed his shoulder and spun his big brother around. “Tell me you didn’t commit the Springs to something we can’t deliver on.”
Trent shrugged. He wouldn’t tell him anything if he didn’t want to hear it. Besides, this was his department. Dylan was in charge of operations and getting the entire resort off the ground. He didn’t need a majority vote to commit his time and effort to a few local promotional efforts.
He shrugged.
“Trent.”
He pulled away from his brother’s grip, suddenly irritated by the intrusion. “It’s good,” he said, in an effort to retain some form of peace. “I’m going to get Jacked Crackers to come and play. It’s not a big deal and I’m looking out for the reputation of the hotel with the locals.”
“The hotel?” his brother challenged. “Or yourself?”
Trent’s eyes narrowed and he took a deep breath to maintain his calm. “I don’t think you meant to ask that question.”
“I did.” Dylan squared up. For all Trent’s talk about his little brother, there wasn’t much discernible difference between their size. But for what Trent lost in physical size difference, he made up for with the natural big brother threat.
“Are you sure?” Trent challenged.
Dylan took a breath and Trent could tell his little brother was squaring up for a fight. It wouldn’t be an easy win. It never was with two stubborn bastards in the family.
“You might want to—”
“Hey.” Carmen interrupted with a smooth hand on each man’s shoulders. “I think that’s enough testosterone from both of you this afternoon.”
Trent took a step back and looked between them. Dylan immediately turned to Carmen with nothing but love in his eyes. It didn’t matter what the woman said; he melted like a pile of goo for her. It was disgusting, really. Or at least, he used to think so. If he was the kind of man who wanted a relationship—and he wasn’t—he might want something like the two of them shared. But as it was, he wasn’t built for relationships. That had been proved years earlier with Britt, his high school girlfriend.
He’d thought he’d been in love. And maybe he was, but he was too young and too stupid to see clearly. His father had always warned both of them that women were no good, and they’d only get in the way of their success. But he wouldn’t listen, even when Trent’s dad threatened to disinherit him. What he shared with Britt was real; it was stronger than his dad’s threats. Or so he thought. When his dad couldn’t scare Trent into breaking up with Britt, all it took was a check with the right amount of zeros for her to decide it wasn’t love after all.
His father had been right. If that was love, he didn’t need it. If he wanted to be successful, he couldn’t be tied down to a woman. It was one or the other. Business or women. And he’d made that decision a long time ago. Samantha was nothing more than a scratch he needed to itch. That was it.
“I’m fine.” Trent shook her off.
He walked to the window wall. The mountains were coming more to life every day with their summer flowers and greenery. He should get outside. He should go for a walk. When was the last time he went out? He let his brain flip back through the last weeks and couldn’t remember, which
was enough of a sign for him.
“I’m going for a walk,” he announced, totally unaware of the looks the other two were giving him.
“No.” It was Carmen who reached out and slipped her arm through his. She pulled him in close and held him to her side. “I think we should talk about this.”
Out of reflex, he shook his head. “I don’t think we—”
“She’s right, brother. What’s going on?”
Trent stopped and looked at Dylan. He’d always been so professional and analytical before he’d hooked up with Carmen. Although Trent was doing his best to be happy that his little brother had found love despite the odds played to them from their upbringing, he needed all three of them to have their heads in the game as far as business was concerned. They were too close to the opening of the resort to afford any screw-ups and if Dylan and Carmen were more worried about their love life—or his for that matter—it wouldn’t do anyone any good.
“I don’t think that matters right now,” Trent said after a moment of reflection. “I think that what matters now is that we do everything it takes to get the Springs off to the best start we can.” He removed Carmen’s arm from his and before either of them could press the issue, he pushed out a side door into the summer afternoon sun.
~ ~
By the time Sam drove down the mountain and pulled up to her small house, just down the street from the Grizzly Paw, she knew she should change her clothes and head back to the pub. But all Sam really wanted to do was run a hot bath, pour herself a glass of wine and replay that kiss with Trent. Okay, that wasn’t the only thing she wanted to do. But going back to the Springs to find Trent and finishing what they’d started didn’t seem to be a very reasonable option.
Before she could make a decision about the evening either way, a knock sounded on the door. She was halfway across the living room floor when the door opened and Archer came bursting in.
“What are you—”
“Wanted to make sure you’re okay.”
“I’m fine.” She shot him a look and shook her head.
“Good,” he said. “You’re not going out with him.”
For a flash of a second, Sam thought he was talking about Trent. He was the enemy, or at least, she thought he was, but that was before. “Wait.” She shook her head to focus on the moment. “Who?”
“Preston.” Archer watched her carefully. “Who did you think I was talking about?”
“Oh, him. Of course I’m not. I’m over him. Big time.”
“Really?”
“Really.” She turned and walked through the house into her kitchen, where she grabbed a bottle of wine from the rack. “Do you want a glass?”
“I actually believe you. Something’s different.” Archer came in behind her, pulled out a chair and sat backwards on it. His arms rested on the back. “Do you have a beer?”
“It’s wine or nothing.”
“Wine.”
She pulled the cork and poured them each a glass. “Why are you here? Shouldn’t you be at the bar?”
“Kylie and the girls have it under control. It’s not that busy.”
“It should be busier,” she said as a reflex and jumped up on the counter.
“When the new hotel opens, things will pick up.” Archer took a tentative sip of his wine, shrugged and took a bigger gulp.
“Do you really think that? Or is that something you’re telling me so I don’t worry?” She really wanted to know. For the last few months, Archer had continually told her not to worry. But that was easy for him to say when she was the one who saw the bank account and the money or lack thereof in the account. The way she looked at it, the Springs was going to be ruining everything, not saving it. The resort was changing the entire feel of the town. It would never be the same once it opened. But it was beautiful and maybe Archer was right; maybe it would bring more people into town and therefore more people to the bar. She just didn’t know what to think anymore.
“Hello?” Archer’s voice brought her back to the moment. “Are you in there?”
“Sorry. I was just thinking.”
“About what? Or should I say, who?”
She sighed and rolled her eyes. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Sammie, who knows you better than anyone?”
“Beth.” She hid her smile.
“Besides Beth?”
“Okay, okay.”
Archer held out his glass and they clinked on it, both of them drinking deep.
“But there’s nothing to tell.”
“Uh huh.” He drained his glass. “What’s going on with Harrison?”
She almost choked on her wine. “What makes you think there’s anything going on with Trent?”
“Maybe the way you just turned bright red and almost spat your wine out all over the kitchen.” He shrugged. “But that’s just a hunch.”
There was no way she was going to talk about her love life or whatever it was that was going on with Trent—not with Archer. Nothing good had ever come from getting him involved in her personal relationships. He was way too protective of her to see that she actually might want to settle down and have a real relationship with someone because she couldn’t be alone forever, making the Paw her entire life. The reality of her thoughts slammed into her. Is that what she really wanted? A relationship? With Trent?
Sam hopped off the counter and put her glass down. She was getting ahead of herself, way ahead. They’d shared a kiss, nothing more. The fact that that particular kiss had her toes curling in her shoes, and had sparked a burning low in her belly that she couldn’t seem to forget, wasn’t important. Or was it?
“Sammie?”
“I’m not talking about it with you,” she answered, her back to him. “Even if there was something going on, which there isn’t, you’d find some way to disapprove or make sure he stayed away from me and…” She hung her head, and bit her lip hard to keep the sudden flood of emotion back. What was wrong with her? She never cried. Especially not over some messed-up version of what she thought she wanted out of her life.
Archer’s arm slid over her shoulders and pulled her close. Reflexively, she turned in to him and let him hug her. It felt good to be consoled, even if she didn’t know why she was upset. “I’m not going to ruin anything for you,” Archer said. “I’d never do anything that would hurt you.” His hand rubbed circles on her back and she sniffed into his chest, aware that the tears she didn’t want to be crying soaked his shirt. “I only want you to be happy, little sis.”
She smiled and pulled up so she could look at his face at the use of the nickname he hadn’t used in years. “That’s better,” Archer said. He used his thumb to wipe her cheeks. “It’s not worth crying over.”
She sniffed again and pushed away to grab a tissue. “I don’t cry.”
“I know.” He raised his eyebrows and sat back.
“It’s stupid.”
“Not if it’s making you upset.” His words hit home. “The last time I saw you cry is when—”
“They died.” She finished the sentence because she knew exactly when it was. When her brother crashed the car he was driving with their mother in the passenger seat, killing them both instantly, Sam’s entire world changed in that moment. No longer was it in the plans for her to go to college. It was all she could do to graduate from high school. Her father turned to alcohol, drowning his problems in the bottom of bottle after bottle, not only drinking away the profits of the Grizzly Paw but effectively destroying the only livelihood they had left. It had been up to eighteen-year-old Samantha to put her own plans on hold and keep everything running. It also meant she needed to steel herself against her new reality. A strategy that had served her well, even through her break-up with Preston. Everything had been fine, until that moment.
“Yes,” Archer said softly. “So whatever has you so upset right now, I know it’s serious. And Sam, I don’t mean to sabotage anything, I just…Preston…”
“Stop.” She
held up her hand. “You’ve never been anything but wonderful to me.” She felt the pressure of the tears building again, and blinked hard to keep them at bay. “Don’t think for a minute that I’ve ever felt any differently.”
“But you want more?”
For the last eight years, Sam could honestly have said no to that question. Everything she wanted was in the town of Cedar Springs, and running the Grizzly Paw had been fulfilling. Even when Preston left her and broke her heart only to play with it again at will, it hadn’t crushed her because what she’d had was enough. And deep down, she knew he wasn’t the one. She looked at Archer, who was waiting for his answer. Slowly she nodded. “Yes.” Her voice was barely more than a whisper. “I think I do. I just don’t know what that looks like right now.”
“It doesn’t have to look like anything right now.”
Did she hear him right? That didn’t even make sense. She told him as much.
“I’m serious, Sam. You don’t have to decide what your future looks like. Not right now, anyway. You have time. The key is knowing you want something different. You can figure the rest out later.”
Her reflex was to protest, but she stopped herself. He was right. In his own crazy way, Archer was actually making sense. Just knowing she wanted something more was enough. And just because she came to the realization while being totally and unexplainably attracted to Trent Harrison didn’t mean anything. Did it?
“So what do I do in the meantime?”
“Enjoy yourself.” He shrugged as if it was just that easy. “You’re young and you’re beautiful. Why does it need to be more complicated?”
Instead of answering him right away, she poured herself another glass of wine and refilled his as well. “I’m not really the one-night stand type.” She handed him the glass, which he took with a silent cheers.
“I didn’t say that.” He wiggled his eyebrows. “But if you wanted to be…”
All it took was a dirty look to shut him up, but Sam couldn’t help but think of the option. It might not be terrible to…no. She couldn’t do that. Especially not with Trent.