Starting Over (Nugget Romance 4)

by Stacy Finz

  “I’ve been trying to reach you all morning,” she said.

  Nate pulled his phone out of his pocket and found a blank screen.

  “Sorry, I thought I had it on vibrate. What’s going on?”

  “Your sister is desperate to get ahold of you.”

  Lilly flashed in his head, then Emma. But it could just as easily be Rhys. He was the cop, after all. He brushed past Lorna into his office, grabbed the landline and hit automatic dial.

  The phone rang only once before Maddy picked up. “It’s about time.”

  “Is everyone okay?”

  He must’ve sounded panicked because Maddy said, “I didn’t mean to scare you, Nate. It’s Gold Mountain. You told me to keep quiet about it, so I didn’t know if I could tell Lorna. Someone’s made an offer.”

  He took a deep breath, relieved. He could handle losing Gold Mountain, but his family . . . “How do you know?”

  “The buyers asked Pat Donnelly to do an inspection and give them an estimate on fixing some of the cabins. Pat took Colin with him, Colin mentioned it to Harlee, and Harlee told me.”

  That was Nugget for you. Everyone knew everybody’s business. “Is it a done deal or is there time for us to swoop in?”

  “I don’t think it’s a done deal yet,” Maddy said. “Apparently, Pat’s bid was high and these folks are strapped for cash. It sounds like they’re working with a bank. But if we came in with cash . . . I just hate feeling pressured to rush in.”

  “That’s business, Maddy. Do we know who these folks are?”

  “Harlee didn’t know and I didn’t want to seem overly interested.”

  Smart thinking, given that Harlee, nosy reporter, had good instincts when it came to sniffing out a story. Gold Mountain changing hands was just the kind of news people in Plumas County went for, since not a lot happened there. “I think we should make a cash offer, but lowball it. Even if they don’t accept it, it’ll stall a possible sale with this other party until we decide how high we want to go.”

  “All right. But you better get here quick.”

  “I can be there in five hours.” He was allowing for traffic across the Bay Bridge and through Sacramento. “In the meantime, why don’t you contact their broker and tell them we’d like to set up a meeting to present an offer. I’ll have our lawyer draw up something and fax it to the Lumber Baron.”

  “Okay,” she said. “Wow. I can’t believe we’re doing this.”

  “Sometimes you’ve gotta just go for it.” Yeah, that had obviously been his motto last night.

  Nate hung up, called his lawyer, and got on the road as fast as he could. Somewhere near Auburn, Maddy telephoned to say they had their meeting. He’d have just enough time to get home, change, and pick up his sister.

  On the Bluetooth, he tried Sam a few times to see how it had gone with Fifi, but failed to reach her. By now their meeting should’ve been long over. He was anxious to hear how the two women had gotten along. Had he known how impressed Fifi would be with Sam’s last name, he would’ve had her handle the account from the get-go.

  They could talk tomorrow when she got home. A little distance right now would do them good because he couldn’t stop thinking about her. It was more than just last night. More than her being his physical type, in and out of bed. She . . . well . . . she just got him. His house was a perfect example. Everything she’d done in there exhibited what was important to him. The pictures, the books and the warm, welcoming feeling he got when he walked in the door. She even understood about Lilly.

  He’d just passed Sierraville when the phone rang. He pressed the Bluetooth button on his dash, hoping it was Sam.

  “The papers have been faxed,” Nate’s lawyer said.

  “Thanks, Josh. As soon as I know more we’ll be in touch.”

  Thirty minutes later he pulled into his driveway only to find Samantha on his front porch. She hustled down the steps as he got out of the car.

  “They told me you had an emergency at home, so I caught the first flight to Reno,” she said. “I just got back and came here immediately. Is everyone—”

  “Everyone is fine. It’s just a business situation, Sam.”

  “Thank God.” She visibly relaxed, then her expression turned worried again. “Is it the Lumber Baron?”

  “No,” Nate assured her. “I’m sorry. I should’ve told Lorna. It’s a property Maddy and I are interested in buying, but we’ve been keeping it on the down-low. Look, we’re supposed to present an offer and I still have to change and pick up my sister. I want to hear about your meeting with Fifi. Can we do it when I get back?”

  “Of course,” she said, and seemed a little disconcerted. Then again, she’d just hopped a sixty-minute flight from SFO and driven fifty minutes from Reno because she thought something terrible had happened to him. “I’m just glad everything’s okay here. I guess I overreacted.”

  “I should have left you a note.” He felt bad that he’d put her through the worry. For a piece of property, no less.

  She gave him a weak smile. “We’ll talk tomorrow. I’m exhausted.”

  He watched her walk away, wondering if he should go after her and ask what was wrong with talking tonight. But he still had to go to the Lumber Baron and pick up the paperwork, his phone pinged with text messages, and the clock was ticking.

  That night, Nate returned home the proud owner of Gold Mountain. At least he would be as long as they got a passing property inspection on the derelict cabin colony. He still couldn’t believe that the old man’s kids had agreed to the price. But according to the broker, they barely spoke to one another after one of the brothers had roped the entire family into a bad investment. Some sort of pyramid scheme that forced one of the siblings into bankruptcy and another into losing her home. They were just happy to have a short escrow and the cash.

  Instead of pulling his car into the garage, he left it in the driveway and considered wandering over to Sam’s place. But her house was pitch-dark. If he didn’t know better, he’d think she wasn’t home. Nate looked at his watch. A little after eleven. After they’d cut their deal, he’d gone over to Maddy and Rhys’s house to celebrate.

  He made it as far as Sam’s porch before turning around. Tomorrow would be soon enough to talk about the gala. Halfway back to his house, he hung a U-turn and rang the bell on her door. A few minutes later he heard movement, a light flickered on, and he saw one blue eye through the peephole. He smiled back at her and she opened the door in boxer shorts, a tank top, and a bad case of bed head.

  “Were you asleep?” he asked with all the innocence he could muster, then let himself in and made his way into her kitchen. “Can I have a drink?”

  She padded after him and got the bottle of brandy and two snifters down from the cabinet.

  “I was thinking more in terms of coffee, but that’ll work.”

  Sam looked at him like he was nuts. “It’s nearly midnight.”

  “Yep. And I just bought a run-down, piece-of-shit cabin park.”

  “That’s the property you made an offer on?”

  “It’s called Gold Mountain and it’s about fifteen minutes from here and fifteen minutes from Glory Junction.”

  “That cute little ski town?”

  “That’s the one,” he said, and watched her hop on one of the center-island stools. She wasn’t wearing a bra.

  “What’s your plan for it?”

  “Fix it up. It’s one of those places that for generations the same families have been coming back to, year after year. But the infrastructure has gone to hell and none of the cabins are winterized, cutting the season short. I’d like to upgrade them and run a bus back and forth from Gold Mountain to the ski resorts in the winter.”

  “Sounds smart,” she said.

  “Yeah, I’m a smart guy.” That’s why he was contemplating doing something incredibly stupid, like taking her to bed again. But she was so damn pretty . . . the outline of her breasts in that tank top was arousing the hell out of him. Even though
he no longer wanted to talk shop, he forced himself to ask, “How did it go with Fifi?” After all, that’s why he’d come. To discuss business.

  Keep telling yourself that.

  “It went well,” she said, stretching one pale, bare leg down the length of the stool. Her toenails, he noticed, were fire-engine red. Sexy. “For some reason, we hit it off.”

  “Not overly demanding?” Nate asked, and sipped his brandy.

  “Oh, she’s demanding. You should hear some of the crazy ideas she’s come up with. She thinks she’ll get Sting to perform. Hey, her problem, not ours. Our bone of contention is the food. She hates Richard. And frankly I can’t blame her. The guy thinks he’s Jöel Robuchon.”

  Nate laughed. God, she was hot. He loved the way she talked about business, like she’d been working in the hospitality industry for years. “I can’t fire Richard.”

  “I know.” She chewed on her bottom lip and Nate knew he wasn’t going to like her plan. “I’m thinking of bringing in Brady.” Sam put up her hand to stop him from interrupting. “Before you say no, hear me out.”

  He didn’t want to hear her out. He wanted to carry her into the bedroom and get his hands and mouth on her. “Okay.”

  “Brady impressed me at Emily’s wedding. He wasn’t even getting paid and he jumped right in. And the man knows his stuff. He’s also nice, not a diva like Richard. So we put him in charge of catering for the gala and let him use Richard’s staff.”

  “Richard won’t like us using his people,” Nate said.

  “Who pays them? Richard or Breyer Hotels?”

  “Jeez, listen to you. I’ve created a monster.” Nate scrubbed his hands through his hair. “You think Fifi will go for Brady? The woman wanted Thomas Keller, for God’s sake.”

  “We’ll tell Brady to turn on his Southern charm. No woman can resist it.”

  “What? You think Brady’s charming? Brady’s not charming.”

  “Of course he is,” Sam said, and let out a little yawn.

  “But I’m more charming, right?” He spun her stool sideways so that he could stand between her legs.

  “If you say so.” She flashed him a teasing smile and reached up to kiss him. It was dark outside, but her lips felt like sunshine, warming him all the way to his toes.

  “Wanna go to bed?” He slid his hands under her tank top, inching up until he fondled her breasts. His brain was screaming You idiot, but the rest of him promised this would be the last time. Just tonight.

  Right.

  “With you or Brady?” she said.

  “Not funny. You wanna just do it here?” He was partially kidding.

  But when she didn’t say no, he boosted her up on the counter and untied the drawstring on her shorts. She wrapped her legs around his waist and reached for his belt. He tongued her beautiful breasts through the thin fabric of her top.

  “What are we doing, Nate?”

  “Having fun,” he said low in his throat because while she brushed her hand against his fly he was finding it difficult to breathe.

  She undid the buttons on his shirt, running her fingers through the hair on his chest. He shrugged the shirt off, tugged off her tank, and she wiggled out of her shorts until they dropped on the floor. They kissed and touched and rubbed on each other until he couldn’t wait anymore. He grabbed a condom from his wallet and dropped his pants.

  “Is that all?” she asked, spreading her gorgeous thighs to let him in.

  “All what?” He’d lost track of the conversation about two intense kisses ago.

  “Just having fun?” she said as he pulled her to the edge of the granite, slid inside her and pumped so hard and fast he thought he’d lose his mind. “Because I think I may be falling in love with you.”

  And that’s when Nate climaxed.

  He didn’t say anything when they were done, just pulled up his pants and lifted Sam off the counter. She stood there naked and sated and sure that she’d turned fifty shades of red. How could she have blurted such a thing? Hopefully he would think her declaration a mere spontaneous utterance. A lot of people said weird things in the throes of passion. Everyone knew it didn’t mean anything. Maybe she was just a floozy who told every man she slept with that she loved him.

  “I better get going,” he finally said, and she scrambled for her tank top and shorts, throwing them on like a teenager who’d just been caught having sex with the boy next door.

  “Okay.” It came out like a croak. “See you tomorrow.”

  “Yeah, see you tomorrow.” Maybe it was her imagination, but he seemed to run for the door.

  As he was halfway across the lawn, she called, “Congratulations on Gold Mountain. I mean . . . you know . . . way to go.” And way to stand there like a freak show, she chided herself.

  “Thanks.” He gave her a mechanical wave goodbye and disappeared inside his house.

  Sam locked up and made a beeline for her shower, wanting to wash her mouth out with soap for her stupid, stupid confession. But after twenty minutes under the hot spray, she felt worse than mortified, she felt heartbroken. Nate only liked her for fun, and she liked him for everything.

  For all his skepticism about her abilities, no man had ever made her feel more confident or beautiful or clever than Nate had. He was the only man who had ever made her see her full potential. And the only man who didn’t care that she was a Dunsbury. In fact, she knew that he held it against her.

  He was breathtakingly handsome and smart and funny . . . and cynical . . . and sarcastic . . . and imperfect . . . and perfect for her. Except he didn’t think she was perfect for him.

  She went to sleep, refusing to cry. And when her alarm went off, she seriously considered staying under the covers and calling in sick. Coward. Pretty soon, Landon Lowery and his clan would be coming to town, and she had lots to do. So she dragged her butt out of bed, got ready for work, and drove in.

  As soon as she got in the door of the inn, she smelled coffee and bacon and wandered into the kitchen.

  “Hey,” Brady said. “Grab a seat and I’ll feed you.”

  “I’m not that hungry.” But she sat down anyway.

  He gave her a commiserating glance and shoved a plate under her nose. “Go ahead, have some bacon. Everything’s better with pig.”

  She’d never heard that one before and despite herself, smiled. And nibbled. Brady slid a steaming cup of coffee her way.

  “The meeting with Miss Priss didn’t go so well, I take it?”

  “With Fifi? It actually went better than expected.”

  “Oh yeah.” He glanced at her again but didn’t say anything.

  “I need to talk to you about it because I want you to be in charge of catering the event instead of asshole Richard. Where’s Nate?”

  “He was in at the crack of dawn and said he had to go somewhere.” Brady went back to his prep work.

  It probably had something to do with Gold Mountain. Or maybe he was trying to avoid her. She planned to act like her idiotic confession had never happened. “Would you be up for doing the event? We’d pay you extra, of course, and put you up at the Theodore, where you would use the kitchen and staff.”

  “Sure. It would be a kick. But who’ll cook here?”

  “The event isn’t until September, so maybe we can rope Emily into covering for you. It would only be a weekend and whatever advance prep time you’d need. But I’m not going to lie to you; Fifi’s a ballbuster.”

  “I’ve worked with my share of ballbusters.” The corner of his mouth tugged up. “I can handle her.”

  “That’s what I told Nate.” She finished her breakfast and locked herself inside her office.

  Landon wanted an itinerary for the week of his family reunion. She finalized the plans and emailed them to him. Then Sam wrote a thank-you note to Fifi, dropped it in the mail, and returned a few calls. And at noon she strolled over to the Ponderosa to get lunch. Harlee and Darla sat in one of the back booths and waved her over.

  “You guys don’t care if
I join you?”

  “Don’t be ridiculous,” Harlee said, and pushed a plate of fries toward Sam. “If I keep eating those, I won’t fit into my wedding gown.”

  “You getting excited?” Sam asked, although the last thing she wanted to talk about was weddings and couples in love.

  “I am.” Harlee hugged herself. “I can’t believe it’s happening so fast. Even Colin is getting into it. He’s already finished half of the little boxes. They’re the sweetest party favors you’ve ever seen. He’s buying a laser etching machine so he can put each guest’s name on their box.”

  “So adorable, right?” Darla said. Today she had lime-green streaks in her hair and had done her nails to match.

  “They sound wonderful.” Sam ordered a salad and iced tea from the server and tried to change the subject. “Any good gossip?”

  “I’m hearing rumors that Nate and Maddy are in the process of buying Gold Mountain.” Harlee nudged Sam’s shoulder. “What do you know? I’m trying to get a story on the website today.”

  “No comment, I’m afraid.”

  “You’re no fun.”

  Apparently that’s all Nate thought she was. Fun. “I would just like to keep my job, Harlee.”

  “You know you just indirectly confirmed it, right?”

  Sam pretended to lock her lips and throw away the key. “What else do you have?”

  “Apparently some chick named Raylene Rosser is back in town,” Harlee said. “Darla knows her.”

  “I don’t know her know her, I just know of her,” Darla said. “She’s from the Rock and River Ranch. Married some rich guy from Denver, who cheated on her with her best friend. All pretty unremarkable, except that there was some big scandal with her and Lucky Rodriguez when she was a senior in high school. Afterward, Lucky left town. Weird that they both came back at the same time, isn’t it?”

  “What kind of scandal?” Sam suspected that Raylene was the blonde from the Ponderosa—the same woman Lucky had been scoping out at the wedding.

  “I don’t know,” Darla said. “All I know is that Lucky’s mom was a housekeeper at the Rock and River and Lucky used to wrangle there on weekends. I don’t think Cecilia likes the Rossers much.”