His gaze traveled from Paige to the two attorneys. “There has to be a way to make this deal fairer.”
“The contract was written for McMillian Resorts’ benefit.” Kent leaned forward over the edge of the table. “The company has the sole option of deciding if any of Miss Cole’s conditions will be met, and if opening a gallery is in the best interest of the inn or not.”
“Not,” said one of the newer attorneys, a man Justin had only met once and whose name he couldn’t remember.
His sister and the rest of the attorneys laughed.
The hard knot in Justin’s stomach grew into a large rock capable of damaging a keel and causing a boat to capsize. He felt unbalanced, uptight, out of place. All he could see was a beautiful woman with copper ringlets, expressive green eyes and a go-to-hell attitude. “These terms aren’t what Bailey had in mind when she made her offer.”
“So?” Paige gave him a look, the kind she hadn’t given him since they were teenagers and he was about to get caught by his parents for sneaking out of the house past curfew. “This is the contract we’re offering. The ‘we’ includes you.”
That was the problem. Justin eyed the contract. He was a part of this because he’d brought Bailey’s offer to Paige, and each page was an affront, a selfish grab on the part of his company—really, his family. He’d wanted Bailey’s appreciation and gratitude over the formation of a partnership with the art gallery, one that could exist beyond business. But the terms would only make her see McMillian Resorts as an adversary. Not only the company, but him, too. “That still doesn’t make the terms right.”
Kent twirled a pen between his fingers. “Bailey will have Tyler look over the deal. He can counsel her on whether to sign or make a counteroffer. Negotiations rarely are settled the first go-round.”
“That wastes time and money,” Justin said.
The pen froze on Kent’s fingertips. “Her brother’s money. AJ Cole could use hundred-dollar bills for kindling and not miss them.”
“That’s beside the point.” Justin didn’t like any of this.
Paige rolled her eyes. “Don’t let a pretty woman mess with your head. This is what we’ve always done in the past and what we’ll continue to do to make McMillian Resorts successful.”
Maybe he hadn’t cared how deals were carried out or turned a blind eye in the past. But the underhanded tactics now made him sick to his stomach. How many other people had been confused or even...swindled? He wasn’t sure he wanted to know the answer. “Success at what price?”
“Any price.” Her voice hardened. So like their father. “That’s how it’s been. And will be. You should know that.”
“I do now.” The words tasted like sand.
Relief filled Paige’s eyes. “The only person standing in our way right now is Bailey Cole. Once she signs this contract, the inn is ours. Thanks to you.”
Victory. That was what he wanted, what he’d been working toward these past weeks, so why did winning feel hollow? He felt off his game, as if he’d been playing by different rules. But Paige was correct about one thing. McMillian Resorts needed to salvage and close this deal. Should he change how he normally operated because he’d fallen for a passionate artist, one he’d only known a few weeks? If a gallery at the Broughton Inn didn’t work out, couldn’t AJ help Bailey out? She would understand, right?
“Do you want to take the contract to Bailey or do you want us to courier it to her?” an attorney asked.
Logically Justin knew the contract was necessary to ensure the inn’s success and protect McMillian Resorts. This was business, nothing personal, but he wanted to make sure Bailey knew that. “I’ll deliver the contract.”
He could explain what was going on, make her see... What? That McMillian Resorts cared only about the inn? No, that might be the truth, but he wanted Bailey to know that he cared about the art gallery and her.
Especially her.
* * *
The next day, Bailey sat on her living room couch with Justin and a sleeping Buddy. The ride up the coast to Haley’s Bay, followed by chasing birds in her backyard, had worn out the dog.
She flipped through the thick contract, scanning the pages. “Seems a bit much for a few conditions.”
Justin dragged his hand through his hair. His heavy eyelids matched his tired eyes.
His quick trip home to Lincoln City hadn’t seemed to agree with him. He was more relaxed when he was here with her in Haley’s Bay.
“You know lawyers. They are the definition of anal.” He leaned back against the sofa. “Have Tyler review the contract so you understand what you’re signing.”
“Trying to pull a fast one to get the inn,” she joked.
“Not me, Bailey. I—” He covered her hand with his. “I want this to work out.”
“Me, too.” She glanced from the contract to him, a weird feeling in her stomach. “So, why do I feel there’s a ‘but’ coming?”
“There isn’t, but promise me you’ll review the contract with Tyler before putting pen to paper. Understand what you’re signing. I can’t stay much longer. I need to drive back to Lincoln City today.”
She stiffened. “You drove all the way up here to deliver the contract?”
“I wanted to see you, too.”
But an hour wasn’t a long enough visit. She’d hoped they’d have the whole day together. Should she tell him that?
“Hey,” he said. “Don’t be sad.”
“Okay. I know something that will make me feel better.” She brushed her lips over his. Forget chocolate. He was her favorite flavor. One she could easily become addicted to if she wasn’t already. “I wish you could stay.”
“I’ll be back in two days. We’ll go out.”
She waved the contract. “And celebrate.”
He held her hand. “I’m going to miss you until then.”
“Same here.”
“I want you to know that when I’m with you, I can’t imagine being anywhere else. When I’m not with you, I can’t wait until we’re together again.”
Tingles shot through her. So sweet. “I can’t wait, either, but sounds like you have it bad.”
He nodded slowly.
“Good,” she said.
Justin drew back. “Good?”
“I feel the same way.”
“What are we going to do about this?”
“No time to do anything today, though you could kiss me.”
“Happy to oblige.”
He pulled her into his arms and lowered his mouth toward hers. His kiss was gentle, not as raw and on-edge as before. She recognized the familiar urgency and desire, but this time a new tenderness to his kiss made her think of picket fences and forever, not sweaty sheets and one night.
This kiss. This man. This feeling of completeness was what she’d been waiting for. Oh, she had a good life, a career, a home and a family who loved her. But Justin brought something different, something new, something totally unexpected and welcome. Buddy, too.
Justin pulled her closer. She went willingly, wrapping her arms around him.
His kiss made her feel as if she could conquer the world, whether creating a new work or taking on a project for the historical committee. Sure, she’d felt that way before, but this was better. She wasn’t alone. Oh, she had her family, but she’d wanted someone not related to her to care. Not just humor her. She had never known the boost this kind of unconditional support could give her.
She gave into the sensations pulsing through her, ran her fingertips through his clipped hair. He wasn’t the kind of man she thought she would end up with, but he was exactly the kind of man she wanted, needed, loved.
Love.
She loved him.
Bailey had known she was falling for him, but somehow in this mess Floyd had made for them, she’d completely fallen in love with Justi
n McMillian. Only time would tell what would happen, but so far so good.
Especially if he kept kissing her this way.
Slowly he dragged his lips from hers. “I wish I could stay, but I need to head back to Lincoln City for another meeting.”
“Business or family?”
“One and the same when you’re a McMillian.”
“Your family is so different from mine. My mom gets upset if we talk too much business.”
“Your mother is a smart woman. I see where you get your beauty and brains from.” He brushed his lips across Bailey’s hair, then woke Buddy. “Be back soon.”
Everything was coming together. Finally. Bailey never thought she’d want to thank Floyd Jeffries for his criminal behavior, but if not for his breaking the law by selling the inn to both AJ and McMillian Resorts, she would never have met Justin.
She wiggled her toes, her excitement growing. Instead of the Broughton Inn pushing her and Justin apart, the old hotel was bringing them together. This was the start of something new, something big.
Her, Justin and Buddy.
Cole and McMillian.
A family.
* * *
The next day, Bailey sat on the opposite side of Tyler’s desk. Tapping her toes, she opened her mouth, then pressed her lips together. She’d arrived at her cousin’s office confused. After listening to him, her understanding hadn’t increased.
“I must be missing something. The contract reads like there’s no guarantee of anything I asked for, including an art gallery.”
“That’s correct.” Tyler rested his elbows on the desk. His serious eyes and expression made him look every bit a lawyer and not the cousin who used to have who-can-burp-the-loudest competitions with her older brothers. “The contract is written strictly for the benefit of McMillian Resorts with more escape routes than the latest tsunami evacuation plan. Based on the convoluted verbiage, I’d say the inn will not hire past employees, honor current vendor contracts or have an art gallery when it reopens.”
Bailey’s heart cracked wide open, the newly found love she felt for Justin bleeding out. Her world tilted. She gripped the sides of her chair to make sure she didn’t fall off.
She hadn’t wanted her first impression of him to be right. She wanted to be wrong. Dead wrong.
“I don’t understand.” Her voice shook. “Those were my conditions if I gave up my ownership claim.”
Each breath hurt. She blinked to keep the tears at bay. No way was she going to cry over Justin McMillian. Not in front of Tyler.
“I’m sorry, Bay.”
She nodded, not trusting her voice when her insides felt as if they’d been mixed up in a food processor. Her fingers dug into the chair. It was a good thing she wore her nails short or she’d cut through the leather upholstery.
“What were your exact words to Justin?” Tyler asked.
His harsh tone startled her. She leaned back. “I... I don’t remember.”
“You should have come to me. We could have officially presented an offer with your conditions.”
“That’s what AJ said to do, but I didn’t want to bother you over the weekend.”
“Doing legal stuff like this is my job, Bailey. And given their contract, the offer you made to Justin may have put your claim on the inn at risk, whether you agree to their terms or not.”
Her muscles seized. “What?”
“No one with half a brain would sign this contract. They know that. So that means they expect us to make a counteroffer or...”
She slumped in her chair. “Why do I have a feeling I don’t want to hear the or part?”
“Or,” Tyler said, “depending on how you worded your offer to Justin, the McMillian legal team may claim you’ve verbally forfeited your claim on the inn.”
She jumped out of the chair. “What?”
“No worries yet.” Tyler motioned for her to sit, but she didn’t...couldn’t. “That’s only one possibility, given the scenario.”
“Let’s hope it’s not the one they go with.”
“You care about Justin.”
“I don’t believe he planned to screw me over. I really don’t. He’d been too shocked and happy about my offer. But his family...”
“He’s part of that family.”
“I know.” Justin had chosen not to fight his family over her and what she wanted, even though he had seemed to say he would. But family came first, a lesson she’d known but pushed aside because of her feelings for him.
“I’m sorry.” She tried to control her breathing. “I should have listened to you and AJ. I did so many things wrong.”
She might love Justin, but he wasn’t her Mr. Right. As long as he retreated into what was safe for him, work and the family business, he was Mr. Wrong. Words about needing her were easy to hear, but his actions told the truth. He didn’t care as much for her as she did for him.
“All we can do is start over. I can’t promise anything, but I’ll do my best,” Tyler said. “This contract tells me McMillian Resorts plans on playing hardball. You should resign yourself to a protracted legal battle. Likely a messy one. Your relationship with Justin McMillian may come up.”
“My fault. I’ll deal with it.”
The contract changed nothing with the inn. Not yet anyway. But something had changed with Justin. She couldn’t keep seeing him. Not knowing what she knew now. He wasn’t the man she thought he was. Her heart panged at the loss.
Bailey should have known better than to put her heart and the inn on the line. “I accept full responsibility. The complete blame.”
She felt like an idiot for stupidly risking the inn for a man. She blinked away the tears. Crying was not going to happen. “Let them know I’m not interested in their contract.”
“Do you want to make a counteroffer?”
Bailey raised her chin. “No. I’m all in. I’ll fight until the end.”
Tyler looked proud of her. That had to count for something, right?
“Go buy yourself a cup of coffee and a donut while I make the call,” he said. “Bring me back a maple bar.”
“Yes, counselor.” She tried to joke, but her voice sounded flat. That was the same way she felt inside, pummeled by a semitruck. “One maple donut coming up.”
She forced her feet to move, to keep a smile plastered on her face, to pretend that her world hadn’t spun off its axis and rolled into a different dimension. She went to the donut shop first, then headed to the coffee shop. She wasn’t ready to face Tyler yet.
Fifteen minutes later, she still wasn’t ready, but slowly made her way back to the office. Somehow she managed to carry her coffee without spilling—okay, the cup had a lid—and the bag of donuts without sneaking a bite. Not that she had an appetite.
The emptiness inside threatened to swallow her whole. Bailey’s splintered heart cut like shards of glass. But she wasn’t giving up hope. She couldn’t. Perhaps this was a mistake. Tyler would have good news, and she could laugh off the way she’d believed Justin would betray her.
She entered the law office. Tyler sat on one of the upholstered chairs in the waiting room. He stood when she entered.
Bailey raised the bag. “That hungry for a donut?”
Her cousin took the food and drinks from her hand.
She didn’t need a PhD in rocket science to decipher the look on Tyler’s face. “It’s bad.”
“As soon as I told them you weren’t signing, Paige McMillian said they were petitioning the court that the verbal agreement between you and Justin nullified your ownership rights to the inn.”
Bailey’s stomach roiled. She staggered back until she fell into a chair. “That’s... I didn’t. There were conditions.”
“We’ll fight them.”
She trembled. “Is this Paige’s doing? Or Justin’s?”
�
�I don’t know,” Tyler said. “But this is only the beginning.”
The fight over the inn might be in the early stages, but things between her and Justin were over. “I—I should have—”
“Don’t think about what you should have done. You can’t change the past.”
No, the past was set, but she could change. A part of her had been trying to change by making that compromise to Justin, but her stubbornness and drive to be independent put the inn at risk.
“Hang in there.” Tyler touched her shoulder. “The McMillians don’t know what they’ve taken on. We Coles are fighters.”
She nodded. “I’m not giving up without a fight.”
The inn was one thing, but Justin...
Her dreams about the two of them and Buddy went poof, disappearing like a child’s bubble blown into the air. Her eyes had been opened to the man she’d fallen in love with. He wasn’t who she’d believed him to be. She forced herself to breathe.
Her heart felt trampled upon, battered and bruised, but only time would let her know the full effect. The inn, however, would be lost forever. Replaced by a modern monstrosity and a staff not from here, and that was her fault. All the employees and Haley’s Bay residents had been counting on her. She’d let them down. She was the one responsible for following her heart and not her head. For thinking she knew better when she didn’t. She’d been warned. And now she felt like a complete fool. She had only one person to blame—herself. But she never wanted to see Justin McMillian again.
Chapter 12
“Hey, it’s Justin.” He left a voice message on Bailey’s cell phone. “Wanted to confirm dinner plans for tomorrow. Call me back.”
He disconnected from the call, then checked his text messages. No reply from Bailey. Where was she? His calls today had gone straight to her voice mail. Weird. She usually called right back. Maybe she was teaching a class he’d forgotten about, but he missed hearing her voice.
Paige bounced into his office, reminding him of when she was eight and had pulled out a tooth. “We won!”
“Won?”
“The inn.”
His pulse accelerated. He stood. “Bailey didn’t tell me she signed the contract.”
Falling for Mr. Right: Still the One ; His Proposal, Their Forever Page 37