“Should I send him in?” Janet asked.
“Of course,” she said, sliding her feet back into her shoes. Reaching for their folder, she opened it on her desk. She scanned the selection of bridesmaid dress fabric samples she’d added the day before and wondered if maybe she should hide it until Liz had a chance to see it first. It was one of the final decisions they needed to make, then Kate would get the women’s measurements sent to La Jolie Designs to have the strapless, floor-length, any-figure-flattering dresses made in time.
She tucked them in the back of the folder as the door opened, and she looked up with a bright smile that died immediately. “Scott?”
“You were expecting Derek?” he said with a smirk.
“Well, he is the groom of the wedding I’m planning,” she said, tightly. She hated that just the sight of him made her pulse race. Her spacious office seemed to shrink with him in it, and she hated the feeling of being caught at a disadvantage. She couldn’t afford to let her guard down around him.
“Not if I can help it,” he muttered as he sat.
So they weren’t on the same side. There it was—the dreaded rain cloud, personified in the man sitting across from her. He looked even more gorgeous than she’d allowed herself to remember, wearing a pair of faded jeans and a button-down plaid shirt, open at the collar and rolled at the sleeves, an LA Dodgers baseball cap covering his dark hair.
Normally, she didn’t like guys in baseball caps—they looked immature, unprofessional—but damn if he had her rethinking her prejudice. “Let me guess. You need a wedding planner?” She didn’t for a second believe that Scott Dillon would ever tie himself to one woman. In fact, it would almost be a shame if he did. Bid Bear would lose one of its major draws. But she wasn’t eager to hear his real reason for visiting.
“I’m afraid not. I’ve yet to meet a woman who could handle all of this awesomeness,” he said, his smile wide as he gestured to the body she’d fantasized about more often that week than she’d ever admit.
Her gaze fell to his crotch as he folded one leg over his other knee, and she felt heat creep up her neck under her pale pink satin blouse. “So why are you in my office?”
He scanned it slowly. “It’s a great office.” He nodded appreciatively. “Makes mine look like a storage closet.”
“Yes, it does.”
“How long have you been running your own business?” he asked, folding his fingers behind his head as he leaned back in the chair. The fabric of his shirt strained at his biceps, and she uncrossed and recrossed her legs, feeling more uncomfortable the more comfortable he got.
Obviously he meant to stay and chat, but she needed him to get to the point and get out of her office. Their one night together, as incredible as it had been, was as far as she could let this go. Trust came slowly to her these days, and a mountain playboy was not someone she wanted to try her flimsily pieced-together heart out with. The man was thirty years old, had never been married, lived in his resort and had had impulsive sex with her, a stranger. She cleared her throat. “Since graduating college. Look, Scott, I don’t mean to be rude, but I’m really busy. What do you want?”
“I’m here to call a truce.”
Bullshit. Her eyes narrowed. There had to be a catch—there was always a catch. And hadn’t he just said as he’d sat down that he was still planning to derail the wedding? “You’ll understand if I continue to watch my back.”
He laughed. “That’s fair, but I’d like to take you to lunch.”
“No,” she said far more quickly and sharply than she’d intended. “I mean, thank you, but no. I don’t...get involved with family members of my clients.”
“You already did.”
“Okay, I have no intention of getting further involved.”
“I don’t think it’s possible to go any further...we did just about everything.” He leaned forward, a wicked gleam in his eyes.
Her heart raced. Just about. He had to get out of her office. The sight of him was making it hard to remember that he was the enemy, especially when the enemy smelled so freaking good, like mountain air combined with a woodsy scent. Most of the men she met smelled like expensive cologne and arrogance. She glanced at her watch.
“Don’t say it.”
She frowned. “Don’t say what?”
“That you have another appointment, so you need me to leave...yada yada yada.”
“But I—”
“Don’t have another appointment,” he said, matter-of-factly. “I glanced at the calendar on your receptionist’s desk before coming in.”
She sighed. She had no idea what he was up to, but she didn’t trust him. And more than that, she didn’t trust herself around him. “Look, Scott, we don’t have anything to discuss. The wedding plans are coming along nicely. Your staff has been very accommodating, and really that’s all we should be concerned about. So despite not having a polite lie to use as an excuse, I’m still not having lunch with you.” Her palms were sweating and she was sure he could see her pulse throbbing in her neck. The temptation to leap across the desk and straddle him in her office chair was overwhelming and irritating.
He stood and tossed a piece of paper from his jeans pocket onto her desk.
She recognized her handwriting and hid the smile tugging at the corner of her mouth. “You got my note.”
“Yes, I did, and I’m not leaving you alone until I get my other half a star.”
* * *
“I CAN’T BELIEVE I’m having lunch with you,” Kate muttered as she sat in the chair the waiter held for her half an hour later.
Neither could he. “Well, I’m happy you reconsidered.”
She glared at him as he settled himself across from her. “You sat in my office playing Candy Crush until I did. So why are you really here? As flattering as all this attention from you is, I’m sure you didn’t drag yourself away from your precious mountains to try to restore your ego from my little note.”
“As a matter of fact, I did,” he said, taking his napkin and placing it on his lap. The yacht club restaurant on the marina wouldn’t have been his first choice of places to eat. He preferred a burger joint or Al’s Pizzeria, a quiet little hole-in-the-wall place near downtown where he always grabbed a slice when he was on a delivery run. But the expensive restaurant had been her choice, and he was there to try to convince her that he was right to want to protect Derek from making a lifelong commitment to a woman hiding something from him. If he could get her to understand, get her on his side, maybe she could talk to Liz, too. If the bride came clean, he wouldn’t have to. He wouldn’t have to be the one who crushed his brother, even though there was no taking back his part in it. Damn, he hated that he was in this situation.
“Want to try again? With the truth this time?” she asked as a waiter filled their water glasses.
He laughed as he sat back. “Okay, you’re right. I do have business in town.”
She looked relieved.
Too bad he wasn’t about to let her relax for long, especially when she looked so damn beautiful when she was annoyed. “I’m going to see Liz,” he said.
“No, you are not,” she said, pointing a finger at him.
Several diners at the nearby tables turned to look at them as her voice rose.
“Shh, this is a nice place,” he said, enjoying her frazzled look.
“Scott, what are you doing?”
“I just think she and I should talk. Derek should know the truth, and if sh
e’s willing to tell him, then I don’t have to. They can go ahead and live happily ever after if that’s what they both want.” He sat back in the chair and forced his shoulders to relax.
Kate looked anything but. Annoyance and desperation reflected in her dark eyes. “It’s been two years and neither of you has said a word to Derek. How can you just spring this on him now?” she asked. “Let it go, Scott!”
He sat forward again, resting his elbows on the table. “I can’t do that. Do you have siblings?”
She nodded.
“Are you close?”
Again, the tight nod.
“Then you should understand this. My brother and I have always had each other’s backs. I can’t let him get married without knowing the truth, and he deserves to hear it from Liz. She knew she was in a relationship. I didn’t. Therefore, this should be on her to come clean. You have to agree with that.” He took a sip of water and reached for a menu. He wasn’t sure why he felt the need to get permission from her or at least her agreement on this point, but he did. His own experience with cheating women had him feeling the need to save others from a similar fate. But he didn’t want Derek hating him over it. He’d made a mistake, but Liz had knowingly cheated.
Yet, like Amy, Liz was burying the issue and moving on with her life. While Scott was left drowning in guilt.
“I suppose I agree with that part,” Kate said through gritted teeth. “But I just don’t think Liz will be willing to hear you out.”
He continued to scan the menu.
“And if you piss off my client and I lose this wedding account, I’ll have to kill you. So, no, I’m not letting you go see her.”
He leaned forward across the table and met her stubborn stare. She was so incredibly beautiful, and her deeply furrowed brow did nothing to detract from her beauty. The opposite was true. He’d always been attracted to strength in a woman, and Kate Hartley had no shortage of strength, which made her very tempting. “I’d love to know how you plan to stop me...because short of keeping me...preoccupied all afternoon, I don’t see how that’s possible.”
Her dark eyes burned into his, and she opened her mouth to say something, but her gaze shifted to the right of him and then lowered to the table. Her cheeks turned a deep shade of red as she picked up her own menu and hid behind it.
He turned in the direction she’d been looking. Two police officers sat three tables away. He frowned and reached forward to lower her menu. “You in trouble with the law or something?”
She shook her head, looking even more on edge. “No. Arguing with you has just made me hungry.” She was clearly pretending to scan the menu, seeing as how it was upside down.
He took it and righted it for her. “Ex-boyfriend?” he guessed, glancing over his shoulder again to look. He hoped he was wrong. Neither man looked good enough for her. Even seated, he could tell she’d tower over one of them and she’d be eye level with the other... A woman like Kate needed a bigger, stronger man to keep up with her. A man who could pick her up and carry her into a bedroom with ease.
But she nodded, her jaw visibly clenched. “The one on the right.”
“Was it recent?”
“Ten months ago.”
Okay, so not recent enough to still be hiding. “Was it serious?”
“Right up until he left me stranded at our destination wedding.”
Obviously the words had slipped out, as she shifted uncomfortably in her seat and sucked her bottom lip in.
“He’s a moron,” he said casually. One he’d like to punch, and probably would if the guy wasn’t wearing a police uniform.
“The first thing we agree on,” she said, and he saw her shoulders relax slightly.
“Actually, I think there were a few sexual positions we agreed on...” He smiled at her, nudging the menu lower. She shouldn’t be hiding from this guy. She looked amazing. She should be sitting there smiling, flirting, laughing, showing the idiot everything he’d been a fool to walk away from.
She let the menu fall as she reluctantly smiled. “There might have been that.” Her gaze locked with his, and damn if he wasn’t immediately ready to discover if there were more positions they could agree on. A few instantly came to mind, and he didn’t think for a second he’d get any resistance from her.
“Kate?”
The guy was supposed to admire her and kick himself from afar, not be approaching the table. Scott really didn’t want to meet the guy who’d obviously hurt Kate, and the odd sense of protectiveness he felt made him uneasy.
But still, instinctively, he placed a hand on the table and reached for hers.
She looked surprised but didn’t pull away. “Hey, Cooper,” she said.
“Hi,” the anxious-looking cop said. “I’ve been trying to call you.”
“Yes, I know,” she said tightly.
The cop glanced between Scott and Kate, his gaze stopping at their entwined fingers. “Can we talk for a minute? Alone?”
“I’m in the middle of a lunch date.” Kate’s grip tightened on his, and he shifted even closer. This guy’s presence was clearly making her uncomfortable.
“Hey, you must be the ex,” Scott said, hoping to turn the tables. It was this asshole who should be feeling uneasy.
“And you are?” Cooper’s chest puffed up, and in response Scott sat straighter, showing the guy he wasn’t one to back down.
“Just a business associate of Kate’s,” he said.
“You’re into wedding planning?” He smirked.
“I own a large ski resort in the mountains.” Not that it was that successful, but the guy’s reaction was worth the lie, so he continued. “Kate has landed some really big, important wedding clients, and we are coordinating the wedding of the year together.” That part wasn’t completely dishonest.
Kate just nodded along.
Cooper’s expression hardened. “Getting awfully friendly with your business associates, aren’t you, Kate?”
“It’s really none of your business,” she said, trying to tug her hand away.
He held tight. “As a matter of fact, we are getting quite friendly, aren’t we? Those long, late nights discussing...the details.” He sent her his best lust-filled expression and knew it had hit its mark when, from the corner of his eye, he saw the guy fold his arms across his chest. His face reddened all the way to the tips of his ears. Funny, he’d always thought the color of jealousy was green.
Kate looked slightly uncomfortable, but she nodded. “Yes, that’s right. And as I said, we’re trying to enjoy lunch, so...’bye, Cooper.”
The guy looked about to argue, but Scott interrupted. “We’ve worked up quite an appetite...going over details,” he said with a grin.
He thought the cop’s head might explode, but with a final heated stare directed at Kate, he turned and walked away.
Victory.
7
“THANK YOU FOR THAT,” Kate said, climbing into her car an hour later.
Scott smiled as he reached for his seat belt. “No problem. It was actually kinda nice pretending the resort was doing so well.”
She glanced at him as she readjusted the rearview mirror. “It isn’t?”
“Not as well as I’d like...or well enough to keep the electricity on next month.”
She shot him a look. “I need electricity for my wedding,” she said, then noticing his worried expression, asked, “Are you serious? How can things be that bad?”
He removed his baseball cap, placing it on hi
s knee as he ran a hand through his hair. “The renovations last year were extensive. I put a lot of money into the place that I hadn’t expected, and it cut into operating costs. Without proper advertising and a website, it’s hard to attract new tourists. The regulars are great with their word-of-mouth recommendations, especially since the overhaul, but it’s not enough.” He shrugged.
Wow. Who knew they’d have struggling businesses in common. “When will the website be finished?”
He shrugged. “Whenever Liz and I can put this all behind us, I guess.”
“Which won’t happen if she marries your brother without telling him the truth?” She swallowed hard as she merged into traffic. She understood Scott’s wanting his brother to go into this marriage with eyes wide-open about his bride, but she wished he could see how the wedding would help his resort. Besides, Derek was a big boy, and she suspected he knew the woman he was marrying.
“I just want her to be honest with him so I don’t have to keep lying.”
That made sense, too. Damn. She hadn’t wanted his side to make sense. It made pushing for her own way a hell of a lot harder. Harder, but still necessary. “Maybe you should get a different company to do the website?”
“I would...but the truth is, HighRes is doing an amazing job so far. I’ve seen the links to the pages that are already done—the rooms and the amenities—and it looks incredible.” He sighed. “I don’t even want the place. I just want to make a profit next year so I can sell it.”
That surprised her. “Really?”
He nodded. “Yeah. My interest is in the cargo plane delivery service that came as a package deal with the resort. The business that could actually be a success, if I had time to devote to it.” He ran a hand through his hair, and she resisted the urge to reach out and run her own fingers through the dark, spiky mess.
“You can fly a plane?” she asked, keeping her hands on the wheel.
“Yes. I was a commercial pilot in a former life.” His smile faded slightly. “Liz didn’t tell you how we met?”
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