Nobody Does it Better

by Samantha Chase

  Putting his plate down, he gave her a sympathetic smile. “To be fair, I was a bit of a condescending jackass at the café. Looking back, I realize I must have sounded like an entitled snob.”

  Her head turned away, but he heard the soft snicker before she composed herself. “Just a little.”

  “I’d like to say I’m not usually like that, but I have a feeling I am without even realizing it. So, like you, I promise to be more professional and less condescending moving forward.”

  That made her visibly relax. “Okay then! Where should we start? The resort?”

  Nodding, he picked up his pizza and took a bite before he began to explain to her his vision for The Ashford. The property he’d purchased from Austin’s father wasn’t oceanfront–hell, it wasn’t even on the sound or in a prime location–but it had a lot of potential.

  He'd make sure of it.

  Because Magnolia Sound was small enough and narrow enough that it was only a block or two in either direction to get to water, Ryder knew he could play up on the views and proximity to the water.

  Something he planned to do.

  “Okay,” he said, wiping his hands. “The Ashford. I envision it being…”

  “I’m sorry,” Peyton interrupted softly. “The Ashford?”

  Nodding, he explained, “The resort. That’s what I’m naming it.”

  “Seriously?”

  “You don’t like it?”

  “It’s a little…narcissistic, don’t you think? Naming it after yourself.”

  “That was the point,” he replied, and immediately realized how that sounded. “Not that I wanted to come off as being a narcissist, but this is my first step into the hospitality industry and the thought of using my family name felt right.”

  With a small shrug, she murmured, “Oh.”

  It would have been easy to move on, but for some reason, her reaction annoyed him. Shifting in his seat, he twisted to fully face her. “I thought the name sounded better than the overuse of the word Magnolia on everything here in town. I’m going for originality.”

  Another shrug. “It’s your resort, Ryder. You’re allowed to name it whatever you want.”

  And while that was true, now she had him wondering if other people in town would have a negative reaction to the name, dammit.

  “I know I can name it whatever I want,” he replied with a small huff or irritation. “And I was fine with it until your little reaction.”

  “My reaction? All I said was oh.”

  “Exactly!”

  Her gaze narrowed. “You’re not making any sense and the name of the resort really isn’t the issue here. Tell me about your plans for the resort itself. What is the theme? The style? What kind of clientele are you hoping to attract? What amenities are you planning to offer?”

  The smart thing to do was move on and answer her questions, but Ryder knew himself well enough to know he was going to obsess about the name from here on out.

  But he’d do it when he was alone.

  With a bit of a renewed focus, he decided to give her his entire project pitch and focus on the details. He hoped she’d be able to envision it all with him while not obsessing over her reaction. Of course, this would have been easier if he had brought his laptop with him and showed her the PowerPoint presentation, but for tonight he was going to simply have to rely on doing things the old-fashioned way.

  “As you know,” he began, “the property we’re building on isn’t waterfront, and it is right on the border of Magnolia Sound and the town of Laurel Bay. However, my goal is to give the illusion of being right on the water. Imagine a boutique hotel, if you will. The buildings will all be crisp and bright and done with a high level of coastal décor. Spacious guest rooms, spa services, a pool with cabanas around it, a sophisticated and elegant restaurant along with a poolside café, and everyone will have concierge service.”

  “So this is definitely a high-end resort,” Peyton commented.

  “Exactly. Like a gated country-club resort–white-glove service all the way,” he went on and then stopped when she got that look on her face again. The one that showed she was completely unimpressed. “Now what?”

  “What?”

  “I can tell I’ve lost you already. What’s wrong with my plans?”

  She let out a long sigh and looked mildly uncomfortable. “It’s nothing. Really. Go on.”

  He’d shared his plans with investors who all loved it. He’d shared his plans with several friends who all thought it was great. Why was he letting the fact that Peyton wasn’t the least bit impressed with any of it bother him so much?

  “Peyton,” he began evenly. “If we’re going to be working together, then you need to be honest with me. If there’s a flaw in the plans–even though I don’t believe there is–then you need to tell me about it.”

  “It doesn’t matter what I think of your plans,” she countered. “I’m only going to be consulting on the restaurant. The rest of it doesn’t have anything to do with me.”

  It was the perfect and politically correct response and yet…

  Resting his arm along the back of the sofa, his annoyance came to the surface.

  “The restaurant is part of the resort–an important part of the resort–and as such, you need to have an understanding of the property as a whole. So if there is something you find undesirable about any aspect of it, then you need to share it.”

  “Need to?”

  “Yes. Need to.”

  In the blink of an eye, her mood seemed to match his.

  “Okay, Ryder, here’s what I think,” she said with a bit of snap to her soft voice. “You’ve come around here enough to know what kind of town Magnolia is. It’s a small, sleepy, coastal town. We’re not big on commercial investors coming in changing things. That’s not the vision my great-grandfather or any of the founding families had in mind. What you’re proposing sounds like a perfectly lovely resort for a city that is much bigger and caters to your snooty clientele.”

  “Snooty? I never said…”

  “And on top of that, your location isn’t conducive to what you want to do. Granted, the north end of town has undergone a bit of a revitalization in the last few years, but it’s certainly not the gateway to some upscale, snobby resort!”

  “Now it’s snobby? If you’d just…”

  “You’re going to exclude the locals, don’t you get that? The average person who lives here won’t be able to afford a stay at The Ashford,” she went on with a serious eye roll, “and the type of guests you’ll be courting aren’t going to leave the resort property to shop around town because they’ll consider it beneath them. Everyone will get their hopes up that this is going to bring revenue to the town, but it’s not. Not in the long-term. Have you even thought about that?”

  For a moment, Ryder was too stunned to speak. Here he was thinking that he was going to mentor Peyton and teach her about business, and yet she’d clearly hit on something his entire team of researchers hadn’t.

  Or maybe they had, and he just wasn’t listening.

  His mind was spinning with all the ways she was wrong and how he could still make things work, but…

  “Look, all I’m saying is that maybe tone down the exclusivity of the resort or maybe do a little market research around town to see if this sort of thing is wanted or needed,” Peyton said patiently, as if sensing his inner turmoil. “Maybe I’m way off-base here, but other than my parents and some of their friends, you’ll find a bigger crowd at places like The Sand Bar than you will at the country club.”

  “I understand that, but maybe a more upscale clientele would help the town’s image,” he reasoned. “Perhaps they’ll find a certain…charm to Magnolia and won’t mind its lack of commercial appeal or lack of some of the creature comforts you’d find in a bigger, more established beach town.”

  She looked ready to spit nails but didn’t respond right away. But when she did…

  “Or maybe you can just throw some cash to all the businesses at
that end of town and make them do more beautification to match your snobby-snobberson guests!”

  Pinching the bridge of his nose, Ryder silently counted to ten, because this was getting them nowhere.

  “Who elected you the person to come in and change the town?” she demanded, her voice rising with every word. “If you think so little of Magnolia, why are you even considering building here? Why do you keep buying things here?”

  “Peyton…”

  Jumping to her feet, she stepped in and leaned closer to where he was sitting. “Part of the charm of this town is how it’s not a tourist trap! The people who live here have lived here their entire lives! They’re the same people who own the businesses and support one another and if you ask me, what you’re looking to do will destroy everything that makes Magnolia special!”

  He was done. Getting to his feet, Ryder took pleasure in the fact that he towered over her and caused her to take a step back. He wasn’t opposed to the debate on the pros and cons of his plan. What he was opposed to was the fact that Peyton was getting emotional rather than sitting and having a rational conversation.

  “That’s enough!” he shouted and immediately regretted it. Her eyes went wide and he had to remind himself that he was in her home. Raking a hand through his hair, he let out a weary breath. “I had really hoped to have a calm and level-headed discussion with you, but that’s proving to be impossible. This isn’t personal, Peyton; it’s business. Surely you can differentiate between the two!”

  “Anything that happens in this town is personal! My family built this town, Ryder. Don’t you get that? You think you can just come in here and tweak it and turn it into something that will only benefit you! Don’t you have enough? Can’t you find some other town to play God with? Why don’t you move things over to Laurel Bay, huh?”

  “I don’t see making improvement as playing God and I think it’s childish for you to be carrying on like this. Honestly, you haven’t let me get through even one-tenth of the presentation before you passed judgement on the project and me!” His hand went through his hair again because he was on the verge of physically shaking some sense into her. “Ten minutes ago, you apologized for your behavior and yet here we are dealing with it again!”

  “And you promised not to be so condescending and yet,” she said snidely, throwing his words back to him. “Here we are.” A small growl came next before she looked at him with utter disdain. She crossed her arms over her chest and instead of looking intimidating–which he was fairly certain was what she was going for–he found she looked…sexy.

  Uh-oh…

  She was a little breathless, her cheeks were flushed, and…yeah. Sexy.

  Ryder took one step back and then another because he needed to put the space between them.

  A lot of space.

  “What’s the matter? Is it possible the great Ryder Ashford has nothing to say?” she provoked as she advanced on him. “Or are you just pissed off because I wasn’t all wowed by something you’re looking to do? You seem the type who surrounds himself with a bunch of yes-men who just ooh and ahh over everything you propose.”

  It was wrong how much she fascinated him, or the way he found her whole demeanor so arousing. And she wasn’t wrong. He did surround himself with people who typically agreed with everything he did or said. Having someone challenge him wasn’t exactly new, but it was never quite like this.

  “Tell me I’m wrong,” she went on. “Tell me I don’t know what I’m talking about.” With each word, she got closer, and Ryder was pretty sure he must look like a deer caught in the headlights. When she was toe-to-toe with him, she looked up at him with a confident smile. “Aren’t you going to say anything?”

  It took all of three seconds for his response to come to him, and it wasn’t something he was prepared to think about.

  And it certainly wasn’t something he’d ever done in a meeting before.

  He reached out and hauled Peyton into his arms and silenced her with a kiss.

  It wasn’t a sweet or slow getting-to-know-you kind of kiss either; it was purely about want and need and heat and desire. Her palms flattened against his chest as his own hand anchored the back of her head before tugging the clip holding her hair back and tossing it across the room. Long, silky tresses covered his hand as he heard Peyton’s soft gasp.

  Then she was kissing him with equal abandon and it was hard to tell who was in control, but…dammit, Ryder wanted it to be him–needed it to be him.

  Banding his arm around her waist, he pressed her even closer as his tongue teased hers. She fit perfectly against him and kissed like a damn dream. When her hands smoothed up over his chest and shoulders and then up his neck and into his hair, he thought it was the most erotic thing he’d felt in a long time.

  Too long.

  His own hands twitched with the need to touch her more–to explore her–but it suddenly hit him how wrong this was. He had come here to talk business with her–to offer to mentor her–and instead he was manhandling her in the middle of her living room. With a mental curse for his lack of control, Ryder broke the kiss and took a step back, swallowing hard.

  “Peyton, I’m…I’m sorry. That was incredibly unprofessional of me and I’d completely understand if you didn’t want to move forward with our working relationship.” He paused and tried to gauge her reaction, but she was simply watching him while her fingers gently rested on her lips.

  Lucky fingers…

  “You have to know that…this…I mean…it had nothing to do with business and in no way was I implying that it would be,” he rambled on. “So please forgive me and…I think I should go.” And in a very un-Ryder-like fashion, he practically tripped over his own two feet in his haste to get to the door. Yanking it open, he turned and looked at her one more time and noticed she hadn’t moved. “I’m sorry. Have a good evening.”

  And like a coward, he walked out.

  5

  If Peyton had ever thought she’d been kissed thoroughly before, she was wrong.

  Utterly and completely wrong because…

  Holy hell.

  Ryder left over an hour ago and she was still trying to wrap her brain around what happened. There had been no hint of him wanting to kiss her. Hell, there hadn’t even been a hint that he was attracted to her and then…BAM! Kissing!

  And she wasn’t complaining one bit.

  If anything, she wished she had been bold enough to tell him not to leave.

  Looking around, she realized all the ways this night went off the rails. She wasn’t relaxed, they’d never finished their dinner, she never had the chance to talk about her ideas for the restaurant, and as much as she’d like to blame it all on Ryder, she couldn’t.

  “I was majorly bitchy,” she murmured. “Again.”

  Yeah, this was a side of herself she wasn’t loving.

  Her whole life, Peyton always avoided confrontations of any kind. She remained neutral in just about every situation, no matter how frustrated she felt. There was just something about Ryder that just…brought out the worst in her.

  And that just cost her the opportunity to get what she wanted most.

  Her own restaurant.

  Okay, so technically it wouldn’t truly be hers, but it was closer than anything she was going to be able to accomplish on her own and she’d blown it.

  Or…had she?

  Grabbing a slice of cold pizza, she leaned back on the sofa. Everything happened so quickly, but she knew she didn’t say anything about not wanting to work with him and all Ryder said was how he’d understand if she didn’t want to move forward with their working relationship. So…the way she saw it, they were still working together.

  But without the kissing.

  Which was unfortunate because it had been a long time since she’d been kissed and it had never been like that.

  And she would not have minded one bit if Ryder had kissed her some more.

  Or carried her off to bed.

  “That’s definitely not
going to happen.” While she couldn’t know for sure, Peyton had a feeling that once Ryder Ashford set his mind to something, he stuck to it. And it was pretty obvious that he was horrified at the thought of kissing her again.

  Just thinking about it made her sigh.

  “Figures,” she said around another bite of pizza. “A sexy guy who happens to be crazy handsome goes and kisses me and he practically leaves skid marks in his haste to get away. Awesome.”

  Yeah, it definitely didn’t do much for her self-esteem.

  Which was why she ate another slice of pizza before walking to the kitchen and searching for something sweet to eat that wasn’t gourmet chocolate from Ryder. Then she remembered her plan to go walk on the beach and decided to save dessert until she got back.

  She made it all of three steps off the back deck before she realized how it wasn’t what she wanted. A walk wasn’t going to calm her down or help her relax because what she wanted was answers. She wanted to know more about this resort Ryder was planning and made a promise to herself–again–that she would control herself and not react no matter how much she disagreed with what he was envisioning.

  Back in the house, she walked to her bedroom and grabbed a hoodie and pulled it on before slipping on a pair of sandals. It wasn’t glamorous, but it didn’t matter. When she picked up her phone, she quickly tapped out a text to Austin asking for Ryder’s address and was surprised when he didn’t question it.

  “Smart man.”

  Five minutes later, she was in her car and driving to the southern tip of town. Her nerves were all over the place and she played out at least half a dozen different scenarios in her head in hopes of being prepared for his response to her showing up on his doorstep.

  Only one involved him kissing her senseless again and it was the one she was most in favor of.

  But when she pulled up to his house a few minutes later, Peyton found herself second-guessing her impulsive decision. His car was there, the lights were on in the house, but suddenly it felt wrong for her to be there.