Chapter 4
Three times. Three times Reagan had checked her front driveway to find Hunter’s truck still parked there. He’d said he’d wait her out, but this wasn’t what she’d pictured. What was he going to do? Sleep in his truck? She sighed. Her heart was still in the fight, but her body and soul were tired. Giving up was the last thing she wanted to do, but what else was there?
Again, she checked his truck, and he was gone. Then a knock came from the back door. Surely he wasn’t up for another round of arguing. She trudged to the back screen door and stopped.
“Hey.” He looked about as thrilled to see her as she was him.
“Hunter, it’s late. I’m tired, and I have to be up early to cook breakfast. If this is you looking for round two, I’m gonna have to pass.”
His shoulders slumped a little. “Well, I’ve found myself in a pretty deep hole, and I’m hoping you’ll help me climb out.”
Reagan regarded him a minute. “Why would I do that?”
He took a long, deep breath, and as he exhaled, she saw in him the same bone-deep weariness she was feeling. Stuffing his hands in his jean pockets, he asked, “Can I come in? Please?”
Despite wanting to shut the door in his face, she found herself more interested in what he could possibly want to talk about. She pushed the door open. “Come on.”
He stepped inside, staying close to the door. Whatever had happened between the last time she’d spoken to him and now, it had sucked a little bit of his fight out. Tired lines creased around his eyes and lips. She almost found herself wanting to comfort him, but he was the enemy. Letting down her guard would only give him the ammunition he needed to take her home and business away.
“I really don’t want to fight with you,” he said softly.
“Then stop…stop hounding me.” If she could see he was tired, surely he could see the same in her. Couldn’t he offer just a smidge of mercy just once? She didn’t have the energy to fight a war on two fronts: him and the bank.
He held up his hands in surrender. “I’m not the enemy. I don’t want to see someone buy it and tear it down.”
Leaning her hip on the countertop next to the fridge, she crossed her arms over her chest and her feet at the ankles. “You really think you’re the answer to what this place needs?”
“Structurally, the place is sound, but it does need a lot of work. The porch has several boards that need to be replaced. It needs to be painted…” He stopped short and closed his eyes. “That’s not why I’m here, though.” His chest heaved as he inhaled deeply.
“Sure sounds like it,” she snapped. “Is this just another one of your ways to gain my trust because I don’t trust you?” It was just like rich people to work the sad eyes, make you think they cared, and, wham, you’re shoved out onto the street.
“No, I’m tired and out of tactics. If I had a white flag, I’d be waving it.”
She scoffed. “Then what do you want from me?
“I have…I have a proposition for you. One that will get both of us out of a bind.” The swagger he’d walked in with earlier was gone. Either she was letting him get to her or maybe he was backing up. She’d even say he looked a little defeated.
She chewed her bottom lip. “A proposition? What does that mean?”
“Just hear me out. Like I said, I think it’ll solve both our problems.” He glanced at the table. “Any chance you’d let me sit down again?”
She hesitated and then waved him toward it. “Sure.”
He slowly walked to the same chair he’d used before and sat, his shoulders slumped forward just a fraction. Unlike last time when it seemed like he was ready to take on a bear.
Trying to figure him out was much like putting a puzzle of the sky together. Just when she thought she had the right piece, it didn’t fit.
She crossed the room and sat across from him. “All right. I’ll hear you out, but you’ve got a tall mountain to climb.”
Scrubbing his face with his hands, he set both elbows on the table and held his head. “I know. I doubt you’ll even agree to it, but…and I hate to admit this, but I’m a little desperate.” The last word came out just above a whisper.
This guy wasn’t used to feeling like this. His rough, calloused hands spoke of hard work, determination, and a man who finished what he started. It earned a little respect from her, but just a little.
“Okay, my interest is definitely piqued now.” She scooted down in the chair and put her feet on the seat of another, crossing her feet at the ankles. “What is it that you think I won’t agree to?”
He lifted his head and set his arms on the table. “I have a decent-size family. There are four brothers and a sister. We’re all fairly close, and after my sister got married last year on New Year’s Eve, she decided to make it her mission to get us married off.”
A tiny bark of laughter bubbled out. She couldn’t have heard that right. “What?”
He touched his hand to his forehead, exhaling sharply. “Why am I even doing this?” He started to get up, and Reagan quickly straightened and grabbed his hand, stopping him.
Tingles of electricity raced up her arm so quickly that she shivered and yanked her hand back. “I’m sorry. I just didn’t expect you to say that.”
He caught her gaze and held it. Whatever anger she’d harbored toward him earlier had turned to mist and floated away. Hunter was hurting, and if there was one thing she understood, it was hurt. “All right, spill it. I’m guessing it’s a bit of a problem with the way you’re acting.”
His gaze dipped to the floor. “I told my sister I was engaged earlier this year. I didn’t want her meddling or trying to fix me up. It just slipped out, and before I knew it, it was this giant lie that I didn’t know how to fix.”
“Okay, but what does that have to do with me? Or were you just needing someone to talk to?”
This time when he caught her gaze, she felt the shift in his mood. “I need a fiancée. If you will agree to accompany me home for Thanksgiving, pretending we’re engaged, I will give you the money to bring your mortgage current, along with the other vendors you’re late paying. I’ll also throw in a new roof and new porch.”
Did he just say what she thought he said? Pretend to be his fiancée? “Are there cameras somewhere? Are you punking me?”
His entire body seemed to slump forward. “I wish I was, but no. It’s just for the weekend. When we get back, I will tell them in a few weeks that we broke up. You’ll never have to see them again.”
“You can’t find any ex-girlfriend or woman at home that will be willing to go through with a charade like this?”
Shaking his head, Hunter said, “No, I honestly haven’t had that many girlfriends. I’ve been working since I could pick up a hammer. My schedule and my life don’t exactly work for a relationship. And my mom knows all the girls back home. If I’d been engaged to one of them, she’d know it.”
“So you need someone your family has never met.”
“That’s about the gist of it.”
She raised an eyebrow. “How is this going to help you get my property? If I take the money and get ahead, I’ll never sell.”
“This isn’t about finding a way to get your property. I would rather you have a way to keep it than to see someone else destroy it. At least this way the place is preserved, even if it isn’t mine.”
Reagan didn’t know what to think. She’d been asked a lot of things, but being someone’s fake fiancée had never been on her radar. “I don’t know…”
Hunter nodded. “I figured you would need to think about it. I know if the roles were reversed, I’d have to do some hardcore mulling myself.”
“That’s an understatement. You’re asking me to help you lie to your family. Are you sure that’s something you want to do?”
The lines around his eyes and lips deepened, and he hung his head. “Not really, but,” he exhaled heavily, “I don’t want to meet someone on the internet either. I have no problems with them or people wa
nting to use dating sites. I just don’t want that.”
She took her lower lip in her teeth. The vibe she was getting from him was that this wasn’t his normal way of doing things. “Would it just be easier to come clean? If they love you, they’ll understand.”
“I really don’t want to disappoint my mom.” He mumbled something, and she couldn’t be sure she heard him right, but she could’ve sworn he’d tacked on “as always” at the end. This man didn’t strike her as someone who let people down often.
Before he’d offered to buy her bed and breakfast, she’d been really attracted to him, going even so far as to be a bumbling mess around him. It wouldn’t be a real chore to call him fiancée. Still, lying to an entire group of people and keeping up the pretense that they were together? That could be a spider’s web of lies to get tangled up in. Was it worth it?
“I really need to think about it,” Reagan said.
He lifted his head, and the blue eyes that had captivated her the first time she met him were filled with sorrow. “I know. I’m not going to rush you. Thanksgiving is in two weeks, and you have until then.” He slowly stood and rubbed his hands down his jeans. “I’ll get going. I have an early morning, and I bet you do too.”
She rose from her chair and walked with him to the door. “Well, breakfast isn’t going to cook itself.”
“I sometimes wish these houses would remodel themselves,” he said with a chuckle. “You’ve got my number, right?”
“Yeah, I still have your card from the last time you were here.”
Once he was out the door, she shut and locked it. Leaning against it, she went back over their conversation. It sure was a lot to consider. A relationship itself was hard enough without pretending to be in one. Still, the prospects of getting current on her note along with the roof and porch fixed sure was tempting. What other options did she have?
She covered her mouth with her hand as she yawned. It was also something she needed to ponder when she wasn’t feeling like the walking dead. This was a decision for after her morning coffee tomorrow.
Chapter 5
If there was a record for checking a person’s phone, Hunter would be a gold champion. Since his conversation with Reagan a week ago, he’d been glued to his phone, waiting for her to call with her answer. If this was payback for offering to purchase The Sandy Pelican, it was working.
“You’ve been looking at your phone every ten minutes for days now. Do you have a girlfriend I don’t know about?” Stone asked, holding a cabinet ready for installation.
Not hardly, but Hunter didn’t want to share the real reason either. The amount of ribbing he’d get wasn’t worth it. Instead of answering his partner, he tucked his phone back in his jean pocket and changed the subject. “Did the new dumpster get delivered to the other job site?”
The one that had originally been delivered had filled up quickly from the demolition. They’d underestimated what they’d needed, and demo had stopped for a few days until the dumpster company could get them a bigger one.
His partner shook his head. “Nice sidestep there, buddy. Yeah, it’s been delivered.”
This was one of the reasons Hunter hated delegating jobs. It was too easy to get stalled on a project and delay getting it on the market. More often than not, things like that had a domino effect, and it cost them money. Another item on Hunter’s list of cons for the business. It made him that much more motivated to sell his half. Even if he didn’t end up purchasing the bed and breakfast, he was done flipping.
Hunter took the cabinet from Stone and rested it on the piece of wood he’d nailed to the wall as a guide. Stone wouldn’t have needed it. This was where their individual talents came into play. Hunter couldn’t eyeball things like Stone. The guy had a knack for just knowing if something was straight or not. If only that gift carried over to demo. Stone never accounted for unknown issues, even after all these years.
With the cabinet held in place, Hunter used the drill to sink the screw. They’d be hidden once the tile backsplash was installed.
“I guess demo has started again, then?” Hunter asked.
Stone nodded. “Yeah, but it got there late, so we’ll only get about an hour before it’s quitting time.”
Hunter held his frustration in. “Better than none at all.”
“You’re going to that job site to do some demo after this, aren’t you?”
Hunter stepped off the ladder he’d used to reach the top screws and surveyed his work. “I might.”
“Let’s go out for a beer. I’m going to save you from yourself tonight,” Stone said.
Hunter’s phone buzzed in his pocket, and he quickly pulled it out. Reagan. He answered and motioned to Stone that he’d be back in a minute. “Hi.” He walked out of the kitchen and away from listening ears.
“Hi, Hunter,” Reagan said.
It had been years since he’d been this nervous to talk to someone. Then again, it wasn’t every day he offered to pay someone to be engaged to him. And when he put it like that, it put a bad taste in his mouth.
“Uh…” She cleared her throat. “Do you happen to be free for dinner at my place tonight?”
Dinner? He blinked. “Uh, sure,” he said. Like he’d have plans. Hardly. If he wasn’t having dinner with her, he’d be eating pretzels at a sports bar with Stone, watching a game he didn’t care about played by people he didn’t know. Eating a meal with Reagan would be a step up, even if they just ate pretzels.
“Good. Think you could make it to the bed and breakfast by, say, six or so?”
If he had to cross an ocean, he’d be there. If she was flat-out telling him no, she wouldn’t be asking to have dinner. Or she could be offering him dinner to let him down easy. Great, now he’d be riding a mental seesaw until he saw her.
“Yeah, I can do that.” He pulled the phone from his ear and checked the time. If he left as soon as the call ended, he could even grab a shower.
“Great. I’ll see ya then.”
The call ended, and he stared at his phone screen for second and then slipped it back into his pocket.
“You look perplexed,” Stone said.
Hunter wheeled around, startled. “Uh, no, I’m good, but I need to get that last cabinet up.”
“Yeah, sure.” His partner shrugged. “What’s the rush, though?”
“I’ll have to raincheck the offer for a beer. I had something come up that isn’t work-related.”
Stone eyed him a moment. They’d learned long ago that if one didn’t want to give up information, they didn’t press it. “All right, then let’s get it done. I’m ready for a ball game and some downtime.”
So was Hunter, but with his looming meeting with Reagan, downtime wasn’t happening. He wasn’t sure what to hope for, but either way, after tonight, he’d at least have an answer. Once he had that, he could plan accordingly.
* * *
After parking his truck, Hunter stepped out as the sun cast an orange glow over everything it touched. With the way the cicadas were chirping, the temperature tomorrow was going to be triple digits with a hundred-percent chance of humidity. Good thing the air conditioning in the project house worked.
As he reached the backdoor to the kitchen, the first thing to hit him was the smell of something delicious wafting through the screen. Man, he hoped she made enough for seconds. He squinted and made out an aproned Reagan holding a bottle of wine while standing in front of the stove. Then he realized she was humming, and he could hear the joy in it. She enjoyed cooking.
She must have heard him because she looked up and said, “Come in.”
He stepped inside, and the aroma was even stronger. “Whatever that is, it smells amazing.” The second it was out of his mouth, his stomach loudly rumbled. A small part of him hoped she’d not only made enough for seconds, but thirds, and maybe even a takeout box. A little sweet tea was the only thing that could make it better.
Chuckling, she said, “Chicken française. Go ahead and take a seat.” She tipp
ed her head toward the table.
“Thanks.” He glanced at the table set for two. The lack of candles assured him it would be all business. If he were honest, he wasn’t sure what he thought about that. What if they weren’t on opposite sides? Having dinner with a beautiful woman sounded pretty good.
“Are you thirsty? I’ve made some fresh sweet tea.”
She must have been reading his mind. “I’d love some.”
The smile she flashed him reached her eyes, and he was struck by the brightness of it. He hadn’t noticed that before. Then again, anytime he’d come to The Sandy Pelican, it had been on business. Not that this wasn’t business, but…he shook the thought away. He was hungry. Clearly, he couldn’t think straight at the moment.
“I’m in the middle of this, so please help yourself. The pitcher’s in the fridge, and the glasses are in the cabinet to the left of it.”
On his way to the table, he helped himself to a tall glass. He took a long drag of the cold perfectly sweetened liquid. He refilled his glass and then poured her a glass as well.
Just as he set their glasses on the table, she poured some wine into the pan, and it flamed up. Considering the ease in which she handled it, it was something that happened fairly regularly. It showed a different side of her. One that was self-assured and confident. It took her from beautiful to downright gorgeous.
After plating their food, she placed one in front of him before taking a seat across from him with her own meal. “Thank you for the drink.”
“Sure,” he said, staring at the meal in front of him while taking his utensils out of the linen napkin and draping it over his lap.
“Eat. I promise you it’s not poisoned.”
He lifted his gaze to hers and chuckled. “I hadn’t thought of that. Maybe I should wait until you eat it.”
She cut a piece of chicken then popped it into her mouth. “See. All okay.”
Man, she was so different from the last time they’d spoken…and he liked this side of her. “I suspect it’s way better than okay.”
The Fake Fiance's Billionaire Adversary (Caprock Canyon Romance Book 2) Page 3