Tempting Kate
Jennifer Snow
Everything depends on this one dayWould anyone hire a wedding planner who was left at the altar? The answer, Kate Hartley has found out, is no. It’s been nearly a year since her fiancé abandoned her at their destination wedding, and Kate’s career is nearly toast. Unless she can pull off the wedding of the century for her new clients, a Hollywood power couple. So why is the groom’s brother, sexy-as-hell resort owner Scott Dillon, trying to stop the wedding?Scott wants to do the right thing—the bride-to-be is keeping a secret and Scott’s brother deserves the truth before he says “I do.” But if Scott doesn’t stop trying to stall the wedding, he’ll ruin Kate’s career, not to mention any chance he has of being with her.
Everything depends on this one day
Would anyone hire a wedding planner who was left at the altar? The answer, Kate Hartley has found out, is no. It’s been nearly a year since her fiancé abandoned her at their destination wedding, and Kate’s career is nearly toast. Unless she can pull off the wedding of the century for her new clients, a Hollywood power couple. So why is the groom’s brother, sexy-as-hell resort owner Scott Dillon, trying to stop the wedding?
Scott wants to do the right thing—the bride-to-be is keeping a secret and Scott’s brother deserves the truth before he says “I do.” But if Scott doesn’t stop trying to stall the wedding, he’ll ruin Kate’s career, not to mention any chance he has of being with her.
“How’s the water?” a deep voice asked.
Opening one eye, she sighed, her relaxed muscles immediately tensing. “I was enjoying it better before you arrived.”
“Well, I was enjoying a lot of things better before you arrived,” Scott said, his voice tight. “Anyway, I just wanted to let you know that I’ve changed my mind... You can plan the wedding here.”
She grinned, opening both eyes and sitting a little higher. “I know. Your mother told Liz an hour ago.” That was the only reason she was trying to relax in the hot tub instead of going another twelve rounds with him in his office.
His eyes narrowed as he approached the edge of the hot tub. “Here’s the thing, Ms. Hartley. You can go ahead and plan a wedding here, but that doesn’t mean my brother will actually be getting married.”
“We’ll see about that.” Clearly he had no idea who he was up against. She closed her eyes again, dismissing him, but the smell of his musky cologne continued to mix with the jasmine and eucalyptus. A long minute later, she heard the splash of Scott getting into the hot tub.
Dear Reader (#u0bfca7ac-ee89-50ce-a6d4-251d17386d96),
The last time we saw wedding planner Kate Hartley, she was brokenhearted from being left at the altar at her own destination wedding. In Tempting Kate, she just may find the happiness she deserves. But not without a few...roadblocks. Very few books come to me as fast and hard as this one did, but the moment Scott and Kate met on the page (on the side of a snowy road in Big Bear), they took over. Their chemistry was instant and their back-and-forth banter when they discover that they’re on opposing sides of this Memorial Day–weekend wedding made for such an enjoyable two hundred pages to write. This one is a little hotter than I usually write, so I hope that’s okay. ;)
I hope you enjoy reading this one as much as I enjoyed writing it.
xo
Jen
Tempting Kate
Jennifer Snow
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
JENNIFER SNOW is an award-winning romance author living in Edmonton, Alberta, with her husband and six-year-old son. She is a member of the Writers Guild of Alberta, the Romance Writers of America, the Canadian Authors Association, shewrites.org and FAVA. She has published articles in Mslexia magazine, Westword magazine, RWR and Southern Writers Magazine. Her publishing credits include her six-book Brookhollow miniseries published through Harlequin Heartwarming and an MMA sports romance series published through Penguin Random House’s Berkley/NAL. Her new small-town hockey series will release this fall through Grand Central Publishing’s Forever imprint. More information can be found at jennifersnowauthor.com (http://jennifersnowauthor.com).
To the authors of my favorite Blaze books—Joanne Rock, Tawny Weber and Karen Rock—for giving me so many sizzling-hot love stories to get lost in!
Acknowledgments (#u0bfca7ac-ee89-50ce-a6d4-251d17386d96)
Thank you as always to my agent, Stephany Evans, and my brilliant editor, Dana Grimaldi, who loved this book from the beginning. And a very special thank-you to award-winning boutique wedding planner Jennifer Bergman for a glimpse inside the world of wedding planning.
Contents
Cover (#u2bb5e706-50e4-5ed7-bc0f-beeb3caffe4e)
Back Cover Text (#u43ffaf14-9758-534c-93a3-92872ddbedf7)
Introduction (#u32a12a30-23ca-533b-8fa2-4beef4f7fff0)
Dear Reader (#ua092eda2-6313-5d7c-9031-0c6f8d94b4a5)
Title Page (#ud44350e1-fd65-50f1-8774-350508ef6f40)
About the Author (#uaecec2b8-7577-5e7d-8e1b-39f8e67b486f)
Dedication (#u808d9bf0-dde6-55bc-90d6-6f6734aaade3)
Acknowledgments (#uf4829946-64e4-53bd-af46-cb12105ac896)
Chapter 1 (#u4e22e1e5-8c53-53a5-a7d1-e3690db5fd7c)
Chapter 2 (#u196aafa5-fc68-5125-99a0-c5d1ec6335ad)
Chapter 3 (#u35621326-133a-5297-90a8-ed357838981e)
Chapter 4 (#u6eb26915-92c5-5e97-9016-d4c870c1ad92)
Chapter 5 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 6 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 7 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 8 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 9 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 10 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 11 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 12 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 13 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 14 (#litres_trial_promo)
Extract (#litres_trial_promo)
Copyright (#litres_trial_promo)
1 (#u0bfca7ac-ee89-50ce-a6d4-251d17386d96)
“WE ARE LIVE in twenty seconds.”
Twenty seconds.
Kate Hartley scanned the set of Today’s Woman, but she couldn’t locate an escape.
The talk show’s host, Claire Jamison, nodded as she readjusted the microphone on the collar of her pale blue blouse. “Ready?” she asked her, tossing her long red hair over one shoulder.
No. Kate forced a confident smile. “Of course.” She sat straighter and slid her palms down the length of her tan pencil skirt. She crossed and recrossed her legs as the producer counted down the seconds to airtime.
When he signaled that they were live, Claire spoke. “Welcome back. Before the break, we saw Lario perform his hit ‘When We Were Us,’ and he will be back to perform again at the end of today’s show. Now, we are pleased to introduce our next guest—Hollywood’s own wedding planner Kate Hartley, from Belle Affairs.” Claire turned to look at her with a smile. “Kate, good to see you.”
“Thank you for having me,” Kate said, relieved that her steady voice revealed none of the anxiety threatening to suffocate her.
“So as if you weren’t busy enough planning the nuptials of some of Tinseltown’s most glamorous couples, you recently wrote a book.” Claire picked up the hardcover that had hit store shelves the week before and held it up to the camera. “How to Get Him Down the Aisle—great title, and I suspect a question many single women out there are dying to know the answer to. Tell us about it.”
“Essentially, the book is an added service that my company has recently started offering our clients. We refer to it as the ‘warm the cold feet’ effort,” she said. Her chest tightened even more. Breathe and smile. “Believe it or not, men want to get married just as much as women...they just need that extra reassurance, that push to get them to the altar.”
Didn’t she know it?
She brushed the thought away as her smile faltered.
Unfortunately, her interviewer capitalized on the opportunity, jumping to the question that had allowed Kate’s publicist to secure this television spot. “You have firsthand experience about what happens when there’s no one there to give them the push, isn’t that right?” Her smile was sympathetic as she reached across and touched Kate’s hand, but her eyes gleamed with the eagerness of digging up gossip.
Kate had prepared for the interview to take this turn, so she nodded slowly. “It’s true. Last year, I was ditched at my destination wedding.” Pause. Give the expected heartbroken look. Then, forcing a light, I’m-over-it, confident air, continue. “And that’s why I wrote the book. To help my clients avoid a similar fate.” Thank God for the training and prep work she’d done with her publicist, Alison Dunn. Otherwise the lies coming out of her mouth would have choked her to death.
Claire nodded. “Great way to take a heartbreaking situation and turn it into something positive,” she said. “So in your case, what went wrong? You were in Maui...family and friends were there. The day of the wedding, he disappears. What happened?”
If she only knew, maybe it would have made the last ten months more bearable. “I’m not sure I’ll ever know...” Kate paused when she saw Alison, standing behind the cameraman on the far right, shake her head.
Shit. Just stick to the rehearsed answers. “I’m an experienced wedding planner—” she gestured to herself, earning a smile from Alison “—and I’m confident if I’d been paying attention, I’d have seen the telltale signs of a potential runaway groom.”
“Let’s discuss these telltale signs,” Claire said. “In the book, which I’ve read cover to cover...”
The woman had asked for a briefing just an hour before.
“...there are several chapters on spotting them before it’s too late. Do men really demonstrate these flight-risk traits?”
Claire was referring to the add-on chapters that the editor had suggested after Kate’s failed wedding had threatened her credibility. Her book had taken her three years to write and had been meant as a wedding planning guide, not a self-help tool for nervous brides. “Men exhibit these traits all the time—subconsciously, of course.” Kate had been noticing them in grooms for years, but never having seen anyone actually flee before the wedding, she’d dismissed them as harmless. Now, after Cooper’s betrayal, she’d realized there might be more to these prewedding jitters than she’d initially thought. “There are many reasons grooms get cold feet—insecurity, fear of commitment, a bad stag experience, for example. But by offering the right guidance, I believe I can help get the couple’s special day back on course and lead to their...” She hesitated. “Happily-ever-after. But the book is much more than just a runaway groom preventative strategy.” She wanted to lead the discussion away from her own wedding fiasco and back to the wedding guide portion of the book.
“Right.” Claire opened the book to the index and scanned the contents. “My personal favorite chapter is the one about the enablers. I think every woman can agree that the most dangerous threat to any relationship is the single bachelor friend.”
“Certainly. Men may not want to admit it, but their friendships run deep. The idea of losing a friend to marriage can make a friend who has the best of intentions act out of character, resulting in a second-guessing groom.”
“Well, I’m nowhere near the marriage phase, but if I were, this book would definitely be on my list of wedding planning guides—because what’s a wedding without the groom, right?” Claire flashed her best show-host smile at the camera.
Across from her, Kate’s gaze dropped to her hands clenched on her lap, an image of her empty, dismantled Maui beach wedding flashing in her mind. She’d thought of every last detail to make that day perfect, special...all except one.
How could she have prevented her fiancé from falling out of love?
“Kate?”
“Sorry, yes, exactly—a groom is a necessary evil,” she said with a fake laugh. One she’d perfected whenever someone asked about her failed wedding, which, unfortunately, given the nature of her business, was far too often. She’d thought by now people would have forgotten about it, but that had yet to happen.
And worse, she’d lost clients. She’d even heard a rumor floating around Hollywood that she was bad luck. Sigh.
“Well, thank you again for being on the show today, Kate.”
“My pleasure.” She smiled, relieved the interview was over. Publicity like this was important for book sales as well as the future of her company. She had to rebuild her clientele, but she wasn’t sure how often she could put herself through this.
Ten months and still the thought of her wedding day made her chest tighten. She’d learned to perfect casual dismissal of that terrible experience, but the betrayal had broken her heart and had affected her business—two reasons she could never bring herself to forgive Cooper Jennings.
* * *
“KATE, LIZ SHEFFIELD is here,” her assistant, Janet, announced, poking her head into Kate’s office later that afternoon.
She wasn’t sure which emotion was stronger—relief that the woman had returned or anxiety over a possible client from hell. Kate had never put so much effort into securing a contract before. Clearly, Liz had liked the proposal she’d emailed.
Liz Sheffield owned HighRes Media, a multimedia company in Beverly Hills. Her company designed movie trailers for some of Hollywood’s biggest movie studios, plus digital marketing presentations and multimedia websites for big businesses all over California. She had a lot of contacts and a lot of friends. Rich friends who could afford glamorous, if expensive weddings. Her word-of-mouth referral was exactly what Kate needed to restore her business’s name. “Okay, give me three minutes, then send her in, please.”
Kate kicked her feet free of her flip-flops, stashing them in the bottom drawer of her mahogany desk. Crossing the room, she slid back into the designer stilettos that forced her toes to overlap and her arches to ache. At five foot nine, she hardly needed the extra height, but the heels made her feel stronger, more powerful. Lately, her ego needed all the help it could get. She buttoned her charcoal suit jacket and smoothed a hand over her dark hair, hanging loose around her shoulders.
Reaching into the box of books from her publisher, she positioned a copy of How to Get Him Down the Aisle in plain view and ran a hand over the dust settling on the corners of her desk. When business slowed the year before, they’d canceled the office’s weekly cleaning service—a necessary cutback, since she was three months behind on the lease payments for the lavish office in the downtown high-rise. Without three or four new wedding deposits...soon...she’d be packing up shop.
The idea of working out of her home, the way she had at the beginning of her career, felt like a huge step backward. One she wasn’t willing to take.
She sat again and turned her attention to her computer, pasting on what she hoped was her busiest-looking expression as the door opened and Janet ushered Liz inside. Immediately, she stood and came around the desk to greet her. “Liz, hi. Great to see you again.”
“Thank you for meeting me on short notice,” the petite blonde said, readjusting her oversize purse on her shoulder. A new Prada bag, from their spring collection—the one Kate had eyed with longing the week before. “Janet mentioned your schedule was full this week, but I just had to see you today.”
Janet hadn’t lied. Her assistant actually believed that Kate was still as busy as ever. She often left the office for “off-site meetings”—which were actually just stress-induced shoe-shopping trips—but she couldn’t afford to lose Janet’s confidence in her. Her assistant was one of the best client recruiters she could have hoped for. But the truth was, her schedule hadn’t been full in far too long, and spring was well underway. Her dearth of new clients was quickly becoming a problem. One she hoped to resolve by landing the Sheffield-Dillon wedding.
“It’s no problem. I’m glad Janet was able to fit you in,” she said, gesturing to the overstuffed tan leather chair across from her desk, but she checked her watch for effect. “I have a few moments before my next appointment.” A few moments, a few weeks...a few months—who knew, really? “So you liked the proposal?”
“Loved it.”
Thank God. Her professionalism worked to hide the delight she felt as she said, “That’s fantastic news. I’d hate to think your big day would be left in the hands of a less dedicated planner.” Her dedication was full-on. Other than this wedding, the only other event claiming her focus and time was her own brother’s wedding, and that one was stirring mixed emotions in her. She was thrilled for her commitment-phobe brother Chase and his fiancée, but it killed her to remember that he and Hayley had met and fallen in love in the midst of her own disastrous event.
“We’ve made some changes...” Liz said, snapping her back to attention.
They always did. Brides never fully knew what they wanted until she showed them why they’d hired her. “Okay, let’s figure this out.” She reached for the file, stacked beneath several prop ones on her desk, overflowing with dress sample fabrics and pictures of cakes for effect.
“We want to get married next month.”
Next month? “When next month?” she asked, her voice steady, as if she could actually pull off an extravagant wedding that fast.
“Memorial Day weekend...in Big Bear.”
What was with people and holiday weddings these days? Kate wasn’t a fan. Nothing ever went well for a holiday wedding. Guests hated to give up their long weekends. And had Liz forgotten how cold, wet and miserable that particular weekend always seemed to be? She suspected it would be even worse in Big Bear Lake, California. “But I thought you had your heart set on a July wedding in the Napa Valley?” Even four months had been short timing to plan the elaborate ceremony that Liz Sheffield wanted. Six weeks was impossible.
And she’d already prepared so many of the details for the beautiful vineyard wedding to present to the bride-to-be. Wineries were the perfect backdrop for summer weddings and were sure to be a hit with guests...and her future potential clients. Big Bear—not so much.
“Derek is making a new film in Greece starting in June, and he’s needed on set over there the week following the long weekend.”
“Could you put the wedding off a couple of extra months...or could he return for a July wedding?” All of these possibilities were better than rushing the wedding plans and heading to the coldest part of the state.
This wedding was supposed to be her best yet. The comeback wedding to show that despite her own circumstances, she was still the best choice to plan that special day. Liz’s wedding guests presented a gold mine of opportunity. This wedding was too important to rush.
Liz toyed with the Prada logo on her purse. “We’d rather not wait.”
Translation—she wanted to lock this man down as soon as possible. Preferably before he headed to Greece to film a movie with a cast of sexy actresses. Kate could understand that. Not that she believed a ring on a man’s finger was any guarantee against affairs. This was Hollywood, after all.
She shook her head. She’d been spending too much time with Hayley, her brother’s fiancée, who was a divorce attorney. Unlike Hayley, she was in the happily-ever-after business, she reminded herself as she tried to think of a way to talk Liz out of this rushed event, while still convincing her to sign the contract.
“If you don’t think you can do this...” Liz started.
Oh, she was doing this wedding. Somehow, some way. Kate waved a hand and smiled as warmly as she could muster. “I can totally do this,” she said. “I was just confirming that you were sure. After all, we want the day to be what you’ve always dreamed of.”
“I’m sure.” Liz nodded emphatically, then hesitated. “You’re sure you can pull this off?”
“Without a doubt.” Actually with about a dozen different doubts, but she would make it happen and it would be amazing.
“Thank you so much, Kate.” The woman’s look of relief was brief before she was all business, as she pulled out the Belle Affairs contract and signed it.
That was fine with her. She had six weeks to pull off the impossible. Getting started right away on a new plan was absolutely necessary. She dropped all pretense of having somewhere else to be as she opened the couple’s file. “Okay, so venues in Big Bear...” That could pose a challenge. Log cabins and tackle and bait shops. She hid a shudder.
Liz stopped her, rummaging around in her purse. “Wait, we have a venue in mind, actually.”
Kate cringed. Big Bear was a dream for winter enthusiasts but hardly the place for an elegant, Hollywood-style wedding. If this venue had wood paneling on its walls, she might be forced to walk from the whole thing. She needed this wedding to prove she was still the best in the business, not put the final nail in the coffin.
“Here is Scott’s business card,” she said, her voice tight. “He owns West Mountain Resort.”
Kate couldn’t decide whether Liz hated the lodge or Scott, but her tone suggested this venue might not be her idea. She’d get to the bottom of that later. First, she needed to get a visual. Turning to her computer, she typed the name of the place into Google.
“Oh, don’t waste your time. The resort doesn’t have a website.”
“I don’t understand,” she said as the search failed to provide any matches. “How does a company not have a website?”
“The place just reopened in the fall...”
“My company’s website was up before I even had my certification in wedding planning.” She turned the no-doubt homemade business card with the perforated edges around in her hand. “Scott Dillon—owner/operator,” and a phone number. Not even an email address? Come on, Scott! She’d give his business a year, tops.
“Scott is fairly old-school, and he does things his way.” It sounded as if the words were said through clenched teeth. “My company is actually designing a site for him, but it’s complicated.”
Okay, so it was definitely Scott Liz had an issue with. “Liz, have you even seen the place?”
The bride-to-be shook her head.
Great. They were supposed to choose a wedding venue, sight unseen? No freaking way. “So why have you settled on this place?” She tossed the card aside. “Just because he’s family?” she guessed.
“He’s Derek’s brother, and Derek really wants to support Scott’s new venture.” She rolled her eyes.
Clearly Liz did not. Kate hesitated. She had two options. She could launch into her spiel about how the wedding day was really about the bride anyway, so Liz shouldn’t settle...or she could take this small gift from the wedding planning gods and run with it, hoping that the place could be turned into the perfect setting...at least in photos. She really didn’t have time to book another venue, especially during the long weekend. “Okay, then we can certainly make this work.” She would just call this Scott guy and see if he could send her some details and photos of the lodge. If she had to hire a decorating crew to transform even one room of this resort into the backdrop Liz would be happy with, she would. She was in the business of fairy tales and miracles, after all.
“I know it’s a far cry from the original plans...” Liz said, looking nervous again.
You think?
“But I just really want to marry Derek...as soon as possible.”
Yeah, Kate had caught the urgency. She forced a smile as she reached across the desk and touched Liz’s hand. Reassurance was her first responsibility as a wedding planner. “Don’t worry, everything will be perfect.”
They had a willing groom, at least.
2 (#u0bfca7ac-ee89-50ce-a6d4-251d17386d96)
SCOTT DILLON SCANNED the reservations system for the month. They were still sitting around the 40 percent capacity, and the upcoming summer months didn’t look any better. He didn’t understand it—the five-star, multimillion-dollar establishment he’d renovated and reopened the year before was located just west of Big Bear’s major ski resort. Guests gushed about his resort’s amenities, and his review in Traveler’s Weekly had named West Mountain Resort the best place to stay in the area.
So why weren’t they full? The other lodges were turning people away, which thankfully had helped him fill some rooms that winter. With the ski season winding down, he feared things were going to get worse, not better.
He could barely afford to keep the place running in their current state. The phone rang, and the reservation light lit up.
Where was Cameron? She must be covering another station. In recent weeks, he’d been forced to let go two front-desk staff and a bunch of housekeeping. Work just wasn’t there, and neither were the funds to pay salaries...but now he had the remaining staff pulling double duty on their shifts. It would only be a matter of time before they flipped him off and found jobs elsewhere.
The phone rang again.
Cameron, his hotel manager, had forbidden him from answering the phone, because he struggled with customer service skills. But he couldn’t just let a potential paying guest go. Sighing, he answered. “Hello—I mean, thank you for calling West Mountain Resort, how can I help you?”
“You need a website,” a female voice said.
Great. A sales call. This was exactly why he hadn’t put his direct line on the business cards Cameron had insisted on making for him. “That’s an odd way to start your sales pitch, and I’m not interested,” he said. He was about to replace the receiver when the woman’s laughter made him pause.
“I’m not a website designer or trying to sell you anything, I’m just annoyed that your resort provides nothing online to people considering staying there.”
It wasn’t the first time he’d heard the complaint. The website was in the works...sort of. He’d unfortunately had to lay off the only employee tech savvy enough to deal with the unending design questions from the staff at HighRes Media, and he certainly wasn’t going to deal with them directly. Getting Liz Sheffield’s company to design the site had been his brother’s doing, not his. Another one of Derek’s futile attempts to “bring the two of them together.” But Scott had no interest in being friendly with Liz.
“It’s coming soon,” he said, not in a position to piss off a potential guest.
“Not soon enough,” she mumbled.
“Can I help you?” He rested his elbows on his desk, his mood worsening as he noticed the stack of invoices piling up in his inbox. Second and third notices from the power and water companies that he still couldn’t afford to pay. Guests were going to be a little more than upset if the water got shut off.
“Yes. I’m Kate Hartley from Belle Affairs. I was looking to speak with Mr. Scott Dillon, the owner.”
“That’s me,” he said distractedly, opening one of the envelopes and frowning at the amount owing.
“Oh, I thought this number was the reservation line.”
“It is.” How could the bill be so high when they were only running at 40 percent capacity? Could he limit guests to one shower per day per room?
“You’re the owner and you run the front desk? God, how small is this resort?”
“Is there something I can do for you, Ms. Hart?”
“Hartley.”
“Whatever,” he said under his breath, still fuming over the amount of the bill. He needed to figure out ways to cut back on the water usage...take laundry home or something.
“I was given your business card—if you can call it that—by Liz Sheffield.”
He paused. “Liz Sheffield.” His jaw clenched as he spat out the name of his soon-to-be sister-in-law.
“That’s right. Apparently Ms. Sheffield and Mr. Dillon—your brother, I take it?—wish to hold their wedding at your resort. I’m sure you are aware of the details already, so I just need some information for planning purposes. For example, how big the ballrooms are, how many guests they can accommodate, the resort restaurants’ catering capacities and the waitstaff available for that day...”
“No.”
Silence, then, “Excuse me? No...what?” Her voice was cool, confident, calm. A true professional. And a true pain in the ass, he suspected.
“I’m not hosting the wedding here.”
Silence met him on the other end of the line. He waited. Those who speak first lose.
She cleared her throat but still didn’t speak. He didn’t say anything, either, a grimace forming on his lips. If she was waiting for an explanation, she’d be waiting a long time. He leaned back in his chair and swiveled to and fro. He couldn’t believe Liz actually thought holding a wedding he didn’t want any part of at his resort was a good idea. Just the thought of her made his stomach drop. He hadn’t seen her in almost two years, and he wasn’t in any rush to change that. Having her at his resort...for her wedding... He shook his head. No chance in hell. Though he knew it was Derek’s idea.
He hated to disappoint Derek, but refusing to host the wedding was the least of Scott’s offenses.
When an agonizing amount of time had ticked by on the clock above his desk without a word from her, he hung up. He stared at the phone for a moment, but when the reservation line didn’t ring again, he shrugged.
Good. That solved that problem.
And he wouldn’t be answering the line any time soon. Turning to his computer, he logged into his bank account. The meager amount in the business account wouldn’t go far, so he paid the water bill from his personal account. He’d be paying his employees from his own pocket next.
The intercom buzzed. “Did you just answer incoming reservations?” Cameron didn’t even try to hide her annoyance.
“Yes, but it was nothing. Just a sales call.”
“Didn’t they get the memo we have no money?” she muttered.
“Smile, Cam. You’re still here.” Thank God. He had no idea what he’d do without her. She’d worked at the resort for years before it had been shut down by its retirement-age owner. She knew the place and how to run it better than anyone. If she quit, he was screwed.
“For now,” she said. “Anyway, I was just checking inventory, and we need a produce run...”
Perfect. Any excuse to get up in the air.
He shut down the computer then stood and grabbed his winter coat. The predicted snow had just started to fall, although it was mid-April, the mountain air was still frigid. “I’m on it,” he said.
An hour later, he sat in the cockpit of his Cessna on the Big Bear City Airport runway, waiting for clearance to take off. Sure, he could order inventory to be shipped to the resort, but he only trusted one place for his business’s needs—Stanley’s Fresh Goods in San Francisco. And they didn’t deliver outside the city. To make the trip more cost-effective, he would also stop at the fish market before heading back.
The ground crew flagman waved him up next, and after the slightest moment of hesitation, Scott headed toward the end of the runway. Checking the plane’s controls and setting his course, he radioed the tower. “Cessna 215 ready for takeoff.” And moments later he was up and on his way. Sweat trickled down his back. Once he’d leveled off, he shrugged out of his coat and forced a feeling of anxiety aside.
It was just him, and he had control.
As he headed south for the twenty-minute run, he broke through a bank of clouds and the sun appeared. He felt himself relax.
A former commercial pilot, he’d only been interested in the Cessna cargo plane when he saw the ad for the resort in the Big Bear daily newspaper. Unfortunately, the resort’s owner, Doug Delaney, hadn’t been interested in selling the plane on its own. The closed, run-down West Mountain Resort and the plane were a package deal.
“You take them together or it’s no deal,” the grumpy old man had said when Scott had gone to see him about purchasing the cargo side of the business. Delaney went on to explain that both businesses had once belonged to him and his late wife. She’d run the resort and he, a retired pilot, had started the cargo business to “stay out of her hair.” He made weekly trips to LA and San Diego to pick up supplies and products for the resort to reduce shipping costs while earning extra cash making deliveries for other local businesses. The idea that the cargo business had an existing client base was also a draw for Scott.
Having lived in Big Bear most of his life, Scott had known about the Delaney family–owned companies, but he’d only wanted to purchase one of them. “I’m really not interested in owning a resort. I wouldn’t have any idea how to run it. I’m a pilot,” Scott had explained.
The man had looked past him to Scott’s old pickup truck parked in the driveway. “Where’s your plane?”
“I don’t have one yet.”
“A pilot without a plane isn’t much of a pilot,” Delaney had said before collapsing in a fit of coughing.
Scott had heard around town that old Doug Delaney was sick with lung cancer and the doctors hadn’t expected him to make it past Christmas the year before. The cargo delivery business and resort were suffering without family to take them over, and the old man wanted nothing more than to rid himself of the burdens and fly south. “Somewhere warm where I can die lying in the sunshine,” he’d told him.
Unfortunately, the sale of the cargo business alone wouldn’t have been enough to fulfill the man’s dying wish, so in the end, Doug had sold Scott both businesses for next to nothing and had died a week later exactly the way he’d wanted—lying in the sunshine on a beach in Mexico.
At first, Scott hadn’t planned to do much with the resort, instead focusing on fixing up and painting the cargo plane with a new company logo—Scott’s On-Time Delivery, specializing in any kind of pickup or drop-off service the residents of Big Bear needed. Doug’s former customers had been happy to rehire Scott, and he’d easily secured several new regular customers, including a few restaurants near the ski resort and a heavy-machinery repair place in town. Within months, he was doing okay.
But then his brother had visited over the holidays and suggested that he flip the resort for a profit. The place had been closed for a couple of years, but had once been a prime vacation property.
At the time, it sounded easy enough—a fresh coat of paint, some updated fixtures, nice decorative lighting and paintings for the walls...but it had quickly turned into a nightmare renovation project when he discovered a leaky pipe on the third floor had caused water damage to the two floors below it. The electrical wasn’t up to code and the roof was ready to cave in at any moment. Half a million dollars later, the resort was barely recognizable as the same run-down place that had been closed and forgotten for years, but Scott was also so far in the red, he couldn’t let the place go for any less than what he’d paid.
Fix it up and sell it, Derek had said. As if things were that simple. Then again, luck had always been on his older brother’s side. Scott’s own luck consisted of bad and worse, so a year later, all he had was a struggling resort that he didn’t want and not enough time to grow the cargo delivery business that had been his ultimate goal.
He sighed as San Francisco came into view.
And now his brother wanted to use the resort to make the biggest mistake of his life. Scott might not be able to talk Derek out of the wedding, but he didn’t have to host it at his resort.
3 (#u0bfca7ac-ee89-50ce-a6d4-251d17386d96)
AS SHE TURNED her Escalade onto Highway 330 later that afternoon, Kate was still fuming. What a rude, arrogant man Scott Dillon was. He’d actually hung up on her. After refusing to host his own brother’s wedding? Well, he might be able to hang up a phone or hide himself away with an unlocatable email address and no Facebook or Twitter accounts, but he couldn’t ignore her when she was standing right in front of him.
Though it had been more determined annoyance than common sense that had driven her to leave her office and head to Big Bear. She wished she’d at least gone home and packed an overnight bag. And now, as she made her way farther north, the tiny snowflakes grew heavier and her windshield wipers struggled to keep up. She wondered if maybe she was acting...a tad desperate?
She was desperate. This wedding was happening in six weeks...in Big Bear...at this resort if it killed her. And it actually might, she thought, wide-eyed, as a large transport truck approached in the opposite lane on the slippery hill.
She gripped the steering wheel and closed her eyes briefly after the vehicle passed.
Her cell phone rang, making her jump after her imagined head-on collision. She cursed to herself, quickly glancing toward the display panel on her dash. Her stomach turned when she saw the number flashing on the screen underneath the name Fuck-head.
She hit the do not answer button on her steering wheel. What the hell did Cooper want? Unfortunately, she knew exactly what he wanted, and it was her own stupid fault. She gripped the steering wheel. How had she been so stupid to have angry, passionate, impromptu sex with her ex-fiancé the week before?
Because she’d been lonely, more than a little drunk and had just lost a big client. And she’d stupidly thought that “coming by to get a few things” he’d left in the garage when he’d moved out was a genuine retrieval mission and not a lame excuse to see her.
The moment she’d opened her front door instead of just allowing him access to the garage, she knew she was in trouble. He’d still been in his police uniform, looking nervous but even more gorgeous than ever, and she hadn’t been able to find the strength to push him away when he’d hugged her. “You look amazing,” he’d said.
In actual fact she’d had mascara-stained cheeks, her hair a tangled mess, wearing an old football jersey, but she’d accepted the words and had clung to him a little longer than was safe.
“I’m sorry, Kate, so sorry,” he’d whispered in her hair. The same words that he’d said repeatedly to her voice mail and in emails for the last ten months. Words that had once been hollow, meaningless, suddenly became fact, a solid reason to avoid listening to common sense as she’d dragged him inside.
His mouth had found hers in an instant, and from there, clothing had been discarded, caution had been abandoned and any sense didn’t have a chance. They’d had sex in the living room, the kitchen, in the shower and on the bed that they’d once shared. It had been great sex—promising, uplifting, rejuvenating...until he was still there the following morning when she’d woken up hungover, regretful and ashamed.
She groaned now at the memory of his face as she’d tossed his boots outside and shoved him through the door. The night had been her fault, her mistake. One she didn’t dare repeat. Did she still love him? Maybe a part of her did—the part that didn’t remember so vividly what it had felt like to dismantle her own wedding before it had occurred. But mostly not. He’d simply caught her at a moment of vulnerability. Which would not be happening again, especially since she’d couriered all of his remaining things to his apartment the next weekend. No more excuses.
A sign to the right of the road caught her eye, and she slowed her speed to peer through the snow. Chain-Up Area, 2 Miles. Chain-up area? What was that? Sounded kind of like spicy erotica, she mused. Which maybe she’d been reading too much of lately.
Two miles ahead, she noticed several cars in the pull-out area, their drivers putting chains on their tires. Ah...that made sense. She bit her lip. Was she supposed to do that? Did she even have chains in the vehicle? Did they come with it? She didn’t think so. Surely the Escalade could handle the snow.
Fifteen miles later, however, she was starting to panic. The snow was even heavier now and falling fast, and the road beneath her tires felt like a sheet of glass. Car horns honked behind her as she slowly crept along the mountainside, continuing her trek north. What the hell had she been thinking to come up here? She’d been to Big Bear once, when her parents were still alive, but that had been in the fall, before the snow and icy conditions set in, and she hadn’t remembered the drive being so winding and dangerous.
When the sign for the Snow Summit resort appeared, she released a deep breath. Thank God, she’d made it—her last thought before the vehicle hit a section of black ice and spun into the opposite lane.
Panicked, she pumped the brakes, which only made the spiraling worse, and as she struggled to regain control of the wheel, the car landed in the deep ditch on the side of the road.
Great, just great. Closing her eyes, she rested her head against the seat and forced a deep breath. This was nothing. She wasn’t hurt. She hadn’t hurt anyone... She could handle this.
A tap on the glass a second later made her jump, and her eyes flew open. A man stood beside her car, dressed in a heavy winter coat, hat and gloves. He motioned for her to roll down the window.
She hesitated, but hell, she was stuck in a ditch. Chances were he was more help than danger.
“You look a little lost,” he said with a pleasant, easy smile.
With his light blue eyes and chiseled features, he looked like the latest guy to play Superman... Henry something or other. Judging by his build, she could almost believe he’d be able to just lift the vehicle from the ditch, or so her overactive damsel-in-distress mind mused.
Yep, too many erotic novels. “Not at all, this ditch was exactly my destination...stupid GPS,” she said, suddenly grateful for the tiny mishap. Since Cooper, her reaction to the sight of most men was a desire to punch them, but this guy made her feel slightly less hostile.
“Well, I have a tow kit. I can pull you out if you’re ready to leave,” he said with a smile that made her mouth go dry.
She nodded. “I think so... Yes, thank you.”
“Why don’t you climb out and go sit in my truck while I pull your car free,” he said, opening her door.
A blast of cold snow blew across her lap, white against her charcoal dress pants, and she shivered as she climbed out. Pulling her light jacket closed, she zipped it as high as it would go. Snow piled over the tops of her short leather boots as she took several steps away from her vehicle, and she gasped. “Damn it, it’s cold.” Had this hellhole not gotten the memo that it was spring?
“You’re hardly dressed for Big Bear weather,” the man said, offering his arm for support as she struggled to climb the tiny hill out of the ditch. The smooth soles of her high-heeled boots made traction impossible and she slid backward with each step. “May I?” he asked, holding out his arms toward her.
“May you what?”
“Lift you out of here.”
She shook her head violently. At five foot nine, she was hardly a china doll. “I’m already shaming women everywhere with this clueless, city-girl damsel-in-distress situation... I think I can do this,” she said, digging her heels into the bank and, with every ounce of dignity and determination she possessed, launching her body over the high snowbank. “See?” she said proudly, straightening her coat and turning to face him.
He held his hands up. “Sorry, you’re right. You don’t need me, and I’m sure you could probably just grab the bumper and pull this thing out yourself, but I’d still like to help, if that’s okay?”
Her smile even felt flirtatious as she nodded. “Sure, why not?”
“Climb into the truck and stay warm,” he said, turning his attention to her vehicle.
She got in quickly and shivered in the warmth. “So much better,” she muttered, kicking her boots together to shake off the melting snow. Through the window, she watched the guy hook up his tow kit to her Escalade, grateful for his out-of-nowhere appearance. Glancing around, she saw the closest business was several blocks away—not a hike she’d want to make. And sitting in a ditch, waiting for a tow truck, she’d probably have frozen to death.
He worked quickly, obviously having done this before, and as she watched, she warmed even more. He was far from her usual type. Big football player build and thick thighs straining against the confines of his jeans as he leaned down to attach the tow rope to her bumper...but she found herself checking out his ass when he bent to collect his tool from the ground.
A nice ass, indeed.
He turned and she looked away quickly.
When he climbed in moments later, he put the truck in Reverse and freed the Escalade from the ditch with ease.
“Wow, clearly not your first time doing that,” she said.
“No. But I’m going to go out on a limb here and guess that it’s your first time in Big Bear?”
He removed his gloves, and her eyes immediately flew to his left hand. No wedding ring. The silver lining on a shitty day. “Second, but the first time was when I was a kid and not this time of year.”
He handed her keys to her, and his warm fingers grazed her cold hand, sending an electric current up her arm. If a simple touch could create such an intense reaction in her, she wondered what a purposeful caress could do. Or those full, sexy lips. “Well, you’re free.” He hesitated before releasing them. “Make sure you get chains put on before you head down again...which is hopefully not too soon?”
So the flirtation hadn’t been in her mind. “Tomorrow, I think... I hope anyway.” It couldn’t possibly take any longer than that to convince that rude Scott Dillon to reconsider hosting his brother’s wedding, could it?
“Would it be terrible if I said I hope that your business here takes longer than you plan?”
She swallowed hard as his gaze took in the length of her. Damn it, she should have allowed those hands to lift her out of the snow. “You just may get your wish if the guy I’m here to see is as much of a jerk as I think he is.”
“Most men are,” he said with a laugh.
The deep, rich sound made her stomach flutter. “But not you, of course.”
“Not me. Nonjerk car rescuer extraordinaire Scott Dillon, at your service,” he said.
Her mouth gaped. No way. The hottest guy she’d laid eyes on in forever, the guy who’d just saved her from a ditch, the guy she was already envisioning naked was Scott Dillon? And he was already lying to her. Typical jerk.
He frowned. “What did I say wrong? If it was the reference to rescuing your car, that will totally be our secret. If anyone asks, you got yourself out of there.” His teasing grin was back, but there was a look of caution in his icy eyes.
Sighing, she allowed any and all inappropriate thoughts about him to vanish, along with her hope for rebound sex with a stranger that evening. “I’m Kate Hartley. We spoke on the phone.”
* * *
NO SOONER HAD he shut his office door than his office intercom beeped. “Mr. Dillon, there’s a woman here at the front desk to see you,” Cameron said.
Yes, the woman he’d been picturing naked in the backseat of his pickup truck, only to have the image shattered seconds later when she’d revealed her identity. So much for his hope of having literally stumbled upon a gorgeous tourist, one who wasn’t planning to stay in Big Bear for more than a night or two. His favorite kind of woman. “Tell her I’m not here.”
“Um...she just heard me talking to you,” Cameron whispered.
“So say it anyway,” he said. He scanned the mess of his office, knowing that regardless, in about a minute and a half, the determined, spirited, sexy-as-hell Kate Hartley would be barging in with or without his consent. She hadn’t driven all this way to be ignored. Too bad he couldn’t offer her the kind of attention he wanted to bestow.
He stacked the pile of unpaid invoices in a drawer, tossed the empty coffee cups into the trash can in the corner of the room and quickly swept the visible dust from the top of the fine oak furniture around him with the palm of his hand. Housekeeping had been reduced, and he sure wasn’t keeping on top of it.
Oh, well. If Ms. Wedding Planner didn’t like it, he’d be happy to watch her curvy ass leave.
The knock on his door was loud and right on time, he mused, glancing at his watch. “Go away,” he yelled, picking up the phone receiver and bringing it to his ear.
The door opened, and Kate walked in. “I just need a few moments of your time,” she said, forcibly polite.
Gone was the flirtatious, easygoing smile. And contrary to what he would have expected, this meaner, more professional look was even sexier. The front of his pants grew even tighter—his previous hard-on for her in his truck had yet to disappear completely. Damn. He covered the receiver. “You already took up enough of my time, Ms. Hartley...and I’m on the phone.” He motioned for her to leave.
Coming toward the desk, she hit the hang-up button on the phone.
“Hey! I was on hold for an important guest...client...thing.”
She cocked her head. “None of the lines were lit up.”
Busted. He replaced the receiver and stood. “Look, I already told you when you called that I will not be hosting a wedding here, so unless you came in here to thank me again for saving your ass...” His face was just inches from hers. He could so easily reach out and kiss her...and probably frighten her out of his office and back down the mountainside.
But she didn’t give any ground, remaining firmly on the spot. She was tall, almost eye level with him, and her dark eyes held a determined, heated expression. “I don’t understand. It’s your brother’s wedding.”
“You don’t need to understand. What you do need to do is go buy yourself a set of chains and get back to sunny, warm LA before it gets too late.” He fought the insane sensation of disappointment at the thought. Sure, he’d envisioned lots of wine and hot tub sex before he knew who she was, but even entertaining the thought now was absurd. Now he needed her out of his resort as soon as possible.
“I’m not leaving.” To his surprise, she sat on the edge of his desk.
Huh, maybe he should have left the dust. “You’re not?”
“No. Here’s the thing. I need this wedding to happen. Here. On Memorial Day weekend. So unless you can give me a really good reason why that can’t happen, I’m not leaving.” She folded her arms across her chest, a challenging look on her face.
Oh, he could give her a reason. A really good one. In fact, it would be his pleasure. Moving closer, he placed a hand on either side of her on the desk. His legs touched hers, and the smell of her expensive, soft perfume tickled his nose as he lowered his face to her ear and whispered, “I had sex with the bride-to-be.”
4 (#u0bfca7ac-ee89-50ce-a6d4-251d17386d96)
KATE PACED THE stone walkway outside the resort moments later, her cell to her ear, oblivious to the blowing snow and deep, damp chill cutting through her thin jacket. Liz was crazy to want to hold a wedding here—it was freaking freezing.
Pick up, Liz...pick up...
“Hello?”
“Liz, it’s Kate.” She paused. Now that the woman had answered, she realized she had no idea how to confront her about Scott’s accusation—or if she should at all. This contract was important, and pissing off the bride was a sure way to lose it. Still, she had to find out if Scott had been telling the truth. She couldn’t fight fire with fire if she was holding a match against his blowtorch.
The crackling reception interrupted Liz’s words. “I...can’t...hear...where are you?”
Kate reluctantly moved just inside the resort lobby doors, where the lack of howling wind made it easier to hear. She lowered her voice. “I’m in Big Bear. I came to see Scott.”
“I knew that asshole would refuse to hold the wedding at the resort,” Liz said, her bitterness perfectly clear through the bad reception.
Kate sighed. A heads-up would have been nice. And unfortunately, the tiny glimmer of hope that Scott had been lying vanished with Liz’s words. “Yeah...he’s reluctant.” She refused to give up yet. There had to be some way to convince this guy to do this for his brother. Even though he’d slept with the bride.
“What’s his problem?” Liz asked.
As if she didn’t know. “Um...” How to say this delicately? Losing this client was not an option. “He says there’s a history between you two.”
“A history?” Her laugh held no amusement. “He calls one stupid night—that was completely his fault—a history? What a jackass.”
Kate remained silent. Usually when two people had sex, they were both responsible, not that she was letting Mr. Arrogant off easy. “How long ago did it happen?”
“A million years ago. Really, Kate, it should not be a problem. He’s just being stubborn because I refuse to tell Derek about it. I mean, what would be the point? It’s not like I care about Scott, and he certainly doesn’t have feelings for me. It was one night before I realized that Derek and I were serious about one another, perfect for one another.”
That was for sure. Derek and Liz were both city people, in the movie industry, driven by success and power and money. Kate had never met a better suited couple.
Scott, in comparison, was...what was Scott?
Earlier in the day, she’d been tempted to find out. Now she just needed to know the kryptonite to break him.
She scanned the lodge through the interior glass doors. Now that she’d seen it, she thought it really would be a shame if he didn’t allow the wedding to take place here. With the marble and stone accents throughout, it didn’t have that old, log-cabin feel so common to these mountain ski resorts. The large check-in area and dining room that she’d seen on her way out were extravagant and elegantly decorated—quite a contrast from the rugged man who owned it. She’d had her doubts, but she was starting to believe this place could actually be a perfect place to hold the wedding...and future mountain weddings, she thought.
“So how do I get him to agree?” she asked Liz, her determination returning. She suspected money wouldn’t work. He didn’t seem to be a success-hungry, type-A personality, given that he hadn’t done any marketing for the resort. And telling him to think about Derek probably wouldn’t do the trick—she suspected protecting his brother was what he thought he was doing. But she would find an angle. Everyone had a price or a weakness.
Liz hesitated, before saying, “I think I can help you with that.”
Kate winced. Scott hadn’t seemed to hold Liz in high regard, so she doubted a call from his ex-lover would be appreciated. He’d hung up on Kate, and she was a stranger. She wasn’t the one who’d seen him naked—she only wished she had. “Liz, I’m not sure he’ll even speak to you.”
“Oh, I’m not calling him. His mother is.”
* * *
“SCOTT, CALL ON line two,” Cameron said an hour later.
“Who is it?” he asked, not taking his eyes from his computer screen, where he was searching for a web designer. He’d waited long enough, and given the current circumstances he wasn’t sure allowing HighRes Media the chance to finish his site was a good idea. He’d eat the hefty fees he’d paid already and start over. He’d only agreed to let Liz’s company design his site because Derek had insisted and he’d been feeling too guilty to say no.
Unfortunately, so far he was underwhelmed with the portfolios of the companies in his budget.
“She wouldn’t say,” Cameron said.
Damn it, the woman was persistent. Grabbing the receiver, he hit the button for the blinking line. “You are bordering on harassment, Ms. Hartley.”
“Ha! As if you would be complaining about a woman harassing you, Scott.”
“Mom?”
“Ah, so you do remember me?”
He sighed as he slumped back in the chair. “I just saw you last week for brunch. Or at least I thought it was you... Short, beautiful, blond-haired woman with new eyelash extensions that fell into her eggs Benedict?” He grinned at the memory, despite his foul mood. Angela Dillon was sixty-five years old, but she didn’t believe her age was any reason not to try out the new beauty trends on the market.
“I admit, the lashes were a dumb idea, okay? Now, not another word about them. Your father’s been relentless enough,” she muttered.
“How is Dad?” His father was a retired carpenter who now worked part-time at a ski rental shop at the base of Bear Mountain. Lee Dillon liked to stay busy despite his weakened health in recent years. Three heart attacks would be enough to make most people retire, but not Scott’s father.
“I just told you how he is—annoying.”
He laughed. His parents had always had a passionate relationship. Their arguments were fiery and their love for one another just as intense. And now that they were both semiretired, they drove one another crazy.
Scott didn’t have the desire to have what his parents had. Or rather, he had no desire to search for that kind of connection. Not anymore. Casual, fun, no commitments suited him just fine. He cherished his independence. Love and long-term relationships were Derek’s MO. His brother wanted the career and wife and kids. He fell in love hard and often and had had his heart broken over and over. Still, he bounced back the instant another pretty face caught his eye.
Scott had been hurt once, and that was enough. One and done.
“Anyway, I’m calling because—”
He cut her off. “I know why you’re calling, and the answer is still no.” Did Derek really think siccing their mother on him would work? They weren’t children anymore. This was his resort and he didn’t have to agree to a single thing, especially since Derek was probably only pushing the situation because he thought he was doing Scott a favor. Sure, the resort could use the reservations and the high-end guests that his brother’s wedding would bring, but he wasn’t that desperate.
“You’re just being stubborn.”
“No, I’m not.”
“Yes, you are. We all know you don’t like Liz...but she’s marrying your brother whether you want to accept it or not.”
If only his mother knew the real reason. He didn’t want to see his brother make the biggest decision of his life without hearing the truth about the woman he was intent on spending his life with. Scott knew Liz. Women like her were never happy for long, always looking for the next adventure, the next thrill...that was his type, not Derek’s. Derek had always been a hopeless romantic, a serial monogamist. The kind of man who fell prey to women like Liz.
The woman made movie trailers because she couldn’t commit to working on longer projects, getting bored too fast, too easily. She’d admitted as much to him...three vodka shots in, somewhere between removing his shirt and her underwear.
Of all the bad coincidences. To have shared a near-death experience with his brother’s girlfriend. The plane crash that had ended his career as a commercial pilot had cost him much more than his pilot’s wings. If only Liz hadn’t been on that flight to Mexico. He sighed. When he’d found out that she was dating his brother, he’d assumed the relationship wouldn’t last long enough for a confession to be worthwhile. No need to upset Derek for something short-term.
But the relationship had continued to grow, and then, six months ago, his brother had proposed. Scott had immediately confronted Liz about telling Derek, and she’d promised she would.
And of course she hadn’t. Cheating women didn’t come clean, he thought bitterly. He should have said something at that point, but too much time had passed and he’d lacked the balls. He kept waiting, on edge, for Liz to man up, but of course she wasn’t willing to risk her relationship with the truth.
“Look, Mom, if Derek thinks he’s happy, in love with Liz, that’s great, but I don’t have to watch him making what I believe is a mistake.”
“Yes, you do. It’s not up to us to decide for him. No one comments on your life choices.”
They didn’t need to. Her tone said it all. They disapproved of his playboy ways, but he didn’t care. He knew his mother was desperate for grandkids and she was putting her hope in Derek, knowing kids were not in Scott’s future. Therefore, she wouldn’t care if Derek were marrying Medusa, just as long as she had a grandbaby within the year. He thought his mother was in for disappointment. Liz Sheffield didn’t exactly have the nurturing, maternal gene. Her company was her baby. “Mom, you’ve only met the woman twice. Don’t you think you and Dad should get to know her better before giving your blessing on this marriage?”
“She’s a living, breathing woman, capable of giving me grandbabies, Scott. What more is there to know?” she said, confirming his thoughts.
Grandkids—the only thing she cared about.
“If you guys are all happy about this, then great. But I’m not on board.”
“Derek is your brother. Have you forgotten that?”
No. But damn, he wished he could. The guilt he experienced each day might be easier to handle if he’d slept with some random stranger’s fiancée and not someone his brother was head over heels in love with, someone who would be there for Christmas mornings and birthdays and family events. Good Lord, things would be awkward.
“The same brother who put you through college and flight school,” she continued. “The same brother who helped fund your new businesses...”
Guilt was a favorite negotiation tactic for his mom, but this time it wouldn’t work. “I’ve paid him back every cent.” It had been the first debt he’d repaid when he’d received the two-million-dollar settlement from Airways Travel two years before, after they’d lost their case in court. Thankfully, he’d been able to prove that it was a malfunction in the operating system that had caused the plane to go down and not pilot error. The money had been appreciated, of course, but mainly he’d been happy to clear his name from fault. No one had died in the crash, but people had been injured. Another thing he felt guilty about. He’d had to give up his career because of that crash. Adding lawsuits from families if he’d lost his case would have destroyed him completely. “I don’t owe Derek anything,” he said.
His mother huffed and was silent for a long moment.
He waited. The battles of wills with women today were exhausting him.
“Think about your father,” she said finally, a tearful note in her voice.
Oh, come on. “You just said Dad’s fine.”
“He’s fine as in he’s still breathing, yes. But Scott, you know that he can’t travel. If the wedding doesn’t happen here, he won’t be able to attend. That would crush both him and Derek. He would be devastated to miss the most important day in his oldest son’s life.”
Shit, shit, shit. He should have known she’d play that card. Closing his eyes, he rested his head against the back of his chair and rotated slowly. How the hell could he allow this without seeming to be on board with the event? This was not something he supported. At all.
If only he’d told his brother the truth before, they wouldn’t be in this situation. There was no way even Derek would marry a woman who’d cheated on him.
Unfortunately, Scott knew all too well the pain of realizing that he’d put his trust in the wrong person. His one and only real relationship had ended when he’d discovered the woman he’d been falling in love with was married. Married with two small children.
They’d met in the airport when Amy, a flight attendant, was on his Bahamas-bound flight. She’d invited him to spend his days off with her at the five-star beachside hotel, and next, they were taking their vacation time in two-day stints, falling in love in different tourist destinations. For eight months, they kept the affair going, enjoying luxury treatment in resort suites, massages on the beach, snorkeling and boating their days away, and making love every night. Her only rule was that they never saw one another back in California. She’d claimed their relationship was so much more exciting on exotic soil. He’d been too caught up in their whirlwind passion to argue.
Then one day the real reason was waiting at the airport to surprise her. A man and two kids were at arrivals to welcome her home, while Scott had watched her look of desperation and anxiety from a distance, feeling his heart break apart. She’d reached out to him in apology, telling him that she had fallen in love with him and that if things were different...but he’d wanted nothing to do with her. He hadn’t wanted to hear her excuses for almost ruining her family and using him to do it. And he’d made sure she wasn’t assigned to any more of his flights.
He never wanted to feel that pain again.
He didn’t want his brother to feel that devastating betrayal, either.
“Scott, please,” his mother said, interrupting his thoughts.
He released a deep breath. If he agreed, there was still time to convince Liz to tell Derek the truth...or he would. He could go along with this for now, but ultimately, he refused to let his brother get married without knowing the truth. Then if he still wanted to marry Liz? Fine.
Damn. He was already regretting this. “They can use the resort for the wedding, but I won’t be his best man.”
* * *
KATE, WEARING A BIKINI she’d purchased from the gift shop, removed the white terry-cloth robe provided by the resort and shivered in the cold mountain air before she submerged herself in the outdoor hot tub. She’d seen it on the wraparound deck from her third-floor window, and she’d waited for a nauseating couple to vacate so she could enjoy it without watching the two make out in front of her. Despite her “I believe in happy-ever-after” facade, the sight of a new couple made her cringe.
She’d once been that oblivious to the harsh reality of relationships. She’d thought she could have it all—the successful career, the loving husband, the two and a half kids and loyal dog. Then her dreams were shattered.
The steam rising from the tub held the faintest smell of eucalyptus and jasmine, and the jets hitting her lower back were exactly what she needed. The tense drive up the mountain had left her muscles aching. Positioning her towel behind her head, she sank lower in the water, closed her eyes and rested against the edge. She could stay there all night.
In fact, if she was so inclined to spend time in the mountains—she wasn’t—this would be a great place to stay. After getting off the phone with Liz, who confirmed the venue was a go, she’d checked in and then toured the facilities. The grand ballroom was the perfect size. It could easily accommodate the guest list of almost three hundred. She was already envisioning the ceremony being held near the floor-to-ceiling windows with the view of the mountains. The reception would be held in the same space with tables set up for dining, later removed for dancing. She’d loved that the decor of the ballroom was dark wood—not horrible wood paneling—cozy and surprisingly in great shape while boasting its original hardwood floors and rounded archways. With the right decorations and the right light streaming through the windows the day of the wedding, the place would be magnificent.
The resort had over four hundred rooms, and a quick, friendly chat with housekeeping had revealed that they were hardly half-full. Late reservations for the wedding wouldn’t be a problem. And if all the rooms were as large and modern as her suite had unexpectedly been, the high-profile guests wouldn’t feel at all as though they were slumming it in Big Bear.
She was impressed. With the resort, at least. Its owner could kiss her ass.
“How’s the water?” a deep voice asked across from her.
Opening one eye, she sighed, her relaxed muscles immediately tensing. “I was enjoying it better before you arrived.”
“Well, I was enjoying a lot of things better before you arrived, too,” Scott said, his voice tight. “Anyway, I just wanted to let you know that I’ve changed my mind.” He coughed before continuing. “You can plan the wedding here.”
She grinned, opening both eyes and sitting a little higher. “I know. Your mother told Liz an hour ago.” That was the only reason she was trying to relax in the hot tub instead of going another twelve rounds with him in his office.
His eyes narrowed as he approached the edge of the hot tub. “Here’s the thing, Ms. Hartley. You can go ahead and plan a wedding here. Invite as many guests as my maximum capacity limit will allow. That doesn’t mean my brother will actually be getting married.”
“We’ll see about that.” Clearly he had no idea who he was up against. There would be no runaway grooms on her watch. She closed her eyes again, dismissing him, but the smell of his musky cologne only continued to mix with the jasmine and eucalyptus and the smell of fresh mountain air. The combination was intoxicating. She waited to hear the deck doors open and close, but a long minute later, all she heard was the sound of water lapping.
Opening her eyes wide, her mouth gaped. “What are you doing?”
“Relaxing. It’s been a stressful day,” Scott said, leaning his arms out over the edges of the tub. The steam rising in front of him did absolutely nothing to hide the muscular chest and sculpted arms sticking out of the water.
Her mouth went dry as she tried to stare only at his face. His gorgeous face with the tempting-as-hell five-o’clock shadow along the jawline. The enemy had no right to be so good-looking. “If I’m a source of stress for you, don’t you think you’d relax better elsewhere?”
He grinned, and her stomach tightened. Any other place, any other circumstance and he’d be the best rebound fling she could hope for after Cooper. Casual sex with a hot man was just the glue she needed to piece her heart back together.
“Actually, just knowing I’m irritating you is helping quite a lot,” he said.
She swallowed hard and shrugged. “Who says I’m irritated? I got what I wanted.” Forcing a deep breath, she sank lower in the water, closing her eyes once more. If he thought he could intimidate her, he was wrong. She’d turn into a prune before she’d get out of this water first.
A second later his breath was inches from her cheek. “Did you?” he murmured.
Her heart pounded in her chest as she opened her eyes, turning slightly to face him, putting more distance between them. Only a little. She wasn’t retreating. “Absolutely.”
His gaze dipped to her breasts in the slightly too small bikini. When an appreciative grin appeared, she sank lower to hide them. He’d given up the right to ogle her by being who he was.
His gaze shot back to hers immediately. “Sorry, those were distracting. I didn’t hear anything you said.”
Liz was right. This guy was an ass. And hours before, she’d actually thought he might be just the guy to get her sex life rolling again. “Tomorrow I’ll need a proper tour of the place, a meeting with the staff who will be my contacts for the rest of the planning...”
“I’ll be your contact,” he said quickly.
“Fantastic,” she muttered.
He moved closer again and she tried to back away, but she’d reached the end of the tub. “You and I got off on the wrong foot. Why don’t we try again?” He stood a little higher in the tub, exposing a set of oblique muscles that were a distraction of their own.
God, she missed oblique muscles, and strong sexy chest muscles, and bulging biceps wrapped around her. Other than the incident with Cooper the week before, she hadn’t had sex in months... That had been the trigger with Cooper. She shook her head. She couldn’t allow her lack of recent action, her loneliness or her inexplicable craving for this man to lead to another mistake.
She nodded as she extended a hand, keeping her eyes locked on his through the steam rising from the tub. “Sounds like a good idea. We will work together and pull off a great wedding.”
He grinned as he took her hand, and instead of shaking it, drew her into him. “I didn’t say anything about the wedding planning. I meant us.” One arm wrapped around her waist and held tight.
Her heart echoed in her ears, and her mouth went dry. She pushed against his chest, but it was a futile attempt...or maybe she just didn’t try too hard. “My only focus is the wedding.”
“So earlier today in my truck...there wasn’t a spark between us?” He brushed wet strands of her hair off her shoulder and pressed his lips there for a quick, gentle kiss.
What the hell was he doing? An hour ago he’d been refusing to let her use the resort, and now his hands and lips were on her? And she wasn’t kneeing him in the nuts? “Scott, earlier in the truck, things were different...” One, he hadn’t been her nemesis, and two, she hadn’t known he’d slept with her client.
There had to be some rules somewhere about wedding-planning etiquette... If not, maybe that should be her next book. Rule number one: don’t sleep with anyone who could potentially destroy the wedding.
His free hand rested on her knee below the water and a second later started creeping up on her wet thigh. “Scott...what are you doing?”
“You really are a plan girl, aren’t you? Okay, here’s the plan,” he whispered against her ear before placing several more kisses along her exposed neck.
Her body screamed for more as her mind came up with a million reasons to put an end to things. She couldn’t possibly be doing this with him, yet here she was, waiting to hear his plan.
“First, I’m going to kiss you...just a tempting little kiss to shut off that overactive mind...” He placed a soft kiss on her neck, demonstrating his point. “Then I’m going to lift you out of this tub and carry you into my home over there...” He nodded toward the loft cabin she’d noticed at the other end of the lodge. “Then I’m going to remove this bikini—” he tangled his fingers in the tie on the back “—and then...” He paused, his breath warm against her ear.
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