Page 14 of Love and Loathing

Charlie finally managed to gather all his things, a large leather binder that he shoved under his arm, and some pens. “Let’s go.” He ushered Alex toward the door.

It was a short walk from the front of their little villa to the main building, and though it was sunny out, it was still quite cold for the middle of March. They stepped inside and shivered as the heat hit them. Charlie guided Alex down a hall toward the foyer.

They stopped at the front desk, a large platform made of rocks of different sizes and shades of gray and dark stained wood for the countertop. The desk clerk turned to them.

“Has our lunch arrived?” Charlie asked.

Lunch?

“Yes, sir,” the young man said. “They took it to the conference room you reserved.”

Charlie rubbed his hands together. “Perfect. Thank you.”

They took off again, through the lounge area and to a side hall.

“Are you going to tell me what this is about?” Alex asked.

“Do you remember I had an idea I wanted to run past you a few weeks ago?”

“Vaguely.”

“I finally got my idea together, and I thought we’d go over it today—”

They stopped in front of a room that Alex assumed must be where they were headed. “What is it, Charlie? You know I hate being surprised in business meetings.”

“You’ll like being surprised this time. I promise, this is going to make our next pitch to Steve and Kevin a lot easier, and—” He lifted his hands and extended his pointer fingers up. “—if I can be so bold, I think it’ll make our stay here in Harvest Ranch a heck of a lot nicer, too.”

“That’s some business proposition.” Alex arched a brow.

Charlie swept his hand toward the door, and Alex suddenly felt a sense of trepidation. He pulled the door open and stepped inside. At an oblong table with close to twenty chairs stood a woman with long brown hair, wearing a black dress suit and peering into several bags of takeout food labeled “Blue Shadow.”

She spun around at the sound of the door opening, her hand going to her heart. He held his breath. Her brows drew together over her green eyes—eyes he could admit he’d been thinking about a lot since Hannah’s wedding.

He grinned. “Fountain girl?”

Her shock morphed to fury. “My name is Jessie. Not fountain girl, fountain boy.” She mumbled the last bit under her breath.

“What are you doing here?” He glanced over his shoulder, but Charlie was nowhere to be seen. Naturally.

“Not that it’s any of your business, but I’m here for a business meeting—though you’ll probably accuse me of stalking you and offer to kiss me again, cuz that’s a totally normal reaction to that scenario.”

He chuckled. “The thought hadn’t occurred, but if you’re offering …”

“Ugh. Not on your life. Not onmylife.” She tucked a loose lock of her thick, silky hair behind her ear. “So, what are you doing here? Did Grand Marina kick you out or something?”

“Or something,” he said. He hadn’t noticed it then, in the low-lit rooms at the Grand Marina, but here in this room with floor-to-ceiling windows in the middle of the day, he could clearly see the smattering of freckles over her cheeks and the bridge of her nose. Charming. He took a step closer to her.

She stepped back into the table. “Do you know if Charlie Beaumont is here?”

Alex nodded. “He is. I’m sure he’ll be back soon.”

“Back?” she asked, and he wanted to smooth the furrow between her brows.

“Yes, I think he … went to grab something.” More like he was giving them a moment. Only problem was, this wasn’t the time or place for manufacturing relationships. She was clearly here for a meeting, and so was he. Speaking of which … “What was it you were doing here again?”

She lifted her chin. “Meeting with Charlie Beaumont.”

“Yes, you said, but about what?” he asked.

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