Page 13 of Heating Up (Nugget)
“Just some old clothes I found to hold me over until I can replace everything I lost in the fire.”
“Nothing of Paul’s, right?”
“No, Mom, nothing of Paul’s.”
“Okay, dear, have a good trip home.”
Dana didn’t bother to remind her that she no longer had a home. “I love you, Mom. Tell Dad I’m sorry I missed seeing him.”
But she had already drifted back into the den, probably to watch her programs.
Dana loaded the single piece of luggage into the back of her Outback and drove past the Riverwalk, where a smattering of people were taking advantage of the fading daylight on the beach. It was all so picturesque, with the old buildings in the foreground and the newer restaurants, boutiques, and gazebos that dotted the river’s edge. She still remembered that day fifteen years ago as vividly as she saw it now. It hadn’t had the glitzy businesses back then, but the beach was just as crowded. Paul hadn’t died there—that had come later—but it was where it had all started.
She tried to shove the memories away, maneuvered a few city streets before hopping on the highway to Nugget. Moving to the small railroad town had been a fortuitous accident. After college she’d relocated to Lake Tahoe, close enough to her parents to check in on them yet far enough so she wouldn’t be consumed by their dejection. She got her real estate license, started selling homes, and fell hard for a local developer, who later jilted her for the wife of his partner, a woman he’d secretly loved for more than a decade and had conveniently forgotten to tell Dana about.
As an antidote, she buried herself in work. One of her clients, frustrated by Tahoe’s exorbitant prices, had seen an ad for Sierra Heights and wanted to know more about Nugget. The town was only a forty-minute drive from Tahoe and had its own lakes, rivers, and plenty of outdoor recreation. What it didn’t have was high-end casinos, fancy shops, and trendy restaurants. The homes in Nugget, though, were half the price. She wound up selling the client a house in Sierra Heights, meeting Carol, and agreeing to become her partner at Nugget Realty and Associates. Carol, a broker, owned the agency but wanted to spend more time with her family. Dana needed a fresh start and saw Nugget as a burgeoning real-estate market with the perfect opportunity to make her mark—and her fortune.
And to prove it had been the right decision, Griffin had given her all the listings for the homes in Sierra Heights, a development he’d bought out of bankruptcy as an investment. They’d begun mixing business with pleasure, and this time she thought Griffin could be the real deal, only to find out he was obsessed with Lina. As far as breaking up with her, Griff had been a lot more of a gentleman than Tim, who’d unceremoniously dumped her as soon as the other woman had become available.
That was when Dana started examining her life and saw a disturbing pattern. Since her childhood, she’d always been second runner-up. To her parents, Paul had always come first. And after he’d died, she’d moved from second place in their eyes to nonexistent. The same had happened with Tim and Griffin as soon as they could be with the women they really wanted. Even in college, she’d been repeatedly passed over by men, by teachers, by employers, by opportunities that came her way and inevitably landed in someone else’s lap.
She’d responded to the epiphany by applying herself even harder to her career—the one place where she could come in first. In Plumas County she ranked number one in sales as compared to the other agents, and if this year’s numbers surpassed last year’s, she’d continue to lead. She might not be rich, but she’d at least found an area of her life where she could finish on top.
By the time she pulled into the Lumber Baron parking lot, the sun had fallen behind the mountains and her stomach was growling. She probably should’ve grabbed something in Reno. She glanced across the square to the Ponderosa with reservations. The bottom line: She didn’t like eating alone in restaurants. Intellectually, she knew it was silly. Lots of people—male and female, single and married—went to cafés, movies, even bars alone. Just not her.
But if she didn’t want to go hungry she had no choice. The inn didn’t have room service, only breakfast and wine and cheese in the afternoon, which she’d already missed. She decided to leave her things in the car and stroll over to the restaurant, which also had a bar and, of all things, a bowling alley. The dining room was quite nice and the food decent. She’d taken many a client there for lunch and dinner.
It wasn’t until she was seated that she noticed Griffin and Lina in a booth toward the back and silently groaned. They waved to her and she wanted to disappear through the floorboards. To make matters worse, Griffin motioned for her to come join them. As if that was going to happen. Uh-uh, no way. She pretended to take a call on her new phone, hoping he’d think she was doing business or meeting someone. But no such luck. He got up and loitered next to her table until she finished her fake call.
Dana plastered on as pleasant a smile as she could muster. Griffin was still her most important client, after all. “Hi.”
“Lina and I want you to come sit with us.” He may as well have said,Lina and I think you’re pitiful.
“Actually, I’m—”
“Hey,” a deep voice rumbled behind her, and the next thing she knew, Aidan was pulling out the chair across from her.
If he hadn’t just saved her from telling a mondo lie, she would have thought he was damned presumptuous for helping himself to her table. Correction: She still thought Aidan was damned presumptuous but was inordinately thankful that he’d gotten her out of a jam. The last thing she wanted to do was break bread with Lina Shepard.
“I didn’t realize you had company.” Griffin smiled like he thought she and Aidan were on a date. Fine, let him think what he wanted.
“Have you met Aidan?” She knew he had, but it made her feel less gawky to pretend he hadn’t.
“Yeah, of course. How you doing, Aidan? How’s the new job?”
“All good.” Aidan got up and shook Griff’s hand.
“I gotta get back.” He nudged his head toward his table, and Dana watched Aidan follow Griff’s direction and give Lina a long, appreciative look.Great.
After Griff left, Aidan buried his face in the menu. “What are you getting? Maybe we should share a few things.”
She didn’t know yet what she wanted to order. But for him, she highly recommended the humble pie.
Chapter 4
Crap. Maybe he’d interrupted something he shouldn’t have. But by the time Aidan saw Griffin, it had been too late. He had already started toward Dana’s table. When he’d come in, the restaurant had been crowded, and he hadn’t wanted to sit at the bar. And there was Dana with a whole table to herself.
He gazed at her over the top of his menu. She really was very pretty. Different from Sue, with her compact body, dark hair, and amber eyes. Sue was tall and voluptuous with auburn hair—and great legs that went on forever.
