Page 21 of Beck & Coll
I took her toThe Butterscotch Café, a diner in Chinook Woods with delicious food.
“So, do you work forManor at Sienna Sunset Resort?” I asked in between bites of my corned beef sandwich.
“What?” She giggled. “No. Why would you ask me that?”
“Because I heard you were in town recruiting yesterday.”
She laughed aloud. “Who told you that?”
“Malaysia Reid, the woman you gave your business card to and asked if she’d be interested in working at the lodge.”
“I guess what they say about small towns is true. Word travels fast.”
“Yeah. Especially since her husband, Hunter, is one of my closest dudes. Malaysia called me up and asked if we had a new recruiter on staff. I didn’t know what she was talking about.”
“After we had lunch yesterday, I took the property tour with your mom. When she showed me the defunct hair salon, I couldn’t help but to ask her about it. When she told me what it would take to get it up and running again, I guess it stuck with me. Then I saw your friend’s wife in the bakery. And her two little girls had the most unique and intricate French braid styles.” She picked up a fry. “I’m a businesswoman, Beckham. I’ve approached women about their hair and their skills for over ten years. It comes natural to me, and I guess the businesswoman in me just came out.”
“I thought it was dope that you were looking out for my mom like that.”
She swallowed the French fry. “Your mom also told me that I could buy into the hair salon . . . not the lodge.” She giggled. “She made sure to stress that. I’ve been on the fence about reopening my own salon in Chicago, Posh Moments. But something about the thought of owning part of a salon here, in the Pacific Northwest . . . intrigued me. It opened up my mind to the possibilities.”
My sandwich stopped in midair, halfway to my mouth. “You would be willing to relocate to Oregon?”
“I don’t think so.” Her face was frowned, like she was deep, deep, deep in concentration. “I mean, I have a whole life in Chicago. My family’s there. My salon… if I reopen it, is there. My house is there. My life is there.”
I nodded before changing the subject. “Aye, tomorrow, you’re doing horseback riding.”
“I know. I don’t know how to feel about it. I mean, I’ve fallen at every activity. I can’t afford to fall off a horse.”
“You won’t fall off a horse. I’ll have Stanton keep an eye on you.”
“Who is Stanton?”
“Horseback riding is a group adventure. Stanton is one of our employees. He takes up to eight guests out on horses at a time.”
“Oh.” She looked disappointed. “It’s not with you?”
I shook my head. “Nah.”
“So, I guess I won’t see you at all tomorrow unless we sneak away for lunch like we did today.”
I couldn’t help the smirk that blossomed across my face. “You look sad about that.”
She eyed me. “I am a little. I feel like there’s a slight attraction between us.”
“A woman who speaks her mind. Yeah, I’m here for that all day. And there’s definitely an attraction between us. I felt it that first day. When I picked you up to take you to the lodge for dinner. As soon as you came out of the cottage, I looked at you and thought, ‘Well, dayum!’”
She blushed and tucked a lock of hair behind an ear.
“And that, that right there.” I leaned across the table toward her, my eyes blazing with the heat I felt for her. “How you manage to look all innocent and sexy at the same fucking time.”
She put another French fry in her mouth, and I sat there watching her lips move.
“You should let me make dinner for you tomorrow night,” I told her.
“You cook, Beck?”
“Let me rephrase that. You should come through tomorrow night and let me feed you.”
