Page 45 of The Last Resort
Unless the resort was unsafe and unfit for habitation, she was in a real bind. If she couldn’t get something across the line with the council, the land would be forfeit. She’d be out of a job. The money the Brocks had given her would need to be repaid. And her hopes of rebooting her career would be shot.
Her gaze landed on Kellie’s mother-in-law, then went to Kellie. The look of pleading on her face was heartbreaking. The weight of her sister’s hopes settled heavily on Rachel’s shoulders.
She and Dan are trying to repair their marriage. But if I fail his parents … that’s going to make things tough.
This was a twist in the story she hadn’t seen coming.
Panic was rising fast.I can’t breathe.
She needed fresh air.
“When the security guard stays on the second floor during summer, they have access to power and running water. The main catering kitchen is still in working condition. The boiler in the basement can get a bit temperamental, but for the short time you’d have to go and live on site, it might not present a problem,” explained Dan.
Might not? None of this sounds good.
“Ms. Little?”
Rachel held her hand up, acknowledging the committee chair. “Yes. I’m going.” She followed Matthew out the door.
He was waiting in the lobby. When she motioned for them to go outside, he shook his head. “It’s raining. Besides you and I only need to exchange a few words.”
“Billionaire liar being one of them? Oh, sorry that’s two, though you might need to get your accountants to check on that since it turns out you’re not actually one,” she bit back.
A look crossed his face, and she could tell he was struggling to hold his temper in check. “I would suggest lies were told on both sides. You had to have your suspicions as to who I was, or did you already know the morning we met? I’m left wondering if your accident at the airport was carefully staged.”
Must not punch billionaire asshole in public.
The council offices had to have security cameras and the last thing she needed was to be arrested and footage of her hitting Matthew to get an airing on the nightly Atlanta news. She could just imagine the tagline.Convicted con’s daughter goes berserk and attacks man in Aspen.
Rachel crossed her arms. “Alright, say your few words, Mister Royal.”
Shifting uneasily on his feet, Matthew dug his hands into the pockets of his suit pants. His shoulders dropped as he let out a tired sigh. “Look, I don’t want to go roughing it in the Colorado wilds any more than you do, but the Brocks have given us an ultimatum. I for one am not going home to New York without having done everything I can to secure the development rights to the site. You might think me a liar, Rach, but I’m being totally honest when I tell you, I need this project. If we have until the end of May, we can do it.”
He didn’t sound like the all-important billionaire developernow, he sounded more like Matthew, the guy she’d shared coffee and muffins with each morning. The man who had held her in his arms. The one who had made slow, sweet love to her. The Matthew she’d thought she’d fallen in love with. That man.
Rachel tore her gaze away. This wasn’t happening. All she wanted to do was to go home, crawl under the covers and cry. The universe had been teasing her, letting her think she was finally getting a break, when in fact it was waiting around the corner with a baseball bat ready to kneecap her.
“I need this too.” She could at least admit to that, to wanting the project to succeed. “But what I don’t need is for you and me to be friends. You’ve burned that bridge, and the pieces are floating away down river. If we go out to the site, you sleep in your room, I sleep in mine. We work together only when it is absolutely necessary, and the rest of the time you do everything in your power to stay the hell away from me.”
Tears betrayed her hurt. She wiped them away, angry with herself for having fallen for this snake. When would her luck with men ever change?
“Rach.” He took a half step toward her.
“No.” She wasn’t having any of it. “My name is Rachel. On the rare occasion that you need to use it, don’t you dare try and make it shorter. Only my friends and people who genuinely care for me are permitted that level of familiarity. You, Mister Royal, are not among them.”
Matthew pinched his lips between his teeth, letting them go with a loudpuck.
“Okay. So we are stuck together until we can come up with a proposal for the site. I think between the two of us we should be able to make the May deadline with time to spare. If we are agreed on this, then I’ll see you inside.”
He brushed past her and went back into the meeting room.
Like any major design project, she’d need to make compromises. This wasn’t her first time dealing with a colleague she didn’t like. Give and take was always a battle.
I can do that. I have to, there is no other way.
That was easier said than done. How was she supposed to trust him? Everything she’d thought was right, had been proven wrong. Those wonderful nights when she’d shared his bed and given herself to him. Every night with Matthew had been a lie. And she’d been a fool.
I can’t believe I was sleeping with the enemy.
