You, Me, and Forever (Blushing)

“This looks amazing, Dad,” I said three weeks later as my father plated the samples of the appetizers for Jesse and Susannah’s wedding. They’d already selected the menu, but my father was a perfectionist when it came to food presentation, and he wanted to prepare some samples for me.

“Yeah? Wait till you taste them,” he said as I picked up the bite-size piece of watermelon wrapped in mint and feta and popped it in my mouth.

“Oh my gosh. These are amazeballs,” I groaned, reaching for the napkin to dab my mouth.

“Looks like I timed it just right,” Myles said from behind me, and I whipped around to see him saunter into the kitchen like he owned the place.

Well, technically, he does own the place.

But I still despised him, even though I’d fantasized about the bastard every day since the night we’d spent together.

He was hot as hell and had magical lips—but unfortunately that didn’t make him any less of a pompous ass.

“Myles, my man, give this one a try,” Dad said, and I shot him a look.

It annoyed me that my father liked the man so much. Myles was the reason that my father would be commuting to work at a restaurant in Anchorage until he found a gig back in Blushing. This man had single-handedly put him out of work; yet leave it to my dad to be completely enamored with the guy.

“I’m always happy to sample,” Myles said as he reached for a strawberry–goat cheese crostini. “Wow. That’s fucking fabulous.”

“These are the appetizers for the wedding next week,” Dad said.

Myles and I both reached for a prosciutto-melon skewer as his finger grazed mine. I pulled my hand back quickly and popped a piece of cantaloupe in my mouth.

“Damn, Daniel. This is really good.”

I finished chewing and glared at him just as my father thanked him for the compliment.

“Why do you think everyone wants him to cater their wedding?” I asked. “That’s part of the appeal of the inn. It comes with the best chef in town.”

Myles studied me for a long moment before turning to my father. “You said you’ve already got something lined up for when the doors close here next week. You know I was serious about you coming to work for me when we get the new place open. I know we’ve talked about it, but I hope you’re taking the offer seriously.”

I gaped at my father. “He offered you a job? You didn’t think to tell me that?”

Dad chuckled. “I didn’t know I needed to run every opportunity by you.”

“Of course you do. We’re a team, remember?” I huffed. “But it would be working for a large corporation, and you wouldn’t be able to create your own masterpieces.”

“Says the woman who has never owned a large corporation herself.” Myles’s voice was clipped. It had been three weeks of awkward run-ins and snide comments.

Snippy texts that really served no purpose.

He’d texted two weeks ago to tell me that he was watching America’s Most Wanted, and he wanted to know if “Montana Kingsley” was even my real name, because he was fairly certain he’d just seen me on his TV screen as a wanted felon.

I’d responded with the honey badger emoji and the middle finger emoji.

Last week he’d texted to ask if I could get him a deal on a diamond tennis bracelet for his mother’s birthday via my imports and exports business.

I’d reminded him that he had more money than he knew what to do with, or he wouldn’t be building a monstrosity in our town, so he could figure it out himself.

He’d responded with the dollar sign emoji.

This had become our shtick, and as much as he annoyed me, I would be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy bantering with the man.

“I just think that a large hotel is going to have a menu that appeals to the masses. This is a small inn. He’s been allowed to create the menus that he wants because it’s a boutique hotel and it allowed him the creative freedom. Are you telling me that I’m wrong?”

“I’m telling you that you know nothing about the hotel business. You just want to hate me, so you are going to disagree with everything I say because you’re angry. You’re thinking with emotion and not like a businesswoman.”

“Or I just happen to dislike you and disagree with you at the same time.” I placed my hands on my hips. “Both can be true.”

“All right,” my dad said. “Hank needs me in back, and you two are killing my creative juices per usual with your bickering. How about you each go to your respective corners.” He shook his head. “Myles, I appreciate the offer, and when the time comes, if you’re still interested, we’ll talk. But I can’t wait for work until next season, so I’ll take this job and we’ll play it by ear.” Dad put his finger up to stop me from interrupting, because that’s exactly what I was about to do. “Baby girl, I love you, but I’m a grown man. I’m very capable of making decisions for myself.”

My chest squeezed at his words. It had always been my father and me against the world.

“I know you can. I just know how hard it is for you with the inn shutting down.”

“Hard for me, or hard for you?” He kissed the top of my head. “I’m actually looking forward to a change.”

My father walked to the other side of the kitchen and through the double doors, and I glared at Myles. “I thought you were supposed to be out of town for the day?”

Howard had told me that Myles had taken the private jet to the city because he had some business to take care of back home.

“Are you keeping tabs on me, HB?” Sometimes he chose to shorten the annoying nickname he’d given me, so I’d adopted the same strategy.

“I just noticed you weren’t lurking around trying to put your nose in my business, MB.” I turned to walk out of the kitchen, and he followed. “Of course you would get a big head about it.”

“You sure like to talk about my big head, don’t you?” His voice was laced with humor as his fingers wrapped around my forearm, and I came to a stop. My back was pressed against the wall in the hallway leading to the entry of the inn.

The space was small, and the smell of bergamot and black currant flooded my senses.

“I don’t care about your big head,” I snarled. “Either one of them.”

He leaned forward, one hand on each side of the wall, caging me in. “So you do remember?”

My heart raced, and my mouth went dry. “Is that what you want? You want me to say that I remember that you have a big peen?”

He stared at me. “A ‘big peen’?”

“Just calling it as I see it.” I chuckled.

He sighed. “Have dinner with me.”

“Why?”

“I want to talk to you about something business related, and you’re always so hostile, so I figured dinner would be a more relaxing setting.”

“I’m not going home with you,” I said, tipping my chin up.

“I wasn’t asking you to come home with me.”

I rolled my eyes and glanced down at my phone to check the time. “Fine. Dinner. No drinks. This is business. I’ll give you one hour. I’ve got plans tonight.”

“Do you have a big diamond deal going down this evening?” His voice was gruff.

His face was close to mine, and I squeezed my thighs together at the dull ache residing there from his nearness.

I hated that I looked forward to seeing him every day.

I hated that I was disappointed when I’d heard that he was out of town when I’d arrived this morning.

And I hated that I’d made up more excuses than necessary to stop by the inn when I knew he’d be there.

“Maybe.”

“Or a hot date?” he pressed.

“It’s none of your business. You’ve got one hour, Moneybags.”

“Great. I’ll drive.” He stepped back and motioned for me to lead the way.

When we made our way outside and he opened the passenger door, I paused, one brow raised. “The only reason I’m agreeing to get in your car is because I didn’t drive here. I walked. Where are we going?”

“Where it all started. The Moose Brew.” He had the audacity to lean over and reach for my seat belt, and I slapped his wrist away.

“I can buckle myself, you pompous ass.”

He snapped it into place. “This is the hostility I’m talking about, Montana. I’m doing something nice for you, and you act like I’m committing a crime.”

He pulled back and shut the door hard before stalking around the fancy jet-black sports car he’d rented.

Why did he have to be so damn sexy? Even his angry walk was a turn-on.

Broad shoulders and long legs on full display before he slipped into the driver’s seat beside me.

“I wasn’t accusing you of committing a crime. I was telling you that I know how to buckle my own seat belt.”

He didn’t respond as he drove toward the bar just a block and a half away. We should have just walked.

When he pulled into the parking lot, he turned to face me. “I wasn’t trying to piss you off. I didn’t see you reach for your belt, and it was just my instinct to buckle it for you.”

Well, that was unexpected.

“Why?” I asked as I reached for the button and tugged my seat belt away.

“Because contrary to what you think, I would like to get you to the Moose Brew in one piece. I look forward to being insulted over the next hour.”

It was hard to be angry at someone for wanting you to be safe, but I kept my tone light. “It’s Blushing. We’re driving one block. I wouldn’t have guessed you to be such a worrier.”

He pushed out of the car and came around to open my door and offered me a hand. “You don’t know anything about me, other than what you’ve decided in your head.”

He let me lead the way inside and held up a hand to Benji when he waved at us. “We’re sitting in the booth,” he said.

“So bossy.” I laughed.

I slipped into the booth, and Benji came around with two menus. “We don’t need those. We’ve only got an hour. We’ll take two steaks, two salads, and a large bottle of sparkling water with some limes.”

“How do you know that I want the steak?”

“Because the night I met you here, you told me that it’s what you always order,” he said, and Benji waited for me to give him a curt nod, because he also knew that’s what I always ordered, and he knew I preferred it to be cooked medium well.

He chuckled and walked away before dropping off a large bottle of sparkling water, along with two glasses and a dish of limes.

“And you know what I drink now?” I said as he unscrewed the top from the bottle and poured it into my glass.

“You said no drinks.”

He made good points, per usual. Which only annoyed me more.

“So why are we here?”

“I am opening the largest hotel in Blushing, and you own the Blushing Bride. We should be working together, not against one another.” He reached for his water and took a sip.

“So you need my business?”

He smirked. Maybe it was the cocky, sexy way that he tilted his lips, or the way his sage green eyes shone that had my legs squeezing together on instinct.

I wasn’t normally a woman who reacted to the opposite sex this way. Probably because I’d been with the same guy for so long that we’d just grown comfortable with one another.

Or it could be that this man just had more sex appeal than any human should be allowed.

Yes. Yes. That’s definitely it.

Once again, I blamed him and his annoying sex appeal for making me feel like a horny, out-of-control teenager every time I was around him.

“I make it a point not to need things, Montana. But I also don’t pass up opportunities.”

“Your hotel is going to be the hottest tourist attraction in Blushing. But you think my weddings are going to be an opportunity that you don’t want to miss out on?” I wasn’t buying it. He didn’t need me, and we both knew it.

Why were we even here?

“That’s a fair point. And sure, having the exposure of weddings at the resort will be good for business. But more importantly, it’s an opportunity for you.”noveldrama

“Why do you care?” I asked, pausing when Benji set our plates down in front of us. He winked at me before walking away.

Myles thought about my question as he rolled up the sleeves of his dress shirt, exposing his forearms. I internally groaned that the man even had sexy forearms. How was that possible? He cut into his steak and popped a bite in his mouth before motioning for me to eat.

The bossy bastard can’t help himself.

He waited until I took a bite before he spoke. “I don’t know why I care, but I do. And I’m a man who trusts his gut, and my gut tells me to insist you take this opportunity.”

I rolled my eyes, even though I couldn’t hide my smile. “Maybe it’s guilt because you know that you’re bulldozing a beautiful property, and at the same time you’re sort of ruining my business.”

He chuckled. “I don’t do guilt. It’s not my thing. I don’t base decisions on emotion. I base them on facts and numbers. And how does this ‘sort of’ ruin your business? That doesn’t make sense to me. It either does or it doesn’t.”

“Listen, not everyone is looking at everything in dollars and cents,” I said, reaching for my water.

“Well, then, they aren’t trying to make money, and that’s their prerogative.”

“Most of my weddings choose the Seaside Inn because of the nostalgia that comes with the property. It’s one of the oldest structures in Blushing. So, yes, I’ve found other venues for the weddings that I’ve been forced to move, but they aren’t better than the Seaside Inn, and that bothers me.”

“The clients don’t think they’re better, or you don’t?” he asked, his gaze locked with mine.

I thought it over. After the initial blow of letting our couples know that they’d have to move venues, everyone had been fine with it. Most had moved to the Parkers’ bed-and-breakfast up the street, and though the view wasn’t quite as impressive, it was a close second. And the Parkers had offered discounted pricing, since they were just thrilled to get the business from us, and my father would still provide the catering out of their kitchen.

“I don’t.”

His lips twitched. “Attagirl, Honey Badger. You’re passionate. I like that. But does it actually hurt your business that the weddings will be moving to a different venue? Are you losing bookings?”

“No. But I had an easier time selling the Seaside Inn to clients because it’s just special.”

“And it will be special again. Even larger in size, which means you can book more weddings than you have before, because we can accommodate that. More guests can stay at the resort for destination weddings. This is not a bad thing. And we will get this built quickly. It’s what I do. So I don’t understand the hostility.”

“Because tearing that place down is emotional for me,” I said, suddenly feeling defensive and frustrated.

“Business should never be emotional.”

“Maybe that’s because you don’t have a heart.” I shrugged.

I expected him to get angry and snap back.

But he didn’t.

His gaze softened. “You’re not wrong about that.”