Читать книгу More Than One Night - Heatherly Bell - Страница 17

Chapter Five

“This coffee tastes like death! You know how picky I am about my coffee. Can’t you do any better than this?” Jill pushed the foam cup of black sludge across Ryan’s desk.

He had been hunched over her search and rescue plan for the past few minutes, reading. “Shh, woman. You don’t want to anger her.”

She followed his gaze to his deputy admin, Renata Dooley, a woman one did not mess with. She was German, and at six feet tall the largest woman Jill had ever known. She took shit from no one and she’d worked for the Sheriff’s office for approximately forever.

“She makes the coffee?” Jill whispered. “It’s horrible.”

“Yeah, well, that’s not her job.” Ryan tapped the paper in front of him. “Did you put this plan together?”

“Yes, um, why?”

“It’s just so...detailed. You thought of everything.”

“I had a little help.”

Sam, frankly, had kicked ass on this plan. This morning when she’d woken on the office cot yet again, drool dried on her cheek, she had a blanket covering her that she didn’t remember putting there. Her Kindle not on the floor where it usually landed, but placed carefully on her desk. And the plan on her desk, complete and perfect.

“Yeah?”

“One of my guys is a former Marine. He’s very detail-oriented.”

Ryan didn’t know the half of it.

“A Marine?” He winced. “Christ, Jill. All of these men were checked out by the agency, right? References, backgrounds, everything?”

“Yes, Ryan.” She’d been over this with him before.

Her big brother had always been over-the-top protective. Not entirely his fault. Their parents had put in long hours on the job and even if he was only four years older, Ryan had practically raised her.

He set the papers down. “This is good. I’m satisfied. I’m sure the city council will be, too.”

“What do they have to do with it?”

“They want me to bring it to the next meeting.”

She knew well that Ryan hated the politics of being Sheriff, but he’d accepted the nomination because he cared about the town of Fortune.

“Boy, they just can’t stay out of my business, can they?”

“You should have expected this. Small-town growth restrictions,” Ryan said.

“But this is going to be so special for our town. No one in the Bay Area has anything like this park.”

“Exactly. It’s going to bring a lot of traffic our way. And you know how the city council feels about traffic.”

Holy wow, did she know. She regularly got an earful. “It’s also going to bring in sales tax dollars. And anyway, they don’t seem to mind the traffic when it’s a new housing development.”

“You’ll get no argument from me. I personally can’t wait to try out the zip line or go wakeboarding. First, I need some time off.”

“Speaking of time off, do you know if Mom or Dad are going to make the grand opening?”

“They haven’t told you?”

“No.”

Ryan rubbed his forehead. “Dad’s speaking at a medical conference next month. The opportunity came up and he and Mom are going to make a trip of it. Paris.”

“Oh.”

“I can’t believe they didn’t tell you yet.”

“Well, it’s Paris. I probably wouldn’t come to my grand opening, either. No big deal.” She stood.

“It is a big deal.”

“Not really. It’s not like I’ve written an academic paper.” Or won the Medal of Honor.

“You know I’ll be there. I wouldn’t miss it.”

She grinned. “And you’ll bring a date?”

“Stop busting my chops. You know I have no time to date.”

“Make time.”

“Look who’s talking. You haven’t had a date in what? Three years?”

Don’t remind me. “Yes, but I’m not the one depriving some child-to-be of your dimples.”

“For the love of God, not you, too. It’s enough that Mom’s on my case about settling down.”

“Speaking as your little sister, who wants to be an aunt someday, I just want you to be happy.”

“And speaking as your big brother, who doesn’t mind waiting to be an uncle, I just want you to be safe.”

“Oh, I will be.”

She bussed her brother’s cheek and was out the door.

Back in the safety and quiet of her sedan, Jill took her cell phone out and dialed her mother. Always best to get the unpleasantness out of the way fast. Unlike Mom, Jill had learned the hard way that there was no point in avoiding their difficult relationship.

“Hi, honey,” Mom answered on the third ring. “I’ve been meaning to—”

“I just heard you can’t attend the grand opening because of Paris.”

“Your father was invited to lecture at a medical conference.”

“Mom, I told you guys about this months ago.”

“I know, and I’m so sorry to miss your...your...”

“Grand opening.”

Jill sighed. She was used to it by now. Mom, a brilliant woman, had some kind of hiccup in her brain synapses when it came to Jill’s so-called “hobbies.”

“I really am so sorry to miss it. It sounds like such fun.”

Fun. Not hard work that kept her in the office so late she’d actually taken to sleeping there. “Yeah, fun, but also we’re doing something here. Building something. Providing work to veterans and creating a business that’s going to benefit the entire town, too.”

“You have such a big heart.”

Now Mom made it sound like charity, which it wasn’t. Not in a million years would she take pity on veterans. She needed them and they needed her.

“Okay. Have fun in Paris. And tell Dad congrats on the invitation.”

She hung up and tossed the phone on the passenger seat. When her parents had first heard about her plans, they’d freaked.

“Extreme sports? Are you out of your mind?”

No amount of assurance from her that she wasn’t going to be the one participating in the more dangerous extreme sports seemed to help. She wanted to. Little interested her more than an athlete’s ability to push beyond their physical boundaries. To move past what one would expect the human body capable of. She enjoyed cycling and hikes, though she’d been too busy to get outdoors for some time. An irony she did not miss. Feet away from some great outdoor activities and with no time for them.

When she got back to the ridge, she noticed the guys off in the distance, stacking the rock climbing equipment. Ropes and pulleys. Sam always seemed to be in charge, even if they were all technically on the same level. She knew from their personnel records that at thirty he was only slightly older than the other men. But according to the agency, Sam was leadership material and should be treated as such.

She walked closer to the men, enjoying the view. Big brawny men hard at work. It wasn’t true, as Zoey and Carly often teased, that she’d started this business so she could hang out with good-looking and physically active men. Just a perk. She whipped out her phone camera and took a few photos of the men before they’d noticed her. But it wasn’t long before they did notice, and Julian was the first to preen and pose for the camera.

“Get my good side,” he said turning to his left and squeezing a bicep.

“You don’t have one,” Sam said.

“Seriously, guys. I want some good photos of you to put on the Facebook page. This is better if you go about your business and ignore me.”

That worked for a few minutes and she got some great shots of Sam climbing the rock with Julian belaying him. She zoomed in for a shot of Sam as he turned and smiled at nothing in particular as he neared the top of the rock. God, he was gorgeous. She studied the photo of him smiling, the sun glinting off his golden-brown hair.

In the end, she had to force herself to quit all the drooling and get back to some of her chores. First, she took an invigorating walk along the property, reminding herself of all she’d done here. Much as she would have appreciated her parents being at the grand opening, this at least insured that should something fail, they wouldn’t have to see her fall flat on her face.

But they were not going to fail here. Yes, that’s right. Fake it till you make it, Jill Davis. Believe it. Kick ass. Every day is a new day to win. She had that particular affirmation stuck to her laptop so she’d see it every morning.

A few minutes later, she somehow found herself at the zip line again, staring into the canyon below. She sucked in a breath and took a step back. Then another.

It wasn’t heights she was technically afraid of, but the falling part tripped her up every time. This zip line had been made by some of the best engineers in the valley with top-notch equipment. But try telling that to her parents. They’d just ask her whether she thought it was wise to take such chances with her health. Even though she’d been healthy now for years.

Definitely, without a doubt, she was going to go across the canyon on that zip line. She couldn’t wait.

“You know you want it. You want it bad.”

Sam’s voice, from just behind her. Deep and sexy. Their chemistry and connection made the air snap and crackle between them. It was addictive. She turned to remind him that, despite what she felt, they were never—not very probably, anyway—going to happen again.

He was looking past her, nodding in the direction of the zip line. Oh yeah. That.

She wanted that, too.

“I do. I just haven’t had the time.”

“Uh-huh.” He didn’t seem convinced, oddly enough. “I’ll take you. Nothing to be afraid of.”

“Did I say I was afraid?” She went hand on hip.

He shook his head as though deciding it wasn’t worth arguing about. “Someone needs to go to the hardware store.”

“What do we need?”

“Rope. There are some rocky areas we should cordon off for safety reasons.”

“Right. Okay, I’ll go.” She headed back to her trailer to get the keys.

When she returned, Sam sat in the front driver’s side seat of her sedan.

“Hey,” she said, opening the already unlocked door. “What are you doing?”

He held out his hand. “Driving.”

“No, you’re not.”

“Hand me the keys. I drive faster than you do.”

“How do you figure?”

He quirked a brow. “I drive faster than most people. No offense.”

Aha! One more thing she knew about him, and she hadn’t pried it out of him. He drove fast. Probably had a bunch of speeding tickets. Reluctantly, but figuring she was ahead of the game, she handed him her keys.

“I can get the rope for you.”

“Didn’t want you to come back with the wrong kind.”

She made her way to the passenger seat, fuming a little bit but not wanting to argue with him, and shut the door. “How many different types of ropes can there be?”

“The things I could teach you.” He started up the car.

So he was this kind of guy. The kind that thought he could make the best decisions on everything from what he should have for dinner to what she should have for dinner. She wouldn’t have guessed this about him. Good. This was a huge turnoff. She needed him to behave like this and before long she’d hate him so much there would no longer be any romantic tension between them.

“Okay, you drive. You pick the rope.”

He peeled down the hill and she grabbed hold of the handle bar. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d done that. Sam must be an adrenaline junkie about everything. She could be an adrenaline junkie, too, if she wanted to be.

“Did I mention my brother is the Sheriff?”

He didn’t say a word but gave her a sideways glance as they rolled down the hill. The minute they pulled out onto the highway, he slowed some, riding the speed limit to the edge but never going over it. He drove them through town in the right direction, apparently already knowing the location of the only hardware store in town, Mack’s.

Jill broke the silence. “About this speed issue.”

“Who said it’s an issue?”

Oh brother. “Got many speeding tickets?”

“Define ‘many.’ I had a few.” He rolled down the window. “Just realized I gave you something else you didn’t know about me.”

Damn! He didn’t miss much, did he? “I could have guessed that about you.”

“But you didn’t.” He gazed at her from underneath his eyelashes. “I need something from you now.”

She let out a breath and considered how honest she could be. “I didn’t drive until I was eighteen.”

“Yeah?” He seemed genuinely curious. “Why?”

Should she tell him her parents were so overprotective they wouldn’t allow her to get her license until then? They’d done a statistical analysis and found that fatal accidents dropped at age seventeen and then significantly at age eighteen.

And while she’d excelled at knocking down every one of their objections and worries, she couldn’t argue with their stupid statistics in black and white. They hadn’t budged on this issue no matter how hard she’d tried.

“That was one thing.” Two could play this game.

He scowled, appearing slightly irritated that she wasn’t going to run her mouth off. “Fair enough.”

A few minutes later, he’d parked and led her to the rope section of the store. And holy cannoli, he was right. She stared in shock at the display. There were as many types of ropes as there were types of bras. With bras, you had your strapless, underwire, lace, satin, demi cup and push-up—her favorite.

When it came to rope, it appeared there was nylon, polypropylene, manila, parachute, Kevlar, bungee shock, three-strand combo, combo...

“When did this all get so complicated?” She was beginning to think maybe he hadn’t considered her a total idiot for doubting she could pick the right kind of rope.

“Different ropes for different jobs,” he said as he grabbed several of a certain type. “For instance, if you’re going to tie someone up you need one kind of rope, if you—”

“Excuse me?”

“You need the right type.”

“No, back up to the part where you tie someone up.”

He simply stared at her.

“Okay, never...never mind.”

“That’s probably best.” He grinned.

Oh boy.

After she’d paid for the purchase of three different kinds of rope with her business card, Sam offered her the keys. “Sorry. I get a little pushy sometimes.”

“That’s okay,” she said reflexively even though it hadn’t been. “At least you apologized.”

“You’re not used to apologies?”

“Let’s say it’s not the norm.” She started up the car. “I dated men who weren’t into apologizing. Because mainly, according to them, they were never wrong.”

He snorted. “Sounds like you dated the wrong kind of men.”

She was close to asking him if there was a right kind of man, but decided it was a subject best not approached by a boss with her employee and one-night stand. She’d started to redefine her perfect man recently, and while Sam had the looks going for him, and he excelled at the physical part, he didn’t have much else on her list. Sure, it was an evolving list and as Carly continually reminded her, she’d likely never get everything on it.

“Gotta ask you,” Sam said. “The guys and I were all wondering. Why an extreme adventures park?”

“Well, it was either that or a B and B.”

While that wasn’t exactly true, it was the simplest answer to give him. The real answer was far more complicated. It partly involved her desire to help veterans find work and feel needed again, and Sam might take that the wrong way. She drove toward the ridge, taking it much slower than Sam had to make a point. Or maybe to spend a little more time with him and possibly get in another nugget about him. Either way.

“Those two things are nothing alike.”

“Yes, thanks for noticing. I’d have had a much easier time with a B and B.”

“Again. Why?”

“Have you ever watched the Olympics?”

“Yep. Downhill skiing.”

“For me it was the ice-skating. The amazing control. Not just all the balance and strength but incredible grace. I’m in awe of someone who has mastered control over their physical body to that extent.” She glanced at him. “In some small way, I wanted to be a part of that. Challenging the body to much more than you ever believed possible.”

He seemed satisfied with that answer because he nodded.

“And also, it was a really good idea by the way. It was one of the easiest pitches to investors that I’ve ever done. There’s nothing like it in our area. We expect that we can be fully profitable in a year.”

“One more thing,” he said, turning to her with a half smile. “Ever heard of delegating?”

Oh snap. “Delegating? Of course.”

“You’re the CEO of this company and you didn’t have to run this errand.”

He was right, wasn’t he? But she was not exactly a typical CEO, either. “I like to have my hands in everything.”

While that sounded a little sexual, surely he could see she didn’t mean it that way.

“I like to have control. I want to know what’s happening at all times,” she said.

“Got it.”

She turned onto Hill Road, the road that would take them all the way to the top of the ridge. “Is that bad?”

Of course it wasn’t. She knew that and she didn’t need his vote of confidence. It’s just that lately she did feel a tad overwhelmed. She was one person and couldn’t do everything. Not forever. But eventually this would get easier, right?

“Not at all.” He braced his elbow on the frame of the window. “Where I come from, it’s vitally important that someone always be in charge. Got frequently reminded of this by my CO in my early days. Otherwise you have a bunch of soldiers making different decisions and the mission isn’t achieved.”

“Right.”

She breathed a sigh of relief. This was simply confirmation that she wasn’t anal or too controlling. She just cared about her mission.

“But here’s the thing. Delegating is still done if you’re a CO. Or, you know, a CEO.”

“I see where you’re going with this.”

It wasn’t like her friends hadn’t been after her for some time that she shouldn’t make the job everything. But often, running this company didn’t feel like work. When it came to spreadsheets, yeah, that was work. Seeing everything come together the way it had recently had become thrilling and addictive. Sometimes she couldn’t shut off the ideas in her head, coming to her late at night when she should be sleeping.

Also, she didn’t have a boyfriend to help occupy her time. There was that.

“Sam? Can I ask whether you’d take a leadership role here?”

He snorted. “Hey, I’m getting promoted already?”

“No. It’s sort of off-the-books right now.”

Besides, she’d noticed he was already leading. It seemed easy for him. Might as well let him know she appreciated it.

“Might want to ask one of the other guys, too. Not sure how long I’ll be sticking around.”

She hadn’t thought of this being a temporary stop for Sam, but what did she really know about him?

“But for now,” Sam said. “I’ll keep these bozos in line. You can count on me.”