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Makenna
“I don’t think he’s like Eric,” Sam commented after Nash left. “You could do worse.”
“What the fuck is wrong with you? I don’t want to marry the guy. It was a figure of speech.” She didn’t look as if she believed me, so I attempted to explain one more time. “You have to admit, he makes a damn good cup of coffee. As soon as I took a drink, in an offhand manner, I told him I wanted to marry him because of his coffee making skills. I didn’t in any way literally mean what I said.”
“But you could still do worse,” Sam said. “Do you like him?”
“No!”
She raised her eyebrows.
I squirmed in my seat. “Maybe a little,” I finally admitted.
Sam pushed her empty cup away, rested her arms on the table, and leaned forward, staring at me. I hated when she did this. It was as if she was trying to look deep inside me and see what the truth really was.
“Okay, you win. I like the guy. Sort of. That still doesn’t mean I’m going to hook up with him just because he wants to have sex with me.” As soon as the words were out of my mouth, I wanted to call them back, but one look at Sam, and I knew it was too late.
“Whoa, now that’s interesting,” Sam said. “Apparently, he’s attracted to you.” She suddenly frowned. “Why don’t you want to have sex with him? He’s definitely hot.”
“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe I don’t want to have sex with him because I barely know the guy. Did you ever think about that? And can we please discuss something else?”
“If you insist.” She was thoughtful for a moment. “Before Eric tried to kill you and your group, what did you think about Colorado? Is it going to be a viable place to open another store?”
“First, we don’t know that Eric tried to kill me or my group, and I don’t believe he did. Second, yes, I do think this would be a good area to open another store.” At least I could discuss our business. I began to tell her about the prospects of opening one of our stores in a state known for their outdoor activities. When I paused, she jumped in.
“I was hoping you would say that. Back in a sec.” She hurried out to her rental car and grabbed her laptop, she never left home without it. A few minutes later, and we were checking the statistics of the area towns, seeing which one would gain us the most profit and visibility. We liked what we saw in a couple of them, then we started looking at rental properties, and properties that were available to purchase. That’s when we came to a dead end. There just wasn’t that much available that would fit our needs.
We spent a couple of hours researching without much luck, before both of us decided we needed to move around a bit and stretch our muscles. I grabbed the trashcan and began clearing the empty bottles. Sam jumped in to help. It only took us about ten minutes to clean up the mess Nash and I had made last night. I returned the trashcan and we walked through the living room and out onto the balcony.
“It’s beautiful here,” Sam said.
She was right. Nash had chosen a great spot to build his home. It was high on the mountain with lots of trees. I spotted a moose in the distance and pointed it out to Sam. “Can you imagine having your coffee out here every morning?”
“Not every morning. I would imagine it would be way too cold in the winter. There would be snow everywhere.”
I smiled.
She raised her eyebrows in question. “What?”
“You’re always so pragmatic. You need to start looking at the creative side of things.”
“I said it was beautiful. I don’t know what more you want. Besides, one of us has to think about the business side of things. That’s why we’re a great team. You actually use the merchandise that we sell in our stores. I crunch the numbers.”
I grimaced. “I don’t think I would like to be behind a computer all the time like you, but you’re very good at what you do.”
“His home is beautiful, too.” Sam ran her hand over the scraped cedar railing. “See, I can admire fine workmanship.”
At least she tried. “He told me his brother worked with him on the design, and then built it. He’s an architect or something.”
Sam sighed. “I want to build a house someday.”
I looked at her with surprise. “I thought you loved your apartment.”
“I’m ready for a change. Since I don’t have to actually go to the store every day, I work from the apartment most of the time. I guess I’m just tired of all the traffic and always being in a rush. I’m ready for a slower pace.”
“Maybe you should talk to Nash and see if his brother is available. You can definitely afford to build whatever you want. The stores are thriving.”
Her expression was thoughtful for a moment. “Actually, that’s not a bad idea. I might just talk to him about it.”
I heard a noise and turned. A thread of fear trickled through me. When I saw it was Nash, I relaxed. Why was he carrying my suitcase when all I’d said I needed was a pair of shorts and a shirt? If he thought I was going to play house with him, then he’d better think again. That wasn’t going to happen.
I strode to the door and went inside. “I told you not to get all of my things.”
He looked up, his eyes fastened on my chest. I glanced down. Great. It had been cool standing on his balcony.
“It was cold outside,” I said between gritted teeth.
He grinned. “I can see that.”
“I’m not staying here. I already told you that.”
Nash looked over my shoulder. “Hey Sam, do you still have your things in your rental car?”
“Yes. Why?”
“I’ll bring them in. There’s no reason for either one of you to stay at the hotel. It’s much nicer here. There are plenty of bedrooms. Take your choice. You don’t have to worry about noisy neighbors or anything. It’s only about twenty minutes to town. I have plenty of frozen pizza, dinners, and beer.”
Sam hesitated. I smiled victoriously. When it came right down to it, Sam was my friend. She would go along with whatever I wanted to do.
“I’m not sure...” Sam began.
Nash hurried on. “Oh, and I stopped by the real estate agency and picked up some flyers. I knew you were wanting to open another store in Colorado, which I think is a great idea. You can find this information online, but there are a couple of places that I think would be excellent that won’t be listed for a couple of days. I can take you around this afternoon if you’d like.”
Sam beamed.
I tried mental telepathy. Please Sam, don’t do it. We don’t need him. The realtors would probably be just as helpful.
“That’s awfully nice of you,” Sam said.
My shoulders slumped in defeat.
“If you’re sure it won’t be any trouble,” Sam continued.
“Not at all.” He turned his gaze on me.
Was he gloating? And his eyes were twinkling. Now he was playing dirty pool. A sudden thought occurred to me and I smiled. He might have won a battle, but he hadn’t won the war. “I agree. It’s going to be great having Sam here with me. I’m sure we’ll be able to get a lot of work done. Don’t worry, though, we’ll take a bedroom far enough away from yours that we don’t disturb your sleep.”
As if he’d just realized two’s company, but three’s a crowd, his expression turned grim. I’d had a feeling he hadn’t thought this all the way through. There was no chance he could seduce me with Sam around.
While Nash went out to get Sam’s luggage, Sam and I carried mine upstairs. We each chose a room about halfway down the hall with a Jack and Jill bathroom. Sam had only packed one suitcase. Nash brought it straight upstairs.
“What did the sheriff say?” I asked after we’d all gone downstairs again.
“There have been reports of someone setting off dynamite in other areas within a fifty mile radius from where we were. He doesn’t seem to think it was intentional. Just some idiot wanting to blow up shit. He sent a couple of officers to investigate the area.”
I released a sigh of relief. I didn’t want to think that Eric had anything to do with it. I disliked the man immensely, but I didn’t want him to be a criminal. Sam said I was too nice. I didn’t think so. If he was some way involved I’d make sure he was prosecuted and sent to prison for a very long time. He had fooled me once, but I wouldn’t let him fool me again.
“I would’ve bet my last dollar Eric was involved,” Sam said.
We decided to eat a quick bite, then go look at the properties he’d found. Nash said he would drive since he knew the area better. Sam hurried to get in the back seat. Really? Was she trying to play matchmaker now? Paybacks could be hell.
On second thought, she might be paying me back for the time I set her up. I’d definitely blindsided her, and she hadn’t been happy. Sam said she owed me big time. I agreed that I should’ve checked the guy out a little better. It was just so hard to tell the good guys from the bad guys nowadays. Rick said he owned a collection agency. How the hell was I supposed to know he was a burglar? Maybe I had a penchant for choosing criminals.
I cast a sideways glance at Nash, then mentally shook my head. He wasn’t a criminal. At least, I didn’t think so.
But if Sam was trying her hand at matchmaking, it wouldn’t work. I had definitely sworn off dating for now. When I glanced over my shoulder, she only smiled innocently. I didn’t buy it. Not for one second.
The first property we looked at was a little too far from town, so we didn’t even get out. The next one was perfect. It was only a five minute drive to town, close enough that people wouldn’t mind driving out.
I was the visionary. I could see our store nestled amongst the trees. We shouldn’t even have to take any down to build a store or the parking lot. It would blend in with nature.
As soon as Nash pulled to a stop, I unfastened my seatbelt and got out. “How much land is there?”
“Five acres. It’s pricey, though. The real estate agent thought this would be the best one for you. She did say the seller was motivated. He’s liquidating all of his holdings and moving to Florida. He told her that he was tired of the cold Colorado winters.”
I looked at Sam “I like it. I like it a lot.” I turned to Nash. “What about utilities? How difficult will it be to get them put in?”
“That’s the beauty of it. The owner has a house on the land. The utility companies would only need to run it beyond his house, not all the way from town. That’ll save you some money. There’s only one problem.”
I felt as if my heart dropped to my feet. Sam would crunch the numbers and make sure everything was in order, but for me, I went with my gut feeling. This property felt right. Our other stores were doing exceedingly well because we’d chosen good locations. They’d all felt right.
“What?” I asked, dreading the answer.
“It goes on the market tomorrow. You’ll have to act fast and make a competitive offer if you really want it.”
I walked up the small hill and scanned the area. I could see a log house in the distance. It would be great for a general manager. There were trees, but not so many that it was congested.
“Do you want to see more?” Sam asked as she came up to stand beside me.
I shook my head. “I don’t have to. This is the one.” I’d always made quick decisions, and they usually panned out. I frowned. Except with Eric. That had been a really bad decision. So maybe I wasn’t as lucky with men.
We went into town and met with the realtor. She seemed quite excited that we were thinking about putting in a business. She gave Sam all the numbers that she would need to make sure it would be a viable piece of land for us. Sam told her we would look over everything tonight and let her know something tomorrow.
We climbed back into Nash’s vehicle and he took us around the town, pointing out historical buildings and local hangouts. As the sun was starting to go down, he took us to one of the local restaurants for dinner. As I got out, I happened to turn and look at Sam, except my gaze moved to somewhere behind her. Before I could get much more than a glimpse, the man stepped inside the store.
Sam looked behind her. “What is it? What did you see?”
“It was nothing. My eyes are just playing tricks on me.” I suddenly smiled. “I’m starved, and I plan on ordering the thickest steak they have.” But as we went inside, I couldn’t help glancing over my shoulder one more time. No one was there. Had I really seen Eric? No, it couldn’t have been him. Still, the strange sensation didn’t leave me all through dinner.