Only His (Fool's Gold #6)(11)

“Mo-om.”

Denise laughed, then hugged her. “You’ll be fine.”

“You can’t know that.”

Denise smiled. “I’m pretty sure.”

TUCKER STOOD BY THE SIDE of the road. The first work done by his crew had been to clear an area for parking and heavy equipment. Now with that finished, the real effort would begin. Building a casino-hotel resort would take hundreds of thousands of man-hours and millions of dollars over nearly two years. His plan was to come in early and under budget. For that he needed the right team and a fair amount of luck.

He turned as a light blue Ford Ranger drove toward him. Nevada pulled in next to him and climbed out.

She looked good, he thought, taking in the jeans and T-shirt. Sensible, but sexy. One of his favorite combinations. Not that he would say that to her. He wanted her working for him and that meant they would be spending a lot of hours together. The best way to get through that was to act professionally. Besides, he’d long ago learned that finding any woman irresistible was a disaster. He didn’t need to go there again.

“What do you think?” he asked, nodding toward the vast expanse of land.

“It’s a hundred acres, right?”

“Yes.” He pointed to the east. “We go about a third of the way up the tree line.” He indicated the rest of the track. “We’ll cut into the mountain.”

“Won’t that provoke the spirits?” she asked, her brown eyes bright with humor.

“You’re forgetting I’m one of them. They’re delighted to see me.”

“That’s right. You’re part of the Máa-zib tribe through both your parents?”

He nodded. “About an eighth, give or take a little.”

“So technically you or your dad had to be the ones to buy the land. A company couldn’t own it.”

“Right. We’ve leased it back to the corporation for the project.”

“You’re a land baron.”

“I’m part owner.”

“Still, it’s impressive.”

“Are you impressed?” he asked.

She grinned. “I could be.”

“Tell me what else it would take.”

“You could show me the plans for the place.”

They walked to his truck and he pulled a copy of the plans out from the backseat. After opening the tailgate, he spread them out.

“We’re using every inch of land,” he said. “There’ll be a road circling the entire development. The casino is here, along with the hotel.”

He watched her trace the different elements of the plan.

“You’re keeping the grove of the oldest trees,” she said, not looking up at him. “I like the walking trails.” She moved her finger to the mountain. “This is going to require some serious blasting to remove that much earth.”

“Ever done any blasting?”

She turned to him. “No, but I’d like to.”

“Stick with me, kid.”

“Tempting.”

He wasn’t surprised she could be wooed more by the promise of a big explosion than a corner office. Nevada had always been like that—eager, interested. Smart. He remembered her ability to call him on any bull. They had stayed up late a few times, arguing about everything from politics to sustainable construction. She was someone he’d enjoyed talking to, when he’d surfaced from the Cat-induced haze long enough to have a conversation.

He wanted to tell her he was sorry about what happened between them. Not the bad sex, although that was damned humiliating to think about, but the rest of it. He’d wanted to be her friend back then but hadn’t been able to think of anyone but Cat.

“I thought there was going to be an outlet mall,” she said.

He pulled out another large roll of paper. “We won’t be developing it. It’s too small a project.”

“Aren’t you the snob.”

“The last project I worked on was a thousand-meter suspension bridge in Africa. No, I don’t build malls.”

One corner of her mouth turned up. “Of course you don’t.”

He leaned against the truck. “You’re not mad anymore.”

“I wasn’t mad.” She straightened. “This is a great opportunity. You’re bringing a lot to the town.”

“We appreciate their cooperation.”

“Don’t you always get that?”

“Some towns aren’t interested in change or growth.”

“Fool’s Gold isn’t like that. This project will bring a lot of jobs and tourists. We already get a decent tourist trade, but nothing like the numbers this will bring in.”

“Why’d you come back? You could have found plenty of jobs in other places.”

“This is my home. I grew up here. My family founded this town.” She smiled. “In a settler kind of way. Obviously the Máa-zib tribe was here first.”

“Obviously.”

He understood the concept of roots, he just couldn’t relate to it. He’d never had anywhere particular to call home. His dad had always kept a condo in Chicago but they’d rarely been there. His home was wherever the next project was.

“Want to hear about your team?”