One Bossy Offer (57)

The stranger just raises a hand. I notice a long, thin vape pen hanging out of it. She brings it to her lips and lets out a puff of minty smoke as casually as if we’re in a hookah bar.

“I sincerely don’t know who ‘he’ is. I assure you I’m my own woman,” she says, her voice like steel.

But as soon as she blows a puff of smoke, Coffee’s lips peel back and he growls.

“Coffee!” I pull the leash firmly.

Behave, boy, before you wind up with animal control.

It takes a few seconds as I struggle to move him behind me and Cream, where he finally melts into a sit with one more grumble.

“I’m so sorry. He doesn’t usually growl.” I stop, wondering if it’s the vape machine weirding them out. He’s never seen one before.

“Dogs will be dogs. I’m here to talk about your newly acquired property.”

The inn? But if she isn’t with Miles...

I don’t understand.

What kind of hyper-aggressive realtor follows you on the street?

She takes another drag off her vape pen before she says, “I have a keen interest in that beautiful space of yours. I’m terribly sorry to barge in on you like this, but I just missed you before you left and figured I’d just wait for you. I also owe you another apology, Miss Landers.”

“For what?” I ask.

Maybe the dogs are right. This whole thing feels weird.

“I allowed my realty firm to make the initial offer a little while ago when I should have paid you a visit in person,” she says. “I also regret allowing them to send you a lowball offer.”

Realty firm? Offer?

Oh, the letter in the mailbox. So she’s with them?

“I’m sure such an impersonal offer—and perhaps the amount—was an insult to a cherished Pinnacle Pointe institution. I’ve come to remedy that today.” She reaches into the black leather designer purse hanging from one shoulder, pulls out a cream envelope, and passes it to me. “Go ahead. Kindly have a look.”

I open it, and my jaw drops.

When I look up to see if this is a joke, she’s smiling, but her face is as blank as a wall.

“Take your time. I’m sure you’ll want time to consider it with a lawyer, but I’ll be ready for your call. To be clear, I wouldn’t ever dream of flipping The Bee Harbor Inn or turning it into a corporate creation. My card is inside. I trust you’ll be in touch.”

I’m speechless.

If it wasn’t for the dogs standing defensively as she turns her back, I might just fall over.

She climbs back into her car and the driver pulls away the instant the door shuts.

Coffee lets out a repressed woof!

“...she was intense, huh?”

He tries to pull me the way we came and Cream trots after him. I have to steer them around quickly, ignoring their sad black eyes and whines as their tails wag.

“Not right now, guys. We’re not going back to the park. I need some time to think.”

But when my eyes land on a second black car, I know I might as well wish for a unicorn while I’m at it.

Because Miles Cromwell steps out and marches toward me, his face set like granite.

It wasn’t the park or the woman that set them off after all.

It was the most annoying man alive, and whether I like it or not, he’s about to complicate my world for the thousandth time.





12





No Bad Blood (Miles)





The stink of that mint-tinged smoke clings to the air like sulfur trailing a demon.

I knew I came back early for a reason. I just didn’t expect to find a monster whispering God only knows what in Jenn’s ear.

If Simone was ten seconds later stepping back in her car, I would’ve ended this shit right here.

Instead, I’m confronted with Jenn the second she spins around to calm the dogs, and judging from her look, they’re the only ones happy to see me.

I fight down a laugh.

It’s weirdly adorable when she goes from graceful to bumbling mess in the blink of an eye.

She’s atrociously cute when she’s mad, the usual warmth in her eyes turning to a stormy sea green. All of her sweetness gone in a flash of lightning, and I’m the fucking idiot-rod pulling it down from the sky.

“What are you doing here?” she bites off.

“Nice to see you, too.”

“You scared my dogs.”

“This is scared?” I hold out my hand.

Coffee lets out an excited yip and licks my fingers. I pull a morsel of beef jerky out of my pocket, pull the wrapper down, and hold it above his nose. “Sit.”

The beast obeys, and I give him a large bite before I offer the same to his sister.

Jenn’s eyes flick from the dogs to me and back again.

“You never answered my question. What are you doing here?” Her throat ticks like every word is some poison thing leaving her mouth.

“The same as you, I imagine,” I tell her, deliberately cryptic.

“My parents live one block over. I bet you can’t say the same. My family does well, but they’re not billionaires.”

“My status bothers you, doesn’t it?” I drill through her icy expression, daring her to tell the truth.