Seduction on the Sand (The Billionaires of Barefoot Bay #2)(30)

Someone had once told him a particular piece of land in Massachusetts was worthless because it was too hard to dig a foundation, and so far, that land had made him a very rich man. Feasibility studies could be proved wrong.

“I want to talk to the owner,” he said.

“Don’t bother,” Zeke said. “The cost to clear that kind of land and make it usable for our needs would be astronomical.”

Good. If a problem could be solved with money, it wasn’t a problem. “But if we used that plot, she could keep her farm.”

“No, she couldn’t.” Nate was pissed enough to take his glasses off to make the point. “I was just in Miami with Flynn and saw a preliminary site drawing of the whole stadium complex. There is no physical way to follow any configuration that Flynn has had drawn up without putting parking somewhere on her land. And that’s where it’s going unless you’re too whipped by a goat leash to put it there.”

“Look, couldn’t the parking somehow include her goat farm?” He’d been thinking about this, but hadn’t yet put it into words. “It could attract tourists.”

Nate hooted softly. “Yeah, ’cause people always want to stop at a goat farm when they go to a baseball game. Geez, Becker, I know we give you shit about being a moron, but in this case, it might be true.”

“But I—”

“He likes her,” Zeke said, all the amusement gone from his eyes now, replaced by understanding and rationality. Thank God. “And he’s trying to make her happy and give her what she wants.”

Nate must have agreed, because he fell back in his chair and threw his hands up in resignation.

“Well, there you go. Another one bites the dust.”

“What dust?” Except Elliott knew exactly what dust he meant.

“Might as well start recruiting new team members for the Niners right now. Oh, hell, why don’t we just change the name of the team to the Bucks? In honor of our goat-lover and former third baseman.”

Elliott knew what Nate’s comment meant. No one played on their softball team at home who wasn’t rich and single. A walk down the aisle meant a walk off the team.

He shook his head. “I just met her,” he said, and even that level of denial felt wrong. “I mean, she’s special, but...”

“Trust me,” Zeke said. “When it happens, it happens fast.”

“Are you and Mandy, uh...” Elliott tapped his left ring finger, unable to even say the word.

Zeke finally smiled. “Shopping for the rock this afternoon, buddy.”

Nate let his forehead thud onto upturned palms. “What the hell is wrong with you two?”

“What’s wrong with finding someone to spend your life with?” Zeke demanded.

“What’s right with it?” Nate fired back, then he turned his disgust on Elliott. “She’s a goatherd, for God’s sake.”

“Hey, Mandy was a maid,” Zeke said, clearly coming over to Elliott’s side in the conversation.

“Look, why don’t we look into other options before the deal that Becker set up goes through? Maybe we can do something with that other land.”

He could tell Nate wanted to explode as he shook his head and no words came out. “Wait, wait,”

he sputtered. “Did you tell him about Will Palmer?”

“Who’s that?” Elliott asked.

“He’s a local,” Zeke answered. “He’s really involved with this resort, and his wife runs the spa.

They’re friends of Mandy’s.”

“What about him?” Elliott asked.

“Will Palmer.” Nate dragged out the name like Elliott was an idiot for not recognizing it. “Former minor-league player, well connected, coaches, recruits, and absolutely loves the idea of baseball on Mimosa Key. He’s already got some major names lined up to come to the announcement when we go public. He’s going to bring in players from Miami and Tampa for an exhibition game right here at this resort, against the Niners, maybe in the next few weeks.”

The announcement? An exhibition game with pros? In the next few weeks?

He could practically feel Frankie slipping through his fingertips.

“Whoa, whoa.” He made a slow-down gesture with both hands. “Nate, we don’t have that land deal yet. We can’t announce anything.”

Nate thunked his elbows on the table and stared at Elliott. “You want me in on the announcement?”

“Of course.” They all knew that Nate added the glitz factor and that his family’s name meant huge coverage for them.

“Well, my time is limited.”

Elliott almost choked. His time? Time was all this trust-fund billionaire bad boy had. “Might have to reschedule a trip on your party barge to Greece this spring?” Elliott shot back.

Nate’s jaw tensed as he gritted his teeth. “You’re a riot, Elliott. We sent you down here to do a job. Do it or we can find someone else to take your place.”

For a long, crazy minute, he thought about the offer. Really thought about Frankie and her farm and the goats and—

Zeke reached in to referee the argument. “We don’t want to do this without Becker,” he said to Nate. Then he turned to Elliott. “But I also don’t want you to hurt someone you care about.”