You, Me, and Forever (Blushing)

“I thought Dad said that the new owners weren’t coming here until after you moved out?” I said to Howard. My father worked at the inn as the head chef, and this place was like a second home to both of us.

“He surprised me yesterday and decided to come check the place out. And he’s here with his architect to meet with Charlie to go over their plans.” Howard beamed at me and Jesse Barker, the groom-to-be.

Did he seriously think that I would want to meet this guy? The man who was literally going to devastate the business I’d spent the last five years trying to build? The man who planned on bulldozing the place where my father had worked my entire life?

“Great,” I said. I was sleep deprived, and now I was meeting the asshole who had bought the inn. The man had only given us four weeks to use the space, even though we’d booked weddings here for the next twelve months.

Thanks for nothing, Moneybags.

Could this day get any worse?

“Here he is. This is the infamous Mr. St. James. Myles, this is Montana Kingsley and Jesse Barker.”

Myles?

Myles St. James?

Apparently, this day can get worse.

My gaze locked with sage green eyes, and I could still taste his whiskey on my tongue when I closed my eyes.

I’d had a fling with the enemy.

A one-night stand with the man I despised.

Two of the best orgasms of my life came from the devil himself.

I’d never had a fling. I wasn’t that girl. I was never supposed to see this man again.

I’d sneaked out of his home this morning, doing the walk of shame in my jean skirt and sexed-up hair and missing my panties that the man had torn to shreds.

He didn’t even flinch when he looked at me, and I tried desperately to act like a professional.

“Nice to meet you, Jesse,” Myles said, his gaze on the man beside me as he extended a hand. “I hear you and your fiancé are planning to get married at my fine establishment.”

You’ve owned the place for five minutes, St. James. Don’t act like you have anything to do with how wonderful it is.

“Yes. We’re so thrilled that we made the cutoff, since my girl was set on getting married here and wouldn’t consider tying the knot anywhere else.” Jesse looked down at me and winked.

He and his fiancé, Susannah, were friends of mine, and we’d grown up together.

Myles turned to look at me, his features giving nothing away.

Hell, maybe he didn’t recognize me, as I was looking pretty haggard today, and for whatever reason, all I could think about were his chiseled abs and unusually attractive penis.

I wasn’t even a fan of the penis normally, but this man was built like a Greek god.noveldrama

But when he looked at me, all I saw was disdain.

I could feel my cheeks heat.

“That’s wonderful news, Jesse.” His voice sounded overly friendly as he turned his attention to me and extended a hand. “Montana, is it?”

I cleared my throat, remembering that I’d lied about my name.

I was going to have an epic fight with Violet later, because this had all been her horrible idea, and now I was in the world’s most uncomfortable situation.

“Yes. Nice to meet you, Mr. St. James.” A zip of electricity ran through my body at the contact, and I pulled my hand away quickly.

“Do you have a sister? You look so familiar,” he asked with a cocky smirk on his face, and I wanted to crawl into a hole.

“Nope. Nada. Just me. No siblings.”

“I see. So how long have you two lovebirds been together?” he asked, glancing from me to Jesse, and I realized that he thought I was the one getting married.

I pursed my lips. “I’m the wedding planner, not the bride.”

Jesse laughed hysterically, as did Howard. As if me being the bride was the most comical thing they’d ever heard.

I hate everyone today.

“Montana dated my best friend all through high school and then again over the last few years, so we never dated. Though I do think I tried first, and you shut me down,” Jesse said, and I gaped at him.

“Anyhoo, it’s nice to meet you, but we need to get outside and meet Susannah, the bride. She’s out there with my partner, Violet, discussing the layout for the tables.”

“Well, considering I own the place, I’d like to see how you set this up. I’ll join you outside,” the bastard said.

Howard clapped his hands together and smiled. “Well, isn’t this wonderful. Everyone’s been so nervous about you coming to town, Myles. Especially Montana here. She’s practically cursed your name every day for weeks.”

Thanks, Howard.

The man was more like a grandfather to me, and I loved him, but he was a perpetual oversharer.

“Yeah, we’ve all heard it. You’re basically the devil over at the Blushing Bride,” Jesse said with a laugh.

I shot them both a warning look and forced a smile. “Don’t be silly. We’re thrilled about you moving here and knocking down the most historical building in our quaint town and putting up a high-rise hotel that blocks the views for everyone who lives here.”

Jesse and Howard just chuckled and started walking toward the door leading to the yard in the back.

Myles moved beside me, leaning down close to my ear. “The diamond business must be slow if you’re booking out weddings in small-town Alaska. Or was this all part of your plan to get me in the sack and try to change my mind about the hotel?”

I watched as the door closed once Jesse and Howard were outside before turning to the jackass beside me. “Are you kidding me right now? I would never have gone home with you if you’d shared your last name. You made it sound like you were here for the night—I didn’t know you were staying.”

“Hey, you’re the one who lied about your name and your business and the fact that you fucking live here. Let’s not throw stones when we live in glass houses, you little honey badger.”

“‘Honey badger’? Seriously?” I hissed.

He leaned down again, his lips grazing the edge of my ear. “Your pussy tastes like honey, and you’re a sneaky little badger.”

I couldn’t speak; my mouth was hanging open when he pulled back and smirked.

“Honey badger got your tongue?”

“Let’s just get through this incredibly awkward moment, and then we never need to see one another again,” I grumped as I stormed toward the door.

Violet’s eyes widened as we made our way outside, and I could feel his big body hovering behind me. I’d shared the details of my wild evening last night with the girls this morning over coffee and bagels. I’d told them that we hadn’t had sex, but that the man had still managed to rock my world.

“Mr. St. James. We had no idea you were coming to town,” Violet said, eyes wide as she extended a hand to the man beside me.

“Really? I thought with all those impressive police connections, you’d know everyone coming in and out of town. I’m guessing your name is not Marilyn Monroney?” He smirked, keeping his voice low as Howard talked with Jesse and Susannah and pointed out at the water.

“I mean, it’s not my professional name, as I try to keep my police chief status on the down-low.” Violet chuckled, because she thought everything was funny.

“I’m guessing Dr. Pepper is in surgery with the penguins?” he asked, and I glared at him.

“Is this funny to you? This is a disaster. I had no idea who you were.” I shook my head and threw my hands in the air.

“Listen, you little deviant—I didn’t lie about my name or what I did for a living. This disaster is your doing. So suck it up, buttercup.” He turned his attention to Howard when he called him over, and he walked away.

I squeezed my eyes closed and counted down from five. It was a little trick my father and I had always done since I was a little girl. When I opened my eyes, Violet was smiling.

“I kind of like him,” she said.

“Like him? He’s the enemy, Vi.”

“And you did naughty things with the enemy.” She chuckled as Susannah called my name, and we moved in their direction.

“Myles thinks the tent should be over here because of where the sun sets. You’d have the perfect view,” Susannah said as she batted her lashes at him.

“I agree with Myles,” Jesse said.

Of course they agree with the handsome billionaire.

They were all looking at him like he was the best thing they’d ever seen, and it infuriated me.

“Well, the sun doesn’t set until ten p.m., and the reception starts at five.” I glared at him before turning my attention back to Susannah. “If you recall, you wanted the tent situated so that you would have the perfect view of the water and the mountains, which is right over there, where we’d originally planned to have it.”

They nodded, and Howard left to go inside when Lydia called for him.

“I’m guessing the party will just be getting started at ten p.m., when the sun goes down,” Myles said, and they looked back at him.

“And you’d be incorrect. We have a noise ordinance downtown, and things need to shut down before ten p.m. I’d think your billion-dollar corporation would have done its research before building a monstrosity here.”

“Ahhh . . . it’s sweet of you to worry about my company, Ms. Kingsley. But I noticed last night that no one appeared to enforce the noise ordinance, because things were going off at the Moose Brew well after midnight.” He tapped his finger against his chin. “Come to think of it, I thought I saw you there last night?”

Susannah, Jesse, and Violet were looking between us like we were a tennis ball going back and forth across the court.

“Oh, she was there,” Jesse said. “I left early, but you and the girls looked like you were out to have a good time.”

Susannah laughed. “Jesse came home and told me he heard you guys were using fake names with the tourists last night, and pretending you had these elaborate careers.”

Five.

Four.

Three.

Two.

One.

“I hope that’s a joke.” Myles shook his head with disapproval, and I wanted to throat punch him. “I believe lying about your identity is a crime in most states.”

“So is bulldozing historical pieces of property.”

“That’s actually not true. And the Seaside Inn will be bigger and better than ever when I’m done with it.”

“Charming.” I oozed sarcasm as I rolled my eyes.

“I believe it will be, yes.”

I let out a long breath. This conversation was not professional, and I had clients I needed to focus on. Not my hot one-night stand gone bad. “Mr. St. James, I’m sure Jesse and Susannah are not interested in the future plans for the inn, and we’ve still got some things to go over for their big day. So if you’ll excuse us.”

“Actually, if you don’t mind, Montana, I’d love to see the plans. You said the architect is inside now with Charlie, right, Myles?” Jesse said like they were the best of friends after talking for all of three minutes. Susannah was still swooning at the arrogant billionaire like a lovesick teenager, and her fiancé didn’t seem to mind one bit, because he seemed equally impressed.

“Yeah. We trust you to work your magic, Montana. But the new inn design is all everyone is talking about, so we’d love to take a look, if you’re willing to give us a sneak peek.” Susannah didn’t take her eyes off Myles.

Violet shot me a look before speaking. “Absolutely. We’ve got everything handled. You go ahead and take a look at the drawings, and we’ll handle the details for the wedding.”

Myles winked at me before turning to walk away.

I was fuming.

“Just hold it in until they’re back inside the hotel,” Violet said, voice completely calm as we both stood there staring at the water. She glanced over her shoulder and then looked back at me. “Okay. The coast is clear. Let her rip.”

“How freaking dare he tell them where to put the tent and then steal our clients. Who does he think he is?” I huffed. “He’s an arrogant, cocky bastard.”

“Well, he didn’t really steal our clients. They sort of begged to go inside with him. And I’m fairly certain he is more than aware that he’s a rich billionaire who rocked your world last night.”

I gaped at her. “He hardly ‘rocked my world.’”

“Two orgasms and you didn’t even have sex. That’s the definition of ‘world rocking,’ babe. But I am surprised that you still seem to be suffering from the vajabbies, because your resting bitch face is a whole vibe today.”

“I thought you were on my side,” I groaned as I turned and stalked back toward the inn, and she followed.

“I’m always on your side. And I think this might work to our favor.”

“How does any of this work to our favor?” I asked, my head still pounding.

“You know the saying: ‘Keep your friends close and have a fling with your enemies,’” she said with a laugh.

I turned to look at her. “I almost had sex with a man I despise. I finally let you talk me into using a ridiculous alias, and I got caught. And now my clients are in there tripping all over themselves to see that bastard’s plans to tear this place down. And for the record—that is not the saying. It’s ‘Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.’”

“Always such a stickler for detail.” She chuckled.

I glanced around the lobby of the inn as we made our way to the door. My dad was off today, and I was glad because I wouldn’t want to see him right now. He’d know something was wrong, since he knew me too well.

I paused to look at the staircase. The place where my Christmas stocking had been hung every year of my life. My chest squeezed at the thought.

This man was going to tear down my favorite place in Blushing, and I hated him for it.

He might have been able to win over everyone else in town with his money and his charm, but I wasn’t going to be one of them.