Falling for You (17 page)

“I’m not a coward, Adrian,” Rory insisted.

“I know, but you’re too emotionally involved to be objective on this one. For the sake of the business, let me deal with Chance on the partnership agreement.”

“All right.” Rory nodded, suddenly too overwhelmed with exhaustion to argue.

~ ~ ~

Chance wasn’t quite sure what had possessed him to become business partners with the St. Claires—or why they’d agreed. None of them seemed particularly thrilled with the arrangement. The day they’d met at the lawyer’s office, Adrian and Allison had been cordial, but cool. As for Aurora, she’d acted so nervous, he’d half expected her to call the whole thing off. But she hadn’t. They’d signed the papers, he’d handed them a substantial check, and the deal was done.

Crossing the bridge to the island Saturday morning, he tried to sort it all out. He had no idea where he stood with Aurora. He wanted the friendship they’d shared while they’d been working on the business plan, minus the attraction. The friendship had been fun, exciting—and a large reason why he’d just invested a considerable amount of money in a risky venture.

Apart from that, or perhaps added to it, he wanted to be involved with a project for once, not just hear about the ups and downs through his accounts at the bank. Building a business from scratch was new to him. A challenge. He hadn’t had enough challenges in his life.

When the house came into view, his pulse quickened. If he wanted a challenge, he’d picked a big one.

He found a place to park amid the pickup trucks that crowded the area behind the house, where they wouldn’t be visible from the dock. Being Saturday, there would be another lunch run at noon, and none of them wanted the guests to see a construction site parking lot when they arrived.

Lifting the box he’d brought from the passenger seat, he made his way to the front of the house. There was a back entrance, of course, but he preferred the full impact of entering through the front. They’d finished painting the trim, a deep burgundy that provided a pleasing accent to the pink stone. The outside was nearly finished. The inside was another matter entirely.

A table saw buzzed in the central hall, producing a steady stream of boards that were carried off in every direction. Hammers pounded out an offbeat rhythm, the sound attacking Chance’s ears as he made his way to the back of the house. He found Adrian in the kitchen helping one of the men install a commercial-grade vent.

“Did they deliver the restaurant equipment already?” Chance asked.

“Not yet,” Adrian said, straining to hold the massive copper hood in place while the construction worker bolted it to the red-brick walls.

“Here, let me help.” Setting the box down, Chance grabbed one end of the vent.

“Thanks.” Adrian spared him a puzzled look, as if surprised by the amount of weight he took. “I heard the steakhouse over on Market was going out of business, and couldn’t resist this baby.” When the hood was secure, Adrian stepped back, dusting off his hands. “Isn’t she a beauty?”

“That depends. How much did she cost?” Chance cringed, waiting. Adrian laughed. “You don’t want to know.”

“You’re probably right. I’ll just close my eyes when I enter the expense.”

“So what’s in the box?” Adrian asked.

“A surprise for Aurora.” Chance could hardly wait to see her face when he gave it to her. “I assume she’ll be here to serve lunch?”

“Actually, she and Alli are down in the basement going over the floor plan for our apartment.”

“I thought they both worked Saturdays.”

Adrian shrugged. “Alli threatened to quit if she couldn’t get off every other weekend. And Rory talked Bobby into giving her some time off.”

“Oh? I’m surprised he agreed.”

“He didn’t have much choice,” Adrian said. “Rory hasn’t been feeling well, and the motion of the boat makes her sick. It’s bad for business to have your tour guide puking over the rail.”

“She’s sick? What’s wrong? Is it serious?” He remembered how pale and tired she’d looked at the lawyer’s office.

“She’s claiming it’s just a touch of the flu.”

“Then what’s she doing here? She should be home in bed.”

“Feel free to tell her that. She and Alli are right downstairs.”

With box in hand, Chance made his way down the narrow back stairs. He heard the sisters before he reached the bottom.

“I’m sorry, Rory, I just don’t see how we’re going to get a fourth bedroom in here,” Allison was saying.

“Well, it won’t be a big room. Here, I’ll show you.”

He reached the last step and halted in surprise. The area had been transformed from a dark hall and cramped rooms to a vast open space with nothing left but the concrete floor and thick beams supporting the floor overhead. Sunlight poured through the high windows, lighting motes of sawdust. The sisters were bending over a blueprint that was spread on a plywood frame that looked like the beginnings of a kitchen counter. He couldn’t help but appreciate the view of Aurora’s shapely backside, and long legs left bare by a pair of shorts.

“See”—she took up a pencil and wrote as she talked—“if we shift the bathroom you and I will share, and move my room forward just a bit, we’ll have room in this back corner for a nur—” Her words cut off abruptly when she turned and saw him. “Chance!”

Allison whirled around.

“Good morning,” he greeted, wondering why they looked so startled. He’d told them he’d be coming by today to help. “Are those the blueprints for the rooms down here?”

“Uh... yes,” Aurora answered, and to his relief, she didn’t look pale at all. In fact, her cheeks had a healthy flush of pink.

“Can I see?” He stepped off the last stair and headed toward them.

“No! I mean...” Aurora rolled them up and held them to her chest. “You can’t because...” She glanced at her sister.

“They aren’t finished,” Allison said.

“Right.” Aurora nodded. “They aren’t finished. Yet.”

“Oh,” he said, disappointed at this further evidence that he wasn’t entirely welcomed as a partner. “I saw Adrian upstairs. He said you aren’t feeling well.”

“My stomach’s been a bit iffy, is all.” She looked away. “I’m fine as long as I stay off boats.”

“I hope you get to feeling better.”

“Thanks.”

Feeling awkward, he glanced about. “Wow, they really did a number on this place.”

Aurora turned away, fidgeting with the blueprint. He hated the strain that had fallen between them since they’d slept together. If only he could think of the right words to make things comfortable again.

Allison glanced between the two of them, then answered, “Other than the support beams, there wasn’t much worth saving. So we decided to start from scratch.”

“Probably a good idea,” he said absently. Should he apologize to Aurora for giving in to temptation? If he did, it would be an empty apology since he wasn’t sorry. He wouldn’t trade the experience for anything. Except maybe for her to be comfortable around him again. And happy. She seemed so sad and tense lately.

“What’s in the box?” Allison asked.

He looked down. “I brought a surprise for Aurora.”

Aurora turned, curiosity lifting her brows, but she made no move to come toward him.

“Well,” Allison said. “If you’ll excuse me, I’ll go see if Adrian needs any help getting ready for lunch. The boat should be here in less than an hour.”

“Wait,” Aurora called, and thrust the blueprint at her sister. “Will you take these with you?”

“Certainly.” Allison headed upstairs.

When the footsteps faded, Chance realized they were alone. He shifted his eyes from the stairs to Aurora as a world of possibilities played in his mind, memories of her body moving beneath him, over him. The wild rush of passion that had stolen all logical thought.

Color rose in her cheeks and he wondered if she’d read his mind. “So”—she gestured toward the box—“what do you have?”

“An office.” He smiled.

“A what?”

“Since everything is so unsettled right now, I knew we couldn’t set up a real office yet, so...” He moved to a board that lay across two sawhorses. Setting the box down, he reached inside and pulled out the laptop. “I brought you a portable one.”

“Oh, Chance.” Her whole face softened.

“This way you’ll be able to work wherever you want.” He lifted the top.

“I thought you were doing the bookkeeping,” she said, but excitement filled her eyes as she watched the screen come to life.

“You can do more on a computer than that. You can design fliers, write letters, search the Internet.”

“Really? I can design our fliers without having to rely on the guy at the print shop?”

“Supposedly.” He used the tap pad to open some software. “In fact, I went ahead and bought the graphic-design software the salesperson recommended.”

“Can you show me how to use it?”

“I wish!” He laughed. “I’m afraid I’m clueless when it comes to anything creative. However, since I know how you feel about reading books...” He reached in the box and pulled out a plastic jewel case. “I bought this along with the software.”

“What is it?”

“A CD Rom tutorial.” He slipped the disc into the computer. A movie began to play, complete with a soundtrack of upbeat jazz. The narrator welcomed them to the world of page layout made simple with their cutting-edge software.

He watched Aurora’s face as she gazed at the screen. He could almost see the wheels of her mind turning as she took it all in.

“Oh, my goodness,” she breathed. “This looks really easy.”

“For you, maybe.” He smiled at her. “Personally, I’ll stick with balancing spreadsheets.”

“You can have them,” she laughed.

“We all have our strengths in life. And this”—he pointed to the screen—“is not one of mine.”

“Which is why we make a good team, don’t you think?”

She smiled at him with all the happiness he’d longed to see shining in her eyes once again. Those beautiful blue eyes that reached inside his chest and made everything feel tight and achy. His gaze slipped to her lips and her smile faded as temptation pulled at him, urging him to lean toward her.

If he could kiss her just one more time, maybe the ache would go away. Maybe then he’d stop wanting her.

Just one more kiss...

“Chance?” a feminine voice called. “Are you down here?”

He straightened in surprise as footsteps sounded on the stairs. He turned and stared. “Paige!”

Rory battled both resentment and guilt at the sight of Paige looking so fresh, elegant, and perfectly coordinated. The woman wore a navy blue cover-up over a white one-piece swimsuit that looked outrageously expensive. She even had matching deck shoes, navy with little gold anchors embroidered on the tops. Her blond hair was held back with a big white ruffle clip.

“I know we weren’t planning to get together until this evening,” Paige said in a soft voice. “But Daddy and I were out boating and I wanted to drop by and see how everything was going. I hope you don’t mind.”

“No, of course not,” Chance assured her. “Your father’s here?”

“He’s upstairs visiting with the contractor about some development he’s thinking of building.” Crossing the room to Chance, Paige lifted her cheek for a kiss and sunlight sparkled off enormous diamond stud earrings. Rory turned her head, but still saw Chance bend down to oblige.

“Aurora,” he said, after kissing the debutante’s cheek, “do you have room for Paige and her father to have lunch?”

“I’ll have to ask Adrian,” Rory managed to say in a neutral voice even as she called herself ten times a fool. Why had she thought she could handle seeing Chance and Paige together?

“That would be great,” Paige said. “Last week’s lunch was excellent.” She turned to Rory. “We haven’t met officially, I’m Paige Baxter.”

“I’m sorry about the fruit.” Rory felt sick with embarrassment and envy as they shook hands. “I hope it didn’t stain your outfit. I’ll be happy to pay to replace it or have it dry-cleaned.”

“Don’t be silly.” Paige waved a manicured hand. “My mother is such a fiend for shopping, I have lots of clothes I only wear once.”

Rory stared, unable to grasp such wealth—or such waste!

“I would like to talk to you about the inn, though,” Paige continued. “Do you think you’ll be open for business by October?”

“Why do you ask?” Rory said.

“Because”—Paige smiled slowly—“I’d like to propose your inn as the location for this year’s Buccaneer’s Ball.”

Rory’s heart skipped a beat. To have an event of that magnitude at the inn would be a major coup. “Yes! We can be open by then. Absolutely.”

“Aurora.” Chance frowned at her. “Our business plan projected November as the completion date.”

“So we step it up a month. We can do it.” She saw doubt in his eyes. “We can,” she repeated.

“Oh, good,” Paige said. “I’ll need to look at your facilities to be sure the inn will work, then have the site approved by the rest of the planning committee, but since Chance’s mother is one of the coordinators, I don’t think we’ll have a problem.” She smiled at Chance. “I’m sure she’ll want to support her son’s new venture.”

“Yes, of course.” Rory beat back her jealousy. As much as she’d like to tell Paige to take a hike, the inn was too important for her to throw away this opportunity. “Do you want a tour now? I mean, everything’s all torn up, but you’ll get a feel for how it will look.”

“I’d love a tour,” Paige said.

“Well, then, follow me.” Rory headed for the stairs, unable to believe their good fortune. The Buccaneer’s Ball would give them a chance to show off Adrian’s catering skills. Not to mention the instant income from renting the inn for such a huge party. “As you can see,” she said when they reached the top of the stairs, “our kitchen facilities will be extensive.”

Adrian glanced up from the pasta salad he was taking out of the ice chests. He appeared puzzled to see her acting so friendly to Paige.

“This is my brother, Adrian, who’s also our chef. He has years of experience catering parties and weddings. He’ll be happy to discuss menu options with you. Adrian, Paige is with the Buccaneer’s Ball planning committee. They’re thinking of renting the inn for this year’s event.”

“Oh?” His puzzled frown was transformed into a look of stunned delight. “Oh! Well, yes indeed. I’d be very happy to talk menus with you.”

“Aurora,” Chance whispered in her ear, standing so close behind her, her skin tingled. “Are you sure about this?”

“What’s not to be sure about?” she whispered back.

“Whether or not the inn will be ready in time.”

“We’ll be ready,” she insisted.

“When is the ball again?” her brother asked.

“The first weekend of October,” Paige answered.

“October?” Adrian’s eyes widened. He looked at Rory, silently asking if she was nuts. “But we won’t be open for business until November.”

“No,” Rory said very calmly. “We’re opening in October. In fact, the ball can be our grand opening celebration.”

Allison swept into the room with an empty tray tucked under one arm. “Okay, I’ve got the tables set. What next?” She came up short at the sight of Rory’s beaming smile.

“Paige,” Rory said. “I’d like you to meet my sister Allison.”

“Yes, we met when I was on my way in.” Paige nodded.

“Alli”—Rory took the tray from her—“come tell Paige your plans for decorating the first floor. The Historical Society is thinking of renting the inn for the Buccaneer’s Ball.”

Allison frowned. “Isn’t that in October?”

“Yes, it is,” Rory answered blithely as she set the tray aside and led the way through the butler’s pantry to the main part of the house.

Chance followed, feeling as if he’d just been bowled over. Did Aurora even know the word “impossible”? Did schedules mean nothing to her? In order to open in time for the ball, they’d have to be ready in six weeks.

He trailed the women through a maze of construction workers while Allison explained her vision for the first floor over the noise of hammers and saws.

“The central hall will be a lobby of sorts, with Victorian sofas and chairs set in conversational groupings so guests can enjoy the fireplace. In here”—Allison stepped into the music room, where wall panels had been removed to replace the wiring—“we’ll have a tearoom. We also plan to rent it for small parties. And the front room will be a gift shop. Of course I can’t possibly have enough inventory to open as early as October.”

“No,” Rory agreed. “But we can have the rooms put back together and furnished by then.”

“Coming through,” one of the construction workers called. They all moved out of his way as he passed with an extension cord and drill.

“Oh, would you look at that ceiling?” Paige said, stepping gingerly over debris to get a better view. “To be able to decorate such a house. I envy you.” When she lowered her gaze, a longing Chance had never seen shone in her eyes. “I don’t suppose you’d want help? I studied interior design at UT and I’d offer my services free. It’s the least I can do, since I’m asking you to open early just for the ball.”

“You studied interior design?” Allison asked, clearly intrigued.

As Allison and Paige fell into a conversation about furniture styles, Chance pulled Aurora aside. “You can’t be serious about this. You have to be reasonable.”

“I am being reasonable,” she answered. “I’m not saying we have to be ready to rent rooms by October, just have the place put back together and decorated by then.”

He glanced around at the mess. “Even if we manage that, do you know how big an event we’re talking about here? Hundreds of people from all over the state attend this ball. They have live entertainment, extravagant food, open bar.”

“Adrian has cooked for events every bit as lavish, and he has lots of friends we can hire as wait staff. Oh, and we can have it on the lawn overlooking the cove. The weather’s perfect in early October!”

“And if it rains?”

“It won’t.” When he started to object, she raised her hand. “We’ll watch the extended forecast, and if it looks like there’s a chance of rain, we’ll use the ballroom.”

He shook his head. This couldn’t possibly work... could it? “I don’t know. It’s a lot to do in a very brief period of time. You can’t just make things happen because you want them to.”

“You know what? You’re right. Wanting alone isn’t enough. It takes hard work, commitment, and faith. If you want something badly enough, you have to earn it.” She laid her hand on his arm. “Trust me, Chance, we can do this.”

He looked into her eyes, and saw more than hope. He saw conviction. His breath let out in a rush. “Maybe so.”

“See”—she smiled—“that didn’t hurt a bit, now did it? Right now, however, we have lunch to serve. Wanna help?”

He laughed, wondering what he’d gotten himself into. “I might as well.”

Leaving Allison to finish up with Paige, he followed Aurora back to the kitchen, where he received his first lesson in how to balance a serving tray.