by Karen Kelley
That was going to be a tough one to answer. It was way too early in the morning for all of this.
Chapter 18
Nash
I followed the two women. It would be interesting to hear what Makenna had to say. They sat at the table, while I started another cup of coffee.
“How do you take your coffee?” I asked before they started talking.
She took one look at my coffee machine. “Impressive.” She turned her attention back to me. “No sugar, a little cream, and if you have it, a touch of cinnamon.”
“Coming right up.”
I watched as Makenna brought her cup of coffee to her lips.
“So, did the two of you sleep together, or not?” Sam asked again.
Makenna’s cup jiggled. I covered my laugh by clearing my throat when she glared at me. “You want me to answer, or do you want to?” I asked. Her frown only deepened. I did chuckle then.
“It looks as if you slept with him.” Sam waved her arm around the room. “And got drunk at the same time. There are beer bottles everywhere.”
“We may have drunk a little too much,” Makenna admitted.
“Looks like the two of you went on an eating and drinking binge. Did you have a night of wild sex as well?”
I went about making the coffee, but I was listening intently to their conversation.
“We didn’t have a night of wild sex,” Makenna told her.
“But you did sleep with him, right?”
“Technically, you could say we slept together.”
“With or without clothes? There’s a huge difference if you both had clothes on.”
“No clothes,” I supplied as I brought Sam her coffee and set it down in front of her. I took mine to the other side of the table and took a seat. Makenna didn’t look happy at my response. “I was only trying to help. We did sleep together, and we didn’t have on any clothes.”
“Quit trying to help me!” She spat. “You’re only making things worse.”
“So is Nash right or not?” Sam asked.
“Technically...” Makenna began, but stopped when Sam began to shake her head.
“Either you did or you didn’t, with or without clothes. It’s a simple question.” Sam took a drink of her coffee as she waited for Makenna to answer.
“Everything I brought is still at my hotel room. I used the shower in the guestroom, and then I put on this robe. After our harrowing experience, we needed to relax. Okay, we might have drunk a few too many beers...”
Sam’s eyebrows shot upward. “A few too many?” She noticed the empty bottle of wine on the counter. “And a bottle of wine? Really? I’d say that’s more than a few too many.”
Makenna shook her head. “Okay, we drank a lot. At some point, we went upstairs to bed.”
“She didn’t want to sleep alone,” I supplied. Makenna pursed her lips. “What? Mine was bigger.”
“Your what was bigger?” Sam asked.
Makenna straightened. “His bed! Will you please stop helping me out, Nash?”
I started to tell Makenna that I was only telling the truth, but decided not to at the last minute. My gaze swept over her. Damn, she looked really hot when she was frustrated. I vaguely remembered her snuggling up to me. Her body had fit nicely next to mine.
“Let me get this straight,” Sam began. “You both got plastered, you ended up in bed together, naked, but yet you didn’t have sex. Is that right?”
Makenna rolled her eyes heavenward. “I suppose you could say that.”
“I did say that. At least now we’re getting somewhere,” Sam said, then turned toward me. “Is there a reason you can’t have sex with a woman? I have some friends who are bodybuilders and they’re gay. They certainly don’t look gay. Are you a gay guide?”
Makenna snickered.
I shot her a dirty look. This shit wasn’t funny. I didn’t like where this new line of questioning was going. “No, I’m not gay. We just drank a little too much, and passed out after we got in bed.” When Sam started to open her mouth again, I hurried on. “How’s your coffee?”
“Delicious,” Sam said. “You could have your own coffee shop this is so good.”
“He does,” Makenna supplied.
“I do.”
Sam looked between us, but this time she didn’t say anything, just went back to drinking her coffee. Makenna looked at me. I shrugged. I had no idea what Sam was thinking.
“Do you think closing off the trail by dynamiting the exit was intentional?” Sam asked, apparently deciding on a somewhat safer topic.
“We’re not sure.” I finished my coffee and set the empty cup back on the table. “I’ll go into the Sheriff’s office today to see what I can find out. There’s a competing company who would like to see me go out of business, but I don’t think he would stoop this low.”
“James Scottsdale?” Makenna asked.
“You know him?” I didn’t want Makenna anywhere near that man.
“He was my first choice for a guide. Remember, I think I mentioned it that first day. I contacted him and had everything set up, but when I told my cousin, he went ballistic and told me to let him handle getting me a good guide.”
“That’s right, I remember your cousin telling me that, too. James Scottsdale is bad news.” I shook my head. “The guy’s an idiot, but I don’t think he would try to kill me, especially if I was with a group of hikers. If word got out that it was intentional, it would make people afraid to trust any of the companies. No, I don’t think it was him.”
“Did Makenna mention that her ex-husband called the office last week? A temp told him where he could find her,” Sam said.
I looked to Makenna for confirmation.
“I only found out about it yesterday. I didn’t have time to tell you.”
“Because you were binge drinking,” Sam said.
Makenna opened her mouth to reply, but apparently thought better of it and snapped it shut, then turned to me. “I was going to tell you, but I didn’t think it was important. Eric might be a piece of shit, but I don’t think he would try to kill me.”
“I do,” Sam said. “My theory is that he’s already spent the money you gave him in the divorce settlement and now he’s looking for more.”
“How would my death benefit him? We’re no longer married. My aunt would get everything.”
“Maybe he just wants revenge.”
“Why the hell did you marry this guy?” I asked.
Makenna’s cheeks took on a rosy hue.
“I can tell you why,” Sam said. “He sweet talked her. I bet he planned his seduction months in advance.”
I still didn’t understand. “Why?”
“Because she’s filthy rich.”
“Filthy rich?” I asked.
Sam’s gaze narrowed on me. “Don’t go getting any ideas.”
“I was just curious. I’m not hurting for money myself.”
Sam’s eyes suddenly grew round. “Oh my God, you’re not the famous suspense author, are you?” She turned to Makenna. “They make movies out of his books.”
“That’s my oldest brother. We own coffee shops. In Your Mug. They bring in enough money that we can pretty much do what we want career-wise.”
Makenna suddenly brightened. “I go there all the time! They have the best coffee.” She looked down at her empty cup. “That’s why your coffee tastes so good.”
“Thank you,” I humbly accepted her praise, then looked at Sam. “Besides, Makenna already asked me to marry her before I knew she was rich.”
“You did what!” Sam said.
“No, I didn’t ask him to marry me.”
I looked at Sam. “She did. Is she always this forgetful?”
“I did not ask you to marry me,” Makenna ground out.
Sam studied Makenna. “Why would you ask him to marry you? You barely know the guy.”
“Really?” Makenna asked. “You’re going to believe him over me?”
“Did you not say you wanted
to marry me this morning?” Nash asked.
Makenna deflated like a popped balloon. “Technically...”
“So, you do want to marry him?” Sam asked.
“No! I had just taken my first drink of coffee. I hadn’t had any since I climbed the mountain and left the group. You have to admit the guy makes a mean cup of coffee. It was an offhand remark. I wasn’t at all serious.”
“That’s the proposal you were talking about?” Sam asked me.
“I didn’t say yes.” Maybe I shouldn’t have brought that tidbit up. Time to change the subject. I turned to Makenna. “What about this aunt of yours? If she’s set to gain your entire fortune if something happens to you, she could’ve hired someone to dynamite the exit.
“My aunt loves me very much. If she wanted to do something to me then she would have done it before I turned twenty-one and had access to my money. It was definitely not her.”
“Does she have a husband? Children? Maybe they had something to do with it.”
Makenna shook her head. “She never married. There’s no one else, and I’d just as soon you not accuse the only family I have left.”
Maybe it was time I went to the sheriff’s office. I came to my feet. “Ladies, my house is at your disposal. I’m going into town to see what I can find out.”
“I think I should go with you.” Makenna started to her feet.
My gaze slowly roamed over her. She blushed again. “Call the hotel and tell them I’ll be coming for your things.”
“I don’t plan on staying here with you. I can room with Sam. We’ll be perfectly safe.”
“Are you planning on going to the hotel dressed like that?” I asked. I could see her frustration building.
“Okay, I’ll call the hotel, but just pick up a few things. A pair of shorts and a top. That’s all I’ll need.”
I decided not to tell Makenna there was no way I was going to let her stay at the hotel by herself. Not when she had a crazy ex-husband running around who could possibly be trying to kill her. Nope, I was packing up her stuff and bringing it right back here. If it pissed her off, so be it.
I was pretty sure I could make her see reason. I’d always had a way with women. Staying with me made all the sense in the world. It wouldn’t be too difficult convincing her that I was right.
Chapter 19
Makenna
“I don’t think he’s like Eric,” Sam commented after Nash left. “You could do worse.”
“What the fuck is wrong with you? I don’t want to marry the guy. It was a figure of speech.” She didn’t look as if she believed me, so I attempted to explain one more time. “You have to admit, he makes a damn good cup of coffee. As soon as I took a drink, in an offhand manner, I told him I wanted to marry him because of his coffee making skills. I didn’t in any way literally mean what I said.”
“But you could still do worse,” Sam said. “Do you like him?”
“No!”
She raised her eyebrows.
I squirmed in my seat. “Maybe a little,” I finally admitted.
Sam pushed her empty cup away, rested her arms on the table, and leaned forward, staring at me. I hated when she did this. It was as if she was trying to look deep inside me and see what the truth really was.
“Okay, you win. I like the guy. Sort of. That still doesn’t mean I’m going to hook up with him just because he wants to have sex with me.” As soon as the words were out of my mouth, I wanted to call them back, but one look at Sam, and I knew it was too late.
“Whoa, now that’s interesting,” Sam said. “Apparently, he’s attracted to you.” She suddenly frowned. “Why don’t you want to have sex with him? He’s definitely hot.”
“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe I don’t want to have sex with him because I barely know the guy. Did you ever think about that? And can we please discuss something else?”
“If you insist.” She was thoughtful for a moment. “Before Eric tried to kill you and your group, what did you think about Colorado? Is it going to be a viable place to open another store?”
“First, we don’t know that Eric tried to kill me or my group, and I don’t believe he did. Second, yes, I do think this would be a good area to open another store.” At least I could discuss our business. I began to tell her about the prospects of opening one of our stores in a state known for their outdoor activities. When I paused, she jumped in.
“I was hoping you would say that. Back in a sec.” She hurried out to her rental car and grabbed her laptop, she never left home without it. A few minutes later, and we were checking the statistics of the area towns, seeing which one would gain us the most profit and visibility. We liked what we saw in a couple of them, then we started looking at rental properties, and properties that were available to purchase. That’s when we came to a dead end. There just wasn’t that much available that would fit our needs.
We spent a couple of hours researching without much luck, before both of us decided we needed to move around a bit and stretch our muscles. I grabbed the trashcan and began clearing the empty bottles. Sam jumped in to help. It only took us about ten minutes to clean up the mess Nash and I had made last night. I returned the trashcan and we walked through the living room and out onto the balcony.
“It’s beautiful here,” Sam said.
She was right. Nash had chosen a great spot to build his home. It was high on the mountain with lots of trees. I spotted a moose in the distance and pointed it out to Sam. “Can you imagine having your coffee out here every morning?”
“Not every morning. I would imagine it would be way too cold in the winter. There would be snow everywhere.”
I smiled.
She raised her eyebrows in question. “What?”
“You’re always so pragmatic. You need to start looking at the creative side of things.”
“I said it was beautiful. I don’t know what more you want. Besides, one of us has to think about the business side of things. That’s why we’re a great team. You actually use the merchandise that we sell in our stores. I crunch the numbers.”
I grimaced. “I don’t think I would like to be behind a computer all the time like you, but you’re very good at what you do.”
“His home is beautiful, too.” Sam ran her hand over the scraped cedar railing. “See, I can admire fine workmanship.”
At least she tried. “He told me his brother worked with him on the design, and then built it. He’s an architect or something.”
Sam sighed. “I want to build a house someday.”
I looked at her with surprise. “I thought you loved your apartment.”
“I’m ready for a change. Since I don’t have to actually go to the store every day, I work from the apartment most of the time. I guess I’m just tired of all the traffic and always being in a rush. I’m ready for a slower pace.”
“Maybe you should talk to Nash and see if his brother is available. You can definitely afford to build whatever you want. The stores are thriving.”
Her expression was thoughtful for a moment. “Actually, that’s not a bad idea. I might just talk to him about it.”
I heard a noise and turned. A thread of fear trickled through me. When I saw it was Nash, I relaxed. Why was he carrying my suitcase when all I’d said I needed was a pair of shorts and a shirt? If he thought I was going to play house with him, then he’d better think again. That wasn’t going to happen.
I strode to the door and went inside. “I told you not to get all of my things.”
He looked up, his eyes fastened on my chest. I glanced down. Great. It had been cool standing on his balcony.
“It was cold outside,” I said between gritted teeth.
He grinned. “I can see that.”
“I’m not staying here. I already told you that.”
Nash looked over my shoulder. “Hey Sam, do you still have your things in your rental car?”
“Yes. Why?”
“I’ll bring them in. There’s no reason for either one of you
to stay at the hotel. It’s much nicer here. There are plenty of bedrooms. Take your choice. You don’t have to worry about noisy neighbors or anything. It’s only about twenty minutes to town. I have plenty of frozen pizza, dinners, and beer.”
Sam hesitated. I smiled victoriously. When it came right down to it, Sam was my friend. She would go along with whatever I wanted to do.
“I’m not sure...” Sam began.
Nash hurried on. “Oh, and I stopped by the real estate agency and picked up some flyers. I knew you were wanting to open another store in Colorado, which I think is a great idea. You can find this information online, but there are a couple of places that I think would be excellent that won’t be listed for a couple of days. I can take you around this afternoon if you’d like.”
Sam beamed.
I tried mental telepathy. Please Sam, don’t do it. We don’t need him. The realtors would probably be just as helpful.
“That’s awfully nice of you,” Sam said.
My shoulders slumped in defeat.
“If you’re sure it won’t be any trouble,” Sam continued.
“Not at all.” He turned his gaze on me.
Was he gloating? And his eyes were twinkling. Now he was playing dirty pool. A sudden thought occurred to me and I smiled. He might have won a battle, but he hadn’t won the war. “I agree. It’s going to be great having Sam here with me. I’m sure we’ll be able to get a lot of work done. Don’t worry, though, we’ll take a bedroom far enough away from yours that we don’t disturb your sleep.”
As if he’d just realized two’s company, but three’s a crowd, his expression turned grim. I’d had a feeling he hadn’t thought this all the way through. There was no chance he could seduce me with Sam around.
While Nash went out to get Sam’s luggage, Sam and I carried mine upstairs. We each chose a room about halfway down the hall with a Jack and Jill bathroom. Sam had only packed one suitcase. Nash brought it straight upstairs.
“What did the sheriff say?” I asked after we’d all gone downstairs again.
