by Lori Borrill
Her hand was bony but her handshake firm, and Rachel smiled and replied, “Nice to meet you.”
“Did you have an easy time getting here?” the woman asked.
Rachel flashed back to the sex in the stretch limo and tried to hold back a blush. “Yes, it was very pleasurable.”
“Good, good. So I guess Marc here is going to sell you on the place,” she said. “Mr. Longview and I spent forty wonderful years here. Raised three children on these grounds. Of course, most of it was open land when we bought it, but the tourist trade has done well over the years. We’ve expanded about as far as we can given the acreage.”
“I’d like to show her around if that’s okay,” Marc said.
“Absolutely.” She pressed a hand to her chin. “All the rooms are booked, I’m afraid, so I can’t show you any of the suites, but you’re free to wander the grounds. Robert’s out in the courtyards somewhere. If you need anything, I’ll be manning the front desk.”
“That will be perfect,” he said. Then he placed his hand at the base of Rachel’s spine and led her through the large room.
To their left was an upscale restaurant with an adjacent café that opened to the back courtyard. To the right, a good-size gift shop sold everything from toiletries to bestselling novels to clothing, pottery and accessories. Much like Clearwater Springs, the interior was rustic with red stone floors, cool stucco walls and dark exposed beams crisscrossing the ceiling. But this room was much smaller, more like one of her father’s estates than a grand hotel.
“This main house holds the restaurant and café,” Marc began. “Along with the gift shop, that’s it for retail establishments. This is pretty much Longview’s version of the plaza,” he joked. “And it all shuts down at ten each night.”
They continued through the room where he pointed to a long hallway that went off to the right. “There are eight rooms in this building, all on the ground floor. The second story is the penthouse apartment. It could be rented out, but the Longviews chose to live on-site.” He looked at her and smiled. “I couldn’t imagine doing anything differently, to be honest.”
Stepping out into the back courtyard, they turned and looked up. “That entire second level up there is the apartment, surrounded by the private roof balcony that goes all the way around.”
“It’s beautiful,” Rachel gushed. Turning, she studied the grounds and imagined the view the large balcony would provide.
“There’s twelve acres in all.”
Two single-story buildings bordered two sides of the courtyard, both with floor-to-ceiling windows that spanned the entire length. “That’s the spa,” Marc said, pointing to the one on the right. “Behind it is the pool and Jacuzzi.” Then he pointed to the building on the left. “That’s the only banquet room. They don’t do corporate functions, only weddings and private parties.”
“Weddings and parties?”
Marc smiled. “Yes, and Helena has always been the event coordinator here. When she and Robert sell, the new owner will need to find someone to replace her.”
A lump formed in Rachel’s throat as Marc took her hand and continued leading her through the courtyard. She tried to think of a more idyllic life than one living on these grounds, tending to guests and hosting beautiful parties. Granted, she’d learned from her month at Clearwater Springs there was a ton of work involved, but it was work she’d discovered a knack for, and one far more comfortable for her than standing in front of a camera posing in lingerie or trying to pretend that she could act.
“On the other side of the banquet room is a flower garden with a gazebo where they hold most of the wedding ceremonies.”
Would one of those ceremonies be hers? she wondered. It was almost too much to take in all at once.
He kept walking, showing her the rest of the compound that included six suites with private terraces that opened to a grassy lawn. Then at the farthest end of the property, two single unit buildings with three bedrooms each and kitchens offered family vacationing for larger groups.
“There are only sixteen units on the property,” Marc said. “Granted, they can accommodate more than a hundred guests between them all, but the Longviews said they usually run about sixty guests at a time on average. It’s too big to call a bed-and-breakfast, but not quite a full-scale hotel. But the small size offers them the luxury of a slower pace or even taking some time off when they want it. For several years now, they’ve closed the resort entirely for a week to go on their own vacations when they want to get away.”
He stopped under the shade of a large magnolia tree and took her hands in his. “And the best part of it all is that with the money I’ll make off Clearwater Springs, I can afford a big enough stake to bypass other investors altogether. I’m almost positive the financials are good enough to secure bank financing for the balance.”
She cleared her throat. “I’ve got a little money.”
“You do, do you?” He raised a brow and smiled.
She giggled. “Okay, I’ve got a lot.”
He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close, turning her so her back was to his chest and they could stare out over the beautiful grounds. “Are you suggesting a partnership, maybe you and I buying this place together?”
“Back in the limo, you said something about we.”
She felt him nod against her cheek. “I did. And what do we think about this place?”
“It looks like paradise.”
She turned to face him, and when she did, the playful look in his eyes was gone, replaced by something that looked like a man very seriously in love.
“You were right, Rachel. I was doing it all wrong.”
“I never said you were doing anything wrong.”
“No, but you showed me I was during those weeks we spent together.” He brushed a hand across her cheek and pulled a stray strand of hair away from her face. “When I’d first set out to go into business, I never wanted to run something as big as Clearwater Springs. I’d actually looked into buying this place at the time. That’s how I met the Longviews. Back then, I didn’t have the kind of money I have now, and I needed to find investors. Then Brett threw his shoulder out and had to quit tennis, so the idea of a golf and tennis resort sort of blossomed from there. But it was never my dream to have so much to take care of.”
He turned and looked up at the large building across the grounds. “This was always my dream, only I’d lost touch with that until you came along.” He pulled her into his arms and held her close. “I want a life where I can help a lonely kid maybe see things differently, or spend a couple hours on the terrace listening to the stories of an old war veteran. I want to spend an occasional weekend on a canoe at the lake without fearing my business will collapse if I’m gone.”
Cupping her face in his hands, he smiled. “Brett wants to start playing again. And like I said in the car, we keep each other real. I can’t do this without you. So what do you think about us taking something like this on together?”
Snaking her arms around his neck, she closed her mouth over his and kissed him silly, wondering how many ways she could say yes. Tears stung her eyes and her heart felt as if it might explode, happiness welling and pouring over as she drank in the taste of him and tried to grasp everything he was offering.
And only when she’d lost her breath completely did she pull away and nod, afraid to open her mouth for fear of the high-pitched squeal that might come out.
He laughed. “You like this place?”
She kept nodding.
“There’s another inn down the coast near San Diego, but one of the nice things about this place is it’s not too far from Palm Springs. I think most of the Clearwater staff commutes from this direction. I’m thinking we might be able to steal some of the good ones.”
That broke her silence. “Anita?”
“I kind of like Miguel, too, and there are a couple guys on the maintenance crew I could bring in. I’m sure for the right price we could entice the guys to make a
change.” He tipped her chin so her gaze met his. “I’m not in this to get rich, Rachel. I just want to spend the rest of my life in paradise with a beautiful woman who makes me happy and will keep my feet on the right track.”
She grinned, not sure that it was possible to be any happier than she was at this very moment. But then she looked around and envisioned spending her life here, enjoying the people who came and went, being part of a family who would work together to make this a destination people would continue to enjoy. And most of all, spending her nights in the arms of a sexy man who loved her for who she was and who she loved back with every ounce of her heart.
“Who could ask for more than paradise?” she teased.
He smiled. “Not me.”
“Me neither.”
ISBN: 978-1-4268-5627-3
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Copyright © 2010 by Lori Borrill.
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*Million Dollar Secrets
