4. Dane
FOUR
Dane
Just as I finished knotting my bowtie, my phone buzzed with an incoming text.
Margot
You’re late to the party.
Me
How the hell do you know that?
My spies are everywhere.
The hotel manager just called me in a panic, wondering where you are. I told him you probably looked in the mirror and lost track of time.
Ouch. A palpable hit.
Accurate though.
I grinned at my phone.
Margot had been my assistant for years, since back when I’d been running my own company. But I had known her for longer than that. Her son had served with me and Ashford, and he’d died in an insurgent attack in Kandahar. After I came home, I got to know her and eventually, after I left active duty, wound up hiring her to work for me. When I joined the family business two years ago, I insisted on bringing her with me.
Margot was one of the few people I trusted completely. She never let me get away with anything.
Me
What would I do without you, M?
Margot
I suppose you would try to manage.
Make sure you look presentable at the VIP event tonight.
I always look extremely presentable.
Because you spend so much time in front of the mirror.
Ha ha. I’m heading down now.
It was true that I’d lost track of time. But only because I wasn’t looking forward to this idiotic party. Which had been my brother Kipling’s idea, not mine. I didn’t give a shit about impressing the company’s VIP clients and business associates, who Kip had flown in to enjoy the changing fall colors and complimentary room service. If he’d wanted to glad-hand the VIPs, he could’ve shown up in Silver Ridge himself.
He’d fought me every step of the way on buying this resort. And now, he wanted to take over and treat this project like it was his?
Never mind. I didn’t want my brother here. That was exactly why I’d come to Colorado. For a break from Kip and my father.
Since taking a stroll around Main Street yesterday, I’d been keeping busy. Working out in the hotel gym. Meeting with the hotel’s staff, taking a tour of the property I’d purchased, plus keeping up with my usual duties as a Knightly Global Properties executive. But at the same time, my mind had been engaged in more pleasant pursuits. Remembering shiny auburn hair twirled into a messy bun. Two bright eyes behind oversized plastic-framed glasses.
The woman at the coffee shop yesterday morning. Damn, she had been adorable.
Was she a bookkeeper? That would explain the selection of books in that box she’d been carrying. I did love a good spreadsheet.
She was clearly a local. She’d gotten shy around me, and that had only stoked my interest.
I wondered if I’d see her again. In a town this small, the chances were high. Yet I hadn’t spotted her when I took a long run down to Main Street this morning and stopped at Silver Linings Coffee again. The woman behind the register had been someone different, not the tall blond from yesterday. But I had noticed Advanced Techniques for QuickBooks on the used books shelf.
The book was now sitting upstairs on the dresser in my bedroom, an impulse buy that I couldn’t even explain.
I spent a couple of moments checking myself over in the mirror. More than presentable.
When I got downstairs, Tobin the hotel manager found me immediately. Either Margot had told him I was on my way down, or he had some kind of tracker on me.
“Mr. Knightly, may I introduce you to Mayor Barker?”
Instead of one massive ballroom, the party was set up in various rooms to show off the hotel’s event facilities. It created a more intimate feeling, one space flowing into the next through archways. As if this were a private mansion rather than a corporate-owned complex. The staff had done well.
I chatted with the mayor, a woman in her sixties with an impressive handshake. Then greeted some of the other VIPs as Tobin ushered me around like I was a dish of party favors. I had no problem talking to people, but I hated wasting time. When it came to business, I preferred numbers and logistics and strategy. Data. If I made phone calls or held meetings, it was for a clear purpose. That was why I tracked down lucrative investment opportunities for my father’s company, rather than squeezing money from potential investors like my brother did.
When and if I entered a negotiation, I was the guy who closed the deal. Meaningless small talk made me want to jump off the highest point of the nearest ski lift.
As soon as I could, I slipped away from Tobin and made my way to the bar. It was set up in a square shape with the bartenders in the middle. “Bourbon,” I said, pointing at the bottle I wanted. “Neat.” While he poured, I glanced around at the masked partygoers, realizing the benefit of a masquerade. Hardly anyone here would know who I was. I might actually be able to enjoy myself.
That was when I saw her.
A woman in an elaborate red mask stepped up to the bar. Her dress hugged her curves like a Porsche on a mountain road. Her hair was a mixture of golden and auburn strands, which fell in waves around her shoulders. She rested her elbows on the bar top with her purse clutched in her hands. Ordered a glass of wine.
Something about her pulled at me. A familiarity. But the mask and the dress threw me off. Same with the makeup.
I was about to approach when a heavyset older man with a blue mask stormed up to her and grabbed her by the shoulder. “You were supposed to wait for me in the lobby.”
Her mouth opened in a shocked O.
Instantly, I straightened up, my instincts prickling with awareness.
“Excuse me?” she said. “You must have me confused with someone else.”
The man tugged on her shoulder, trying to pull her toward him. “I don’t know what kind of game you’re playing, but this isn’t what we agreed.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
As she spoke, I was already striding toward them, squeezing my bourbon glass with fury burning in my gut.
I stopped close to her, though I didn’t touch her. What I really wanted to do was shove this prick out the door and ban him from my hotel. I didn’t give a fuck who he was or what he assumed, whether he was one of Kip’s VIPs or otherwise. If she hadn’t given permission, then he shouldn’t have had his hands on her that way. Period.
But causing a scene on my third day in Silver Ridge was the last thing I needed.
“There you are, gorgeous,” I murmured softly. “I’ve been looking for you everywhere.” I angled my body away from the prick and winked at her.
She looked up at me. Amber eyes, and again, I was struck with deja vu. Her brows tightened in confusion and suspicion. I wouldn’t have blamed her for not trusting me, since I was the second man within a few minutes who’d approached her.
Go with it , I mouthed silently. Her pretty eyes widened.
“This is your date?”
Slowly, I swiveled my head to glare at the man in the blue mask. My anger flared back to life. But when I spoke, I managed to keep my tone even and calm. “Exactly. So unless you want me to break every one of those fingers, you’d better take your hand off of her.” I grinned, showing my teeth. It was not a friendly smile. Unless you could call a shark’s smile friendly.
“But she’s wearing the mask,” he muttered. I didn’t move, and the guy finally got the message. His hand lifted, and he stumbled back a step. “I’m… My mistake.”
I kept my gaze on him as he slunk away.
Then I turned back to the woman. “Did he hurt you?” I narrowed my eyes, studying her shoulder.
“No.” Her voice was small. Fragile. But she cleared her throat and said the word again, more confidently. “No, he was just some asshole who thought I was someone else.”
“He mentioned your mask.”
She touched the feathered edge. “I got it from a stranger. This has been a really weird night. First I couldn’t find my friend, and then there was this woman in the bathroom who gave me this mask, and now you . Seriously. Weird, weird night.”
The lights in the ballroom were dimmed, but I could still see a pretty pink blush spread over her pale skin. It crept up from her breasts, across her neck, and into her cheeks. The urge to touch her skin, find out if it was hot, made my fingers twitch.
She went to untie the mask, but I brushed her wrist with my fingers to stop her. “The guy’s gone now, so you might as well keep it. Unless you want to be the rebel without a mask at a masquerade. I could get behind that.”
“Not ready to rebel just yet. I’d better pace myself.”
I grinned, but warmly this time.
Leaving the mask in place, she picked up her glass of wine. “Anyways, thanks. I really should go find my friend.”
“But I just declared you my date. We ought to stick together, at least for a bit.” If the man in the blue mask bothered her again, or even looked her way, I’d throw him out of here myself. But there was something about her, and I was still trying to figure it out.
“He caught me by surprise,” she said. “I’ll be ready next time. These heels are very sharp.”
I laughed. “If you take those heels off, you’ll catch him by surprise for sure. He won’t see you coming.”
Her mouth twisted with amusement. “Is that a comment about me being short?”
All at once, it hit me.
The girl from the coffee shop. Advanced Techniques in QuickBooks . So much about her was different tonight, including those heels that made her a whole lot taller. But it was her.
Now I couldn’t let her go yet. She was far too intriguing. “Stay here a few minutes. Drink your glass of wine. Then if you like, I can buy you another.”
“I shouldn’t.”
“But this is the second time I’ve run into you in two days, and if I’m being honest, I already can’t stop thinking about the first.”
Her gaze flew to mine. It was noisy in here, but I didn’t miss her quick intake of breath. She blushed again and took a hefty sip of her wine, then set it on the bar. She wasn’t walking away, though.
Instead, she slid her phone from her purse. Her thumbs moved over the lower half of the screen, and it looked like she was texting someone. Maybe that friend she’d mentioned.
“I didn’t think you recognized me,” she said as she put her phone away.
“Is that why you made the same joke?”
“Maybe. It was an experiment.”
“So you recognized me too?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“Your voice and hair.” She faced the bar instead of me, but I felt her attention sweep down my frame to my Berluti dress shoes and back up my Tom Ford tux. “Your body. You’re fairly memorable.”
Fuck .
That body was flooding with endorphins. Her assessment had made all the cells in my body want to stand up and salute.
I rested my elbow on the bar, edging as close as I dared, and took a sip of bourbon. “You do look different tonight.”
She huffed an exhale. “ Very different. I doubt my own brothers would recognize me.”
“I disagree. It’s that Clark Kent/Superman thing. There’s no way Lois wouldn’t have recognized him without the glasses.”
Another sip of wine. “I’m Superman in this scenario?”
“Why not? Heroes come in all shapes, sizes, and genders. I rescued you earlier. Next time, you can rescue me.”
“What if I don’t get there fast enough?”
“I’ll stall them until you arrive.”
She cracked a smile, and that felt like more of a victory than buying this entire resort.
“You’re far more beautiful than Superman, though,” I said. “With or without the glasses.”
That blush again. Irresistible. “You’re coming on a little strong.”
“Am I?” My voice was husky and low. It was an involuntary reaction to the chemicals running through my veins. Some of it was good old-fashioned attraction, but it wasn’t enough that she was pretty. It was the whole package. This woman stoked my curiosity more than anyone else had in a while. “Spend the evening with me.”
She shook her head. “I don’t know you.”
“Not yet,” I reasoned. “Spend an hour with me, then.”
Those amber eyes widened again. “You are forward. I’m not leaving here with you.”
“Not what I meant,” I said smoothly. “I’m new to Silver Ridge. I don’t know anyone here. Take pity on a guy.”
“You don’t seem like the type to need pity.”
“But I am in need of rescue.” I held out my hands to either side of me. “Here I am, dateless, friendless. Just a guy, asking a girl for some hot tips on how to manage my spreadsheets. Bookkeeping pitfalls and how to avoid them.”
Her laugh started out small. She was trying to keep it in. But then it burst out with a joyful, musical sound. “You’re extremely persistent.”
“You have no idea.”
“Okay. An hour.”
“That’ll do. For a start.” I clinked my drink glass against hers.