Chapter 13
DRAKE
As we turned the corner, the property came into view.
"This is fabulous," Kimberly said. Right now, it was a huge field that sloped upward as the terrain of the mountains started. "And the view is absolutely breathtaking. How are zoning regulations?"
"You can't build close to the mountain."
"We could have most of the rooms look over on that side, and the spa area could open up directly to the mountain." Kimberly smiled widely. "This place would make people happy."
"What?" I asked, sure I misunderstood.
"I always say that I like my work to make people happy.
I think it's one of the reasons I went into the travel industry—I loved finding the best destinations for my customers and imagining them coming back from their vacation relaxed and happy. I do the same with the hotel. Every time we’re considering an event or, well, any decision, I first try to imagine, on a scale of one to ten, how happy it would make the guests. Why are you so perplexed?"
"Oh, I'm glad it shows. It's because I am. You do make decisions based on numbers, too, right?"
She rolled her eyes. "Drake, I'm not a doofus."
"You're not. I'm sorry. It's just that I've never seen anyone in business talk with….”
"Heart?" she asked, shrugging and then smiling big. "I wear it on my sleeve, not buried under a pile of rubble like yours." She patted my shoulder. "No worries. I'll help you shovel some rubble away." She turned to look at the property.
Vlad, my contact, approached us a moment later.
"Hey, you two. It's so nice to meet the both of you." He first shook hands with Kimberly and then with me. "Obviously, there isn’t much I can tell you. Everything you see is everything we've got."
"How is this still available?" Kimberly asked. "Drake told me there was an inheritance fight."
"Exactly. It took years for it to process, and no one knows it’s available yet."
She looked at him sharply. "We'll decide by mid-next week."
He glanced at me. "I promised Drake until Sunday."
"That's impossible. Our main shareholder is flying in on Monday morning. Then he’ll need forty-eight hours to make an offer.
Surely after so many years of fighting for the inheritance, they can wait for a few days?
" She turned on her most charming smile.
The poor idiot was practically melting at her feet.
Kimberly said she'd misjudged me, but I’d done the same with her. From her emails, I'd assumed she was difficult to work with and a person who liked to disagree with others on principle. I'd been wrong. The truth was, she had her very own principles, and she wasn't malleable. She couldn't be tamed.
She was fun when she wanted to get her way. And when she threw in that unique charm, it was hard to tell her no.
"I'm sure we can wait until Tuesday morning, but we’d need a decision very quickly," he replied.
"We’ll do our best. Thank you so much for being so accommodating. Now, walk us through every zoning requirement," Kimberly said.
I gave her an appreciative nod. We’d both read the document with zoning restrictions, but it was a good idea to double-check if there were any hidden ones. We had a better shot at finding out by grilling Vlad in person. In my experience, people tripped over their own words whenever they were lying.
We walked around the property, talking it over, for about an hour.
I looked over and saw Kimberly shivering. "Kimberly, you’re freezing. I think we have everything we need."
She nodded, holding her arms over her chest, looking at Vlad.
"Yes, we do. Vlad, thank you for everything. My cousin, and possible owner of this property, is going to fly in on Monday. My recommendation already is for him to make the move and buy, and I'm very confident that he'll do so, but he does need to see it first."
"Understood," he said. "Where are you staying? I can give you a lift back to the hotel."
"Oh thank God," Kimberly exclaimed. "If I stay out a second longer, I'm going to turn into an ice cube."
She folded her arms even tighter around herself, and I put a hand on her lower back while Vlad led us to his car. She straightened up, peeking at me.
"Just warming you up, Kimberly. I don't have a hot chocolate on hand, but I think I'll do the trick."
She cleared her throat and said something that sounded a lot like "Oh yeah, you'll do."
Vlad gave us tidbits about Aspen on the drive. It wasn't anything I didn't know, but I appreciated his effort.
Kimberly was sold on the property. Now it was only a matter of time before we convinced Reese and Travis. I was going to suggest a call when we reached the hotel. I didn't want to risk Kimberly changing her mind before she spoke with her cousin.
"By the way, Vlad," Kimberly started as we reached the hotel, "we've had some issues with our room. Do you happen to know if there's anything available at another hotel?"
"I don't think you can find anything in a radius of fifty miles. This is the most booked-up weekend of the year. It's very good for business. Typically they book up over a year in advance."
"Yeah, I figured that," she said. "Thanks a lot for driving us."
As she got out of the car, I went right next to her, resuming my hold on her back.
"I won't freeze from the car to the hotel," she protested.
"I’m not taking any chances," I said.
She shimmied but didn't pull away. I moved closer, almost covering half her back with my chest. Was it crazy that my impulse was to make sure she wasn't uncomfortable in any way?
There was no line at reception, which was good, since we wanted to see if they were able to find another hotel or room. Personally, I was hoping they didn’t. Being with Kimberly tonight was going to be very enjoyable, I suspected.
She took off her beanie, and I had to grin because she wasn't lying—her hair did look like she’d stuck her fingers in an electrical socket. But she was still so damn gorgeous.
The woman who checked us in smiled at us, but her eyes were wary. I already knew she didn't have any good news. She didn't even wait for us to reach the counter. She just came around the desk.
"We haven't been able to find a room for you, so I went ahead and instructed our staff to set up a rollaway bed in the living room. They also sent up a complimentary bottle of champagne to apologize for the inconvenience."
"Thank you so much for everything," Kimberly said. "We appreciate your trying to help—it goes above and beyond your duty, and your making the effort means a lot."
The receptionist beamed at that. "It's my pleasure. Do you have any reservations for dinner?"
Kimberly shook her head. "No, we didn't bother, actually. I envisioned a night of staying in and ordering room service. We'll let you know if we need anything."
"Most places are booked up, but I’m pretty sure I can find you a table somewhere. It’s the least I can do."
I nodded. "Thank you." I gave her an extra tip for being so accommodating. This was the type of employee I’d like to hire.
Kimberly took off her coat, stuffing the beanie inside the arm.
The elevator was packed as we got on. A group of skiers had just returned and were in various states of undress.
They still had most of their gear on, although some had taken off their jackets, holding poles, helmets, and other things, making it so tight that Kimberly and I barely crammed in.
We were so close to each other that our arms were touching, and I felt the connection through and through.
She kept pressing her lips together as if she wanted to say something but then thought better of it. Was she thinking about the night ahead? I fucking was. I’d joked about it before, but this was different. Now, it was the only option.
She stayed silent as we stepped out of the elevator and headed to the room. She swiped the card, opening the door.
"That's the bed?" she asked in a disappointed voice.
It was a single bed shoved against the wall, right next to the TV. It was the only place in the room that they could put it where it wasn’t in the way.
"Kimberly, I'm going to be more than fine in it."
"What? No. Come on, look at your size. You're much bigger than me. You need more space. You take the double, and I'll cram into that elf-sized bed."
"No!" I said in a lower octave.
"I insist.”
"Kimberly, you take the bedroom. I won't accept anything different."
She put her hands on her hips, tilting her head to one side. Her chest was heaving up and down as if she'd raced up the stairs. "Really? And what will you do if I fight you on it? Carry me to bed against my will? Make sure I stay there?"
"Fuck yes. I'll do exactly that."
She parted her lips, then furrowed her brow. "I'll fight you every step of the way," she murmured.
"I wouldn't expect anything less."
She glanced downward. A few seconds later, I realized she was counting.
"What are you doing?" I asked.
"I'm trying a yoga technique to…. You know what? Never mind. I'll take the bedroom. Thank you. You’re a gentleman."
"Always."
"I beg to differ," she said with a wink, "but you get points for trying. I need to change out of these clothes."
"Yeah, me too."
She stood still. "Do you need to shower?”
"You go ahead. I'll wait."
"There's only one bathroom, right?"
I looked her straight in the eye. "Kimberly, if you're uncomfortable, I can go to the airport and take a flight back to Chicago.”
"Don't be absurd. There are no flights going out anymore.”
"Regardless, I know I teased you before, but if this makes you uneasy, I'll find another way. I'll go to another hotel, even if it’s a hundred miles way.”
"No, that's fine. We’re grown-ups. We have separate beds, and you promise not to peek when I'm in the shower, right?"
I scoffed. "Of course I wouldn't. Is that what you think about me?"
"No, not at all, but I don't know. Things could happen. You could randomly need a towel, to wash your hands or whatever."
I grinned at her. “You gave it a lot of thought. Were you looking for excuses to spy on me when I take my shower?"
She cleared her throat. "I wasn't." She tapped her temple. "My mind has a will of its own."
"You've lost me again."
She fumbled with her thumbs. "I'm just going to hop in the shower."
I watched her disappear to the master bedroom. The bathroom was an en suite, so later, I’d have to go into her space to take a shower.
I took out the shirt I planned to change into, then sat on the bed and waited for Kimberly to finish.
The bed made a horrible sound of metal on metal.
I moved farther down the mattress, but the sound intensified.
Fuck me, if I slept on this crap, no one in a one-mile radius would be able to sleep.
Every time I moved, it would wake me up.
Whatever, it was only one night. I couldn’t even try sleeping on the couch, as it was far too small, and my legs would hang off. And the armchair looked uncomfortable as fuck.
Kimberly poked her head out from the bedroom. "Um, question. Do you want us to try to get a reservation to a restaurant tonight? Or do you want to order room service?"
"Your call," I said.
"Honestly, I dislike going out on Valentine's Day on principle. But somehow, I also don't want to stay cooped up in here."
"I'll ask them to make a reservation for us. We'll find something great."
"Love your confidence. You're on," she said, disappearing back into the bathroom.
While she was in the shower, I called the reception desk, instructing them to find us a very good restaurant. I didn't want to take Kimberly out just anywhere. I wanted a place she’d like, where she would feel happy, not just comfortable.
"Try for one that's not exploding with Valentine's Day decorations," I told them.
"Okay, sure."
"And very upscale."
"Oh, I have just the thing for you. Any intolerances?"
I racked my brain. I'd seen Kimberly eat pizza with everything a human could order except for pineapple. "Not that I know of. I think we're good for anything."
"When should I make it?"
"It's five thirty now. You think you can find something at seven o'clock?"
"Definitely."
"Good. Then seven it is."
After I hung up, the shower was still on.
Just imagining Kimberly naked under the spray of water, soaping up, was enough to drive me insane.
Christ. Every instinct told me to find an excuse to knock on the door.
Not go in but just knock. She'd come out with a towel wrapped around her, hair wet and sticking to her skin… .
Fuck, I couldn’t do that. I’d maul her right there against the bathroom door. Or maybe I'd lead her straight to the bed.
I took in a deep breath to calm myself.
My reaction to Kimberly really confused me. I wasn’t starving for companionship. I’d dated Lulu before I’d moved here, so I wasn’t coming off some dry spell. There was something about Kimberly.
The water stopped running. I was going to wait for Kimberly to give me the green light when I could go and shower.
A few short minutes later, she opened the door and stepped into the living room.
She looked exactly like she had in my imaginations.
Scratch that—she looked even better. She'd actually come out with a towel around her.
Her hair was wet, and I could easily picture the rest of her body even though it was hidden.
She was also completely red in the face and flustered.
“I can’t believe I forgot to take my clothes with me. The bathroom's ready for you. You can jump in right away."
Did she do it on purpose to torment me? Didn't she know what seeing her like that did to me?