“As long as it’s after two.”
He dipped the brim of his hat, and for some reason, my sex drive reminded me that it’d been a while since I had orgasmed.
I had to get away from this guy. “Monday.” I swung the door shut and fired up the engine.
Teller didn’t move as I backed up and drove away. The strong, straight-legged way he stood with the sky and trees would be etched in my brain forever. Each block I put between him and me left me as light as marshmallow fluff. I was finally making progress. I now had a contractor, and it was thanks to my brother’s life insurance... and the bourbon cowboy in my rearview mirror.
CHAPTER THREE
Teller
“You’re doing what?” Tate asked. He sat across from me at the big conference table in the top level of Copper Summit. “Flatlanders?”
My sisters gawked at us. Tenor had his laptop open, but he was as invested in my answer as the rest of them. Just my luck our monthly meeting was the Monday morning after the bachelor auction. No, it wasn’t luck. Wynter had planned it that way.
I pressed my fingertips together. “It’s a fucking mess in there. She probably left it for me.” She should leave it for me. The night of the auction was the first time I had noticed the fatigue etched into her pretty features.
“For fifty grand, she should,” Junie said, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. She’d piled the rest in a blue-and-pink bun on top of her head. Apparently, each of her stepdaughters got to choose a color.
Wynter ran a hand over her pale braid. “For fifty grand, I’d make more of a mess.”
Just like me, the whole town had likely peeked through the windows of Flatlanders. The damage Scooter had left behind had far outlasted the man. What had made him rage? Would he have done anything differently if he’d known he was leaving it all behind for Madison?
As for her . . .
When she’d bid on me, I hadn’t believed it. Had she been passionate about the charity? I’d heard her family had been on the receiving end a few times—until her mom had gotten pissed and chewed out Wilna, telling her to stick her canned goods and winter coats “where the sun don’t shine.”
Then Madison had kept bidding, all the way to fifty grand. She’d sat in the back, waiting to see how high it went before jumping in. She had to have known the ruckus it’d create. But she’d had the money, most of it. She’d planned to win me.
Thank fuck Riley hadn’t won. I’d nearly had a coronary when Madison had quit bidding. I’d had no idea if she could read my cues. I’d have kicked in all my retirement to keep from spending a day with Riley.
Perhaps my curiosity about why Madison was bidding had been just as strong. We couldn’t seem to get along, but she’d forked over a tidy fortune that could’ve done a lot for Flatlanders without me.
Of course, I hadn’t gotten much for an answer. Frustrating woman.
“You should’ve seen the bidding war,” Tate said, clasping his hands behind his head and leaning back in his chair. “Riley Grant almost got him.”
Autumn made a growling sound. “I don’t like her.”
“None of us do,” Summer added.
“Her salon is tanking.” Tenor closed the lid of his laptop like he knew we weren’t getting to our meeting agenda for a while. “She called Ruby to ask for free social media tips, then chewed her out when she gave her a quote for consulting.”
“Ugh. I can hear her do it too,” Wynter said, her tone dripping with derision.
Summer smacked her lips. “That woman is always in the thick of trouble.”
“So . . . Madison . . .” Junie cocked her head. “How’s that going to go?”
Tenor snorted.
I glared at him. “Care to speak your mind?”
He spread his hands apart. “Judging from your interactions with her last summer? Everything you say is going to piss her off.”
Everything I did would too, and I’d get to witness that fire blaze across her face. She was a passionate woman, and what if that energy was directed somewhere else— No fucking way was I going there with her. I wasn’t one to waste my time on a dead end. She was attractive, gorgeous if I was honest, but she was also a land mine of emotions, and she wasnotinterested. Besides, the bar was my job, and that was all I had to do with Madison Townsend. “That place was ruined. She’s going to have to gut it.”
“You’regoing to have to gut it,” Tate clarified.
