“I’m not worried about it,” I said. “I just used it as part of the bargain to get your brother to stop arresting me.”
Addison smirked, her eyes alight with mischief. “Yeah…I’m not sure this will stop him.”
“It better. He promised.” Although I couldn’t deny the small part of me that would miss riling him up. He made my life difficult, without question, but there was no denying how utterly hot he was when he was all downturned lips and fierce, furrowed brow…especially when all that ire and frustration were directed solely at me.
“Was this seriously all you wanted in exchange for backing down for a while?” she asked.
“What, teaching yoga?” At her nod, I hummed, a smile sweeping over my mouth. “No, actually. I wanted some paperwork fast-tracked. That was all I wanted, really, but why stop there when it’s so fun to mess with him?”
Addison laughed, a bright, bold sound coming out of someone so tiny. “Oh God, what’d you do?”
I mirrored her grin. “He may also have to take two of my classes and get a massage. If he’s still uptight after I’ve had my hands on him, he’s beyond help.”
Beck sputtered and choked on his coffee, hacking even as he waved Addison and me off when we regarded him with concern.
“You gonna live?” she asked her brother.
“Fine, fine,” he sputtered out between coughs, his eyes watering as he avoided looking at us entirely.
“Come on,” she said to me, stepping around the counter and tipping her head toward the door. “Let’s get the paperwork filled out so Brady doesn’t arrest me next.”
Under her umbrella, we walked down the path toward the main inn, the sounds of the ocean lapping at the shore immediately setting my body at ease. The resort was slow, as it had been since I’d first arrived, and I couldn’t ignore the pull in my stomach at my unease over the future of this place.
“This article is a big deal, huh?” I asked softly.
Addison shot me a look out of the corner of her eye, her lips pursed as if she was debating how much to tell me. Finally, she said, “Yeah. Without it, I’m not sure—” She cut herself off and shook her head, pulling open the main inn’s front door and closing the umbrella. “Well, I’m just not sure.”
I followed behind her, stepping inside as the familiar warmth rushed over me. There was something so peaceful about this home, about this resort. Even though it was a little worse for wear, there was no doubt it was loved. That showed in the gorgeous flowers that lined the paths and bookended each cottage’s porch steps. It was in the tray of baked goods that sat at the check-in counter, refreshed daily, and the snack baskets that peppered the communal areas of the inn.
This place deserved to prosper, and I hoped the motion of discovery took long enough that I wouldn’t have to choose between helping this small-town business and the family I’d grown to care for or the acres of wildlife that no one else spoke up for.
Aiden stood behind the check-in counter, his crisp white shirt unbuttoned at the collar and his sleeves rolled up to reveal thick forearms. His jaw was dusted with a couple days of growth—not quite as thick as Brady’s, but there was no denying the resemblance between the brothers.
His light eyes met mine, his brow turned down in a scowl. Normally, a look like that from his brother would shoot a flurry of excitement through me as I contemplated all the different ways I could torture him. That didn’t happen with Aiden. Yes, the man was attractive. No one would be able to deny that. But he had nowhere near the pull on me that his infuriating brother did.
“Once we get you set up, you won’t need to worry about pesky things like business licenses while you’re here,” Addison said, slipping around the back of the counter and pulling out a stack of paperwork.
It was something I obviously hadn’t been worried about, but I shrugged all the same. “Sounds perfect to me.”
“Wait…you do have a massage therapist license, right? And a certification for yoga?”
I grinned. “Yes, of course. I’m notthatmuch of a rule-breaker. I take my obligations to people’s well-being very seriously.”
“Good.” Addison passed over the papers, then held out a pen to me.
Before I could grab it, Aiden snatched it out of his sister’s grasp. “Not so fast. I need a little more reassurance before I’ll process this.”
“What kind of reassurance?”
“You have to swear you won’t protest again. At least until this article is secure.”
The thought of not protecting what was important to me unsettled something deep inside. If I wasn’t out there, I knew no one else would be, either, and that didn’t sit right with me. “How long will that be?”
Aiden shrugged. “Couple of weeks?”
A couple of weeks with nothing standing in Holton Group’s way could mean the land was cleared and the shopping center’s foundation already poured. And that wasn’t something I was willing to gamble on. But I didn’t need to show my cards this soon, especially when nothing was set in stone. Brady had assured me he would fast-track the paperwork, and I knew enough that once that had been accepted, no further movement could happen until the discovery was complete. And anything before that? Well, I just had to hope the meterologist was right and storms were on the horizon.
“Deal.”
