‘Really? For what?’ Lucy’s fingers tightened around the phone. Heat gathered in her chest, a pulse of anger waking as if her body knew before her brain did that she’d been had. ‘So tell me. Good guy or bad guy?’
Jen’s smile slipped. ‘Are you really interested in him, Luce?’
‘What I’m really interested in is what you know that I don’t, and why it’s making you wary.’
Jen licked her lips. ‘Sam says he’s a money-making machine. Ruthless. Charming to the ladies. Lucy, he said Oliver is dangerous. And I could tell he didn’t like the idea of your getting involved with him. Not that he’d ever tell you what to do. But I can.’ She gave a tight little nod. ‘I don’t think you should have anything to do with this man. He’s bad news.’
Lucy stared out at the harbour, away from the phone. Images from the night before flickered through her mind — Oliver’s hands on her face, his arm around her as she fell asleep, the way he’d seemed startled by his own tenderness. The images fractured now, the soft edges hardening.
She walked back inside and glanced towards the bedroom. The shower was still running. Good.
‘Thanks, Jen,’ she said. ‘I appreciate it. Really. I’ll see you soon.’
‘Great. But… are you —’
‘I am,’ Lucy said. ‘I’ll leave now while Oliver’s busy. I don’t want to see him again.’
‘Because of what I’ve told you?’
‘Yep. He lied — maybe by omission, but it’s still a lie — about knowing Sam. What I don’t know is why. And I’m not sticking around to find out.’
‘Don’t you want to know?’ Jen asked softly.
‘Oh, yes. And I will.’ Lucy swallowed hard. ‘But not while I’m in his apartment. Not while I…’
She turned her head, so the phone caught only her hair, not her face. Not while I can still smell his aftershave on my skin, she thought, and the thought almost undid her.
She cleared her throat and brought the phone back into view. Fact was, she needed to know. Now. ‘Is Sam there?’
‘Sure,’ said Jen. ‘I’ll put him on.’
There was a muffled exchange, and then Sam’s face appeared.
‘Hey, big guy,’ Lucy said.
‘Hey yourself. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.’
‘My fault. I should’ve checked him out before I let myself… like him. Stupid of me.’
‘There’s nothing stupid about you,’ Sam said. ‘To be honest, I don’t know anyone who’s taken Oliver Perry-Warnes on and won. He’s just that kind of guy.’
‘Which isn’t my kind of guy.’ She glanced at the closed bathroom door. The shower was still running. ‘There’s just one more thing I’d like to know,’ she said, her voice going quiet and very, very level. It made Sam’s expression sober. ‘What is Oliver hiding from me? What does he want?’
‘Oliver’s company has just purchased the Old Colonial Hotel in MacLeod’s Cove,’ Sam said. ‘Opposite your café. I can’t figure out why. It’s not his usual scale. He goes for bigger, more prestigious projects.’
‘Hm,’ Lucy said. Anger flared at having her own suspicions confirmed. ‘Any idea what his plans are? What’s his usual M.O.?’
‘High-end,’ Sam said. ‘Gleaming marble, glass, steel, luxury interiors.’
‘He’s not going to get that with the old hotel,’ Jen’s voice said faintly in the background.
‘No, he’s not,’ Lucy said, each word clipped. ‘So he’ll knock it down and build something totally out of place. That’s the idea?’
‘I’d say that’s a safe bet,’ Sam said. ‘Sorry. I know that’s not what you want to hear.’
Lucy swallowed. Her mouth felt dry. A wave of nausea washed through her.
‘I should have known,’ she said. ‘All that fuss over “consulting” the community. Of course, it was about a big transformation. I guess he saw me — and my leverage — as a convenient way to smooth things through.’
