GOLDIE WISHED SHEcould just disappear on the spot. She’d forgotten about the woman she’d seen going into the hotel. Lolly Mandeville. She thought of what Max had told her. The look on Donovan’s face confirmed it. The two had a past that went far beyond being old friends.
She took another step back, feeling her face heat with embarrassment. She’d come here to convince Donovan to have sex with her, to convince herself that she was over Max and ready to move on. Or had she been merely trying to fool herself?
Not that it mattered now. It had been a horrible idea, impulsive, nothing like her old self. Then again, being impulsive was what had lost her café and brought Donovan to town. As much as she needed to move on from Max, it wasn’t going to be with Donovan.
“I’m sorry. I…” She turned to leave, but he grabbed her arm to stop her.
“No, don’t go. Stay. Please.”
She locked eyes with him. “I…” She realized she didn’t have to tell him what she’d come here for since she was now standing outside his hotel room. But having sex with him wasn’t going to change anything. This had been a mistake from the beginning. “I can’t do this anymore.”
“Come on in. We can talk—” His cell phone rang. He cursed under his breath, clearly needing to take the call.
“I don’t know what I was thinking.” Pulling free, Goldie turned on her heel and went down the hall in the same direction Lolly Mandeville had gone. But at the elevator, she changed her mind and took the stairs. She heard Donovan’s phone ring two more times before it stopped.
Plunging into the stairwell, she raced down the steps as if the place was on fire. As she came flying out the door into the lobby, she spotted Lolly leaving just as the sheriff was coming into the hotel. Had Max followed her here? Her heart gave that silly little bump of hope at just the sight of him. But then she saw Cordell come out of his office and usher him inside. Heart dropping, she realized that Max was here to see his brother. He hadn’t followed her.
Neither had Donovan.
Chapter Fifteen
Donovan picked up the call on the fourth ring. “I got your note. Not sure I agree with your hiring practices though.”
“You don’t have to agree. You just have to do what I say.”
That was certainly clear enough.
“Want to tell me why I need to hang around here until Arnie’s grand opening?”
“No, you’ll find out soon enough. Want to tell me who my daughter has been seeing besides you?”
“No. I’m sure if you don’t already suspect, you’ll find out soon enough.”
The crime boss chuckled. “You have more guts than brains, you know that?” He did. Malcolm was quiet for a moment. “She serious about this man?”
“Why don’t you ask her yourself?” Donovan said with a sigh. He wasn’t about to tell Malcolm about the baby. He didn’t want to tell the man anything. If he’d thought he could just get in his car and drive away, he would have. Maybe he would’ve taken Goldie with him. “She might be honest with you if she thought you really cared.”
“Are you sure you’re in a position to be offering relationship advice?” Knowing he wasn’t expected to answer, he remained silent. “Arnie tells me that you’re playing up to Goldie Shaw, making her old boyfriend Max Lander jealous.”
Was it that obvious? “It’s just a job, nothing personal. Goldie failed to mention the boyfriend is the sheriff, but I’m sure you know that as well.”
“You think that’s relevant?” Malcolm asked.
“I do, if my distracting the sheriff is a benefit to anyone we know. If that’s the case, then I’m doing a hell of a job.”
“Maybe you’re smarter than I give you credit for.” The crime boss chuckled again, seemingly amused that Donovan had figured out at least part of why he wanted him to stay in Dry Gulch until Arnie’s grand opening. “Make sure he stays distracted. I don’t want you doing too good of a job and getting them back together.”
He heard confirmation but something more in Malcolm’s voice. “If you tell me what you’re planning, maybe I could—”
“Don’t get ahead of yourself. You’re a minor player on this stage. You don’t want to be eliminated before the show even begins.”
The message was clear. He was to keep Goldie busy and the sheriff more worried about her than what was already going on under his nose at the café.
Donovan had probably been too cocky, but he told himself that Malcolm expected it from him. He didn’t want to disappoint. “What’s in it for me?”
“You get to live.”
He hadn’t needed Malcolm to tell him that, but it cleared up something just the same. Whatever the man was planning, it was big enough that the crime boss had not just involvedhim—but the man’s only daughter. “How long is Lolly staying?”
