He leaned forward, setting the coffee mug on its saucer on the low table and resting his forearms on his thighs. “I’m sure we can resolve the estate peacefully. It might take the lawyers some time, but we will reach a satisfactory resolution.”Although, we’ll have to give up a lot of money to do so.He could make more money. With her, he’d have one chance not to become a sworn enemy. He had lived without her. He knew he could do that again. But he didn’t want to be dead to her. That fate was his worst-case scenario. “In the meantime, we need to talk.”
“We do.” She licked her bottom.
Her pink tongue darted across her full lower lip, clearing the sheen of powdered sugar and missing the dollop of syrup in the corner. He rose from the couch and, catching himself before he made a move, dropped back against the cushion, making a big show of buttoning and tugging his jacket into place. If he touched her, he was doomed.
She covered her mouth with a hand, unconcerned by his behavior. “I want to setup some ground rules, though. You said the wordplan.That implies we are working together.” She said through her last bite of food, setting a world record for eating most doctors would find reprehensible. She reached for her coffee and took a long sip. “I did not agree to be your teammate.”
According to the law, you did. He wouldn’t share the snarky tidbit. But in the light of day, pretending not to know she wanted him out was ridiculous and beneath them both. Forewarned was forearmed. He needed more information. “What do you want? What is your intention? Have you come to take over the Inn and kick me out?”
She sipped her coffee, arching both eyebrows.
A rock settled low in his gut. At least the confirmation fully quieted the raging, lusty beast inside that demanded he make a move. She really thought so little of him and what he’d accomplished. She was here to sweep in and take over without a care.
He couldn’t be surprised. He’d worked for years to conceal the actual state of the finances at the Inn, apprenticing her father before taking the reins for himself following her departure. He was complicit in her ignorance while he labored hard to turn the business around and reach record-setting heights.
The hospitality industry wasn’t for the weak of heart. He imagined his skin was thick and tough after so long in the business. Her opinion and underestimating his abilities shouldn’t hurt. But it did. “Seriously? You think you can run this business without me?”
She shrugged.
Her nonchalant gesture rankled him. He might have growled. The casual response, making light of his life’s work, showed a thoughtlessness he’d forgotten. She was fun and easy. Her inability to take anything seriously, however, sparked her cutting remarks. Nothing mattered because she never toiled to earn anything. In those scattered moments, he remembered she’d grown up with privilege, and he’d had to work for his place at her feet.
Not anymore. He was no one’s loyal dog. He was the boss. He swallowed. Better to silence himself than regret his response. He’d deal with her false self-confidence later.
“You’re the one who brought up an idea. Let’s hear it,” she said. “Split the property fifty-fifty?”
“We could. Or the legal system might take over and divide the estate for us. During divorce proceedings, the lawyers and the judge could throw out the post-nuptial agreement and claim we signed it under distress.”
“Your distress, at that time,” she muttered.
“We’d be tethered to each other. Or the contract would be upheld, and we’d be free and clear of one another.”What did she want?He scanned her face, searching for the answer.
She finished her coffee and pushed herself off the ground. Pacing the carpet in front of the bed, she couldn’t hide her twitching lips as she muttered to herself.
But she was just far enough away that he couldn’t hear. Probably for the best. “Listen, we have to set that aside for the time being. Last night, you claimed you didn’t set the fire.”
She whirled around, facing him with a wild look in her blue eyes. “I didn’t.”
“I believe you. But if you didn’t start the fire, someone did, and it was probably to get you out of the lighthouse to get the treasure.”
She snorted. “The treasure again? No one believes that. It was a made-up promotion during a slow summer.”
His beliefs as a skeptic weren’t important. He’d learned how many people wanted a little magic in their lives and would jump on any prospect of the supernatural, including a supposed cursed treasure that wasn’t discussed until the 1990s. “Fine. You tell me what happened. How do you explain the blaze?”
“A ghost.”
He could feel the long-suffering sigh building deep in his chest. It was a familiar friend. Often, he had to arrest a sense of logic and order to go along with her flights of fancy. This was too much. “You can’t pretend to be a spirit in a fake lighthouse and then claim there is a real ghost there. What’s the supposed origin story?”
She stiffened, drawing her shoulders up to her ears. “I don’t know. But people have reported odd occurrences since the eighties.”
“Yes, on and off, mostly by the Prims, and every encounter was explained rationally. If someone is trying to undermine the business, it is in our best interests that we figure it out before actual damage happens.”
“Why can’t you investigate?”
He slipped a finger under his collar. He’d tied his Windsor knot too tight. His pain was all physical and external, nothing to do with the chasm slowly eroding the trust between him and the townsfolk. “I’m not well-loved in town. I’ve had to make tough choices for the greater good.”
“I don’t need to wait you out?” She widened her gaze. “I can have the townsfolk run you off the premises?” Crossing her arms over her chest, she exuded triumph.
Her borrowed robe and comped suite didn’t detract from the victory. She took to both as if they were hers.
