Hot Stuff (Hot Zone 1)

Now all she had to do was keep things as superficial as the "jock bunny" label implied. Which shouldn't be a problem considering Vaughn's distant attitude. It was her own growing desire she had to keep in check.

VAUGHN WANTED TO KILL Annabelle. Short of that he'd settle for strangling her and that fairy pooch that didn't know how to pee like a man. Instead he'd driven her to his resort and handed her over to Nick for a tour. Meanwhile he'd headed to his on-site office to get some work done.

He needed the time to deal with the fact that she'd just put herself smack in the middle of his family hell. Add to that she was forcing him to show up at one of his parents' ridiculous cocktail parties in the name of good PR for the lodge.

If he'd known he'd have to make that kind of sacrifice, he'd have sold the entire place to Nick and been done with it. Nothing was worth subjecting himself to his father's boring speeches intended to impress the Board of Trustees and, Vaughn was certain, to remind him of all the so-called brain power his son lacked.

Yet as frustrated and angry as he was with Annabelle, he was forced to admit her reasoning made sense. He'd figured the lodge as an upstate getaway for kids during the summer and a cozy lodge resort in the winter. He'd never even thought about local colleges. He should have. But now thanks to Annabelle, he'd tap into a brand-new market. It was brilliant, he thought, as long as he didn't have to admit that to his new publicist.

He ran a hand through his hair and turned to the stack of paperwork in front of him. Thanks to the delays, the plumbing installation was behind schedule, but they'd made up good time in other areas. He hoped they could continue on such a smooth path.

Calmed somewhat, he headed to meet up with Nick and Annabelle. He found them near the lake where they had spread out a blanket beneath a tree. Annabelle and Nick sat side by side, laughing and eating from a picnic basket. The dog hopped up and down on his hind legs begging for attention and when that ploy failed, he ran laps around a nearby bush.

From Vaughn's perspective, the son of a bitch who called himself Vaughn's best friend had decided to romance Annabelle.

Vaughn came up to the oversized blanket they sat on, "I thought we were here to work."

Annabelle glanced up. She hadn't expected to see Vaughn so soon and her adrenaline shot up a notch.

"We did work," Nick said as he shot Vaughn a sidelong glance. "I gave Annabelle the grand tour and we came to find you, but Mara said you weren't to be disturbed."

Annabelle grinned at that. Mara was a woman who spoke her mind about business and a whole lot more. She'd been in Nick's face, flirting, but Nick had deliberately ignored her blatant interest. When he'd asked her to call a local restaurant to deliver a lunch picnic for himself and Annabelle, Mara had nearly flung the telephone at his head.

Oh, those two were interesting, Annabelle thought. As was this picnic, which had taken her by surprise. Then there was Vaughn, who looked ready to grind either their lunch, or her hyper dog jumping at his feet, into dust.

She grabbed Boris away and spoke to Vaughn. "Actually your assistant said you bit her head off and ordered no interruptions unless she wanted to lose her job."

Vaughn ran a hand through his hair. "It's been a long day."

"It's only eleven." Nick chuckled. "I hear you're going to the university fund-raiser after all. Plan on giving that coaching position a shot?"

Vaughn shook his head. "I told you to apply for it. They'd be damn lucky to have you."

"As second choice. I'd rather manage this place like we talked about."

Annabelle listened to the discussion between the two men with interest. Nick was Vaughn's best friend, but despite Joanne's assertions of loyalty, he was obviously runner-up to his pal, both in the lodge and in coaching choice. Could there be jealousy there? Enough to cause Nick to sabotage his own investment? The notion didn't seem likely but she couldn't afford to overlook any possibility.

"I was hoping we could go over some things," Annabelle said, glancing at Vaughn.

He nodded. "I have time now."

She rose and brushed stray grass off her Juicy sweats. With all the dirt and construction, she'd decided to dress down to visit the lodge.

"I'm going to go over the end-of-construction schedule and make sure the inspectors are lined up," Nick said.

"Ask Mara if she confirmed the electrical inspection. I want to get the drywall up," Vaughn reminded him.

"Will do. You two don't kill each other while I'm gone." Nick treated Annabelle to a teasing wink that had Vaughn clenching his jaw.

"We'll try not to," Annabelle replied in her best sugary-sweet voice.

Nick took off for the lodge and Annabelle turned to Vaughn. "Friend or foe?" she asked him about Nick.

"Friend." He spoke without hesitation. His steely-blue gaze met hers, ice in his eyes. "And who the hell are you to even ask?"

Okay so Vaughn's loyalty ran deep. She'd suspected as much. But could she say the same of Nick's? 'I’m the person you're paying to fix things around here."

"I'm paying you to fix the lodge's perception with the public, not question my best friend's loyalty."