Every Little Thing (Hart's Boardwalk 2)

A flirtatious gold digger Vanessa Hartwell may be but she was at least smart enough to read the situation. Her whole demeanor changed. The flirtatiousness vanished and she straightened. “Well, I don’t know if it will suit me anyway. I’m used to a certain class of accommodation. Perhaps the Grand would suit me better.”

He smirked at her. “Yes, well, Paradise is a five-star hotel, and the Grand is a four-star, so I imagine you’re right. The Grand would suit you better.”

Her mouth fell open in astonishment at his insult, and Vaughn began to stroll toward his hotel laughing to himself.

And then a thought occurred to him. Hadn’t Bailey said her siblings had no interest in the inn? And that she didn’t have much of a relationship with Vanessa?

So what was the woman doing in Hartwell?

And how much trouble was she looking to cause Bailey?

Vaughn scowled at the thought. Bailey had been through enough this year without her sister creating problems for her.

He spun around to find Vanessa giving him the evil eye. He ignored it. “What are you doing here?”

She crossed her arms over her huge bosom and lifted her chin in haughty defiance. “Why is it any business of yours?”

“I make what happens on this boardwalk my business, that’s why.”

Vanessa raised an eyebrow at his warning tone. “Well then, you should know I intend to become more involved with my inn.”

“You mean Bailey’s inn.”

Something flickered in her expression. “It’s my inn, too. And frankly from what I can see Bailey is making a dreadful mess of it. The décor is horrific, and that woman she has working for her is . . . well . . . she needs to go. I’ll have that place shipshape in no time. We’ll give you a run for your money with your fancy five-star hotel.”

Her insults to Hart’s Inn, to the hard work Bailey put in there, rankled. “It may have been a while since you lived here, Miss Hartwell, but I’m sure you’ll remember that your sister is very well liked by the people of this town.”

“Oh, I remember,” she sneered. “Everyone’s favorite. Quite the popular little brat.”

His eyes narrowed. “If you try to cause any problems for her, you’ll find yourself out of here so fast you won’t know what happened.”

“Excuse me? Was that a threat?”

“As I said, Bailey has a lot of friends, a lot of people who care about her well-being. She’s been through enough this year without you causing any more trouble.”

“Wow. Nothing has changed. She still has everyone under her spell. God”—she rolled her eyes—“you’re all just like her. Boring and uptight.”

“You’re probably right. You should leave.”

Vanessa opened her mouth to argue, but Vaughn wasn’t interested in a confrontation with her. Funny how he couldn’t resist one with her sister. In fact he reveled in it. On that thought he walked away before Vanessa could say anything else.

He cursed himself for warning her against causing problems for Bailey. “God damn it,” he bit out as he strode into his office and slumped in his chair. There he went again, expending energy on worrying about a woman that wasn’t even his woman.

Cooper was right.

He was either in or he was out.

Burying his head in his hands, he groaned, “Make a choice, Tremaine.”

SEVENTEEN

Bailey

“You really don’t have to do this.” I felt guilty as hell as Rex moved around my small kitchen preparing dinner for us. He’d turned up at the inn, out of the blue, with shopping bags full of food and insisted on cooking for me.

Aydan, who thought I was crazy for not giving the guy a chance, insisted I have dinner with him while she took care of the inn.

So that’s what I did. Now my stomach was churning with butterflies.