Timber Creek (Sierra Falls 2)

“I have things, too,” he added with a smile. “But you first. ”

There was that arrogant grin again—she was sure it portended gloom. He was about to stick it to her in some way, she just knew it.

“Me first?” She cinched her arms at her chest. “Don’t tell me…age before beauty?”

“Oh, darlin’, no. ” He gave a playful pinch to her chin. “Pearls before swine. ” He winked and let go, but the ghost of his touch left her skin hot. “So what brings you here looking like you might like to eat me for breakfast?” He raised a brow, implying so much more than her current temper.

She took another step backward. She was painfully aware of his proximity, like she’d all of a sudden become claustrophobic.

Her reaction to him annoyed her. His ease annoyed her. It sharpened her words. “I found precedent. ”

“Precedent, huh? Sounds important. ” He paused. “Precedent for what?”

“For stopping this construction,” she said, trying to keep her temper. “What else? There have been similar cases. In each, a federal lawsuit was filed, citing a violation of the National Historic Preservation Act. ”

He nodded, thinking, then asked, “That all?”

“You are maddening. No, that’s not—”

“Because if it’s my turn, I wanted to tell you my news. I got Fairview to back out of their phase two plans. ”

“You…what?” She felt herself gape. Surely she didn’t just hear what she thought she heard.

“There’s no stopping the resort,” Eddie quickly amended, “but Fairview has agreed to scale back. ”

She searched his words for some hidden trick. “What does scale back mean?”

“We’re keeping the building to just one story after all. ” He smiled, looking proud of himself. “I told you I’m not a bad guy. ”

“You said there’s no stopping the resort. ” She still suspected he was, in fact, a bad guy. “I still want to stop the resort, Eddie. ”

“Come on, Laura, you know there’s no stopping a company like Fairview. ”

“In fact”—she ignored him and tapped a finger on her chin—“I think I’d like to kill the resort. ”

“Hey, I just put my ass on the line to scale back plans for a whole damned international hotel. Which, by the way, will mean less money for Jessup Brothers. ”

Baby steps, she told herself. Of course he wouldn’t do something that would hurt his own business.

He saw her waffling and held out his hand. “Peace? Please? Let’s shake on it. ”

He wouldn’t stop the construction completely, but she still could. She’d think of a way. In the meantime, she let her hand slip into his, and there it was again, that warm rush at feeling his large, worn hand envelop hers.

“I guess. ” She let him shake her hand. Scaling back was something, she told herself. Scaling back was good.

He squeezed, doing a little rub with his thumb, and all sorts of alarms sounded in her head. When she pulled her hand free, he laughed again. “The least I could get is a smile. Maybe a Thank you, Eddie, for being so awesome. ”

“Forgive me if I don’t trust you,” she said. “Why’d you do it, anyway?”

“I did it for you, dummy. ”

She stiffened. “Why?”

“Because I respect you, Laura. ”

Respect. Wasn’t that what she’d wanted? She’d lost it at work, had been scrambling to reclaim it at home. Why did it feel so strange getting it now, so freely, from Eddie?

How was this guy she’d known all her life—who’d bugged her all her life—how was he the one to be giving her what she’d so longed for? And not just that, but he was sacrificing some of his own money in the process.