How was lying to this innocent woman honoring his mother? That’s not the type of person Lara Anderson had been. She’d been kind and caring and so giving and loyal. She’d been perfect and Dane, well, he was anything but.
“I want to buy Mirage.”
The words were out before he could talk himself out of admitting the truth—or at least a partial truth.
Stella’s hand pressed against his chest as she lifted slightly to look down at him. Her hair flattened against one side of her head where she’d slept against his side, her heavy lids shielded half her eyes.
“What?”
Dane swallowed and tucked one arm behind his head. “I want to buy Mirage.”
“Yeah, I heard you.” She shook her head as she sat all the way up and shifted to face him. “But it’s not for sale.”
“Everything is for sale for the right price.”
She stared back at him as if seeing him for the first time—as if she was finally seeing the man beneath the facade. But she still didn’t know the truth.
“My father is turning this over to me,” she told him as she let out a laugh. “And I’m certainly not selling it.”
Dane remained still. “Are you certain your father is going to give this place to you?”
A flash of irritation followed by determination crossed her face. Stella tipped her chin and shoved her hair away from her face. “I won’t settle for anything less. I know I’m not what he envisioned for this business or any business of his, really. A son would’ve already had his choice of companies. I ask for one and I’m jumping through damn hoops to secure it.”
So her father’s issue was that his only child was a girl? What the hell kind of backward thinking was that?
Dane clenched his teeth and eased up onto one elbow. “Your father won’t be the one keeping this resort,” he vowed.
Stella’s brows drew in. “I’m not following you this morning. You didn’t get any sleep, did you?”
He reached for her hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. “This has nothing to do with last night.”
A total lie. This had everything to do with last night. He’d let her in, deeper than he’d let anyone. He’d seen a side of her he hadn’t expected and damn it, he respected her.
None of this was going according to plan and now he was just winging everything and he hoped like hell his goals didn’t vanish forever now that they were finally within reach.
“Your father will not be the owner of Mirage for much longer,” Dane reiterated. “I promise.”
“I still don’t get it,” she muttered. “Do you know something I don’t? And if you say you know my father, that you actually do work for him, I will throw you out into that blizzard—”
“No. I don’t know him.” Not personally anyway. “And I certainly don’t work for him. But I’ve dealt with men like him before. He won’t hold on to this place and he won’t turn it over to you because all he cares about is money.”
If he cared half as much about his daughter, that would be a nice step in the right direction.
Dane didn’t want to ask more questions, didn’t want to get more involved emotionally than he already was. But he couldn’t stop himself.
“Were you two always at odds?” he asked. “When you were growing up, what was he like?”
Stella shrugged and took her fingertip to the back of his hand. She drew imaginary circles around his knuckles as she seemed to be contemplating her words.
“He wasn’t around much. My mom died when I was born, so he hired a nanny.” She chewed on her bottom lip as she went around another knuckle. “When he was there, I was never good enough at anything I tried. I loved skiing and would take my thoughts out to the slopes. One lesson turned into another and years later I found myself
competing at national levels.”
Dane knew that was the extremely shortened version because anyone who competed at that level had worked their ass off for years, giving up most of their social life for the ultimate goal.
“I think he blames me for her death,” she went on, emotion lacing her tone. “He’s never come right out and said so, but he’s hinted enough.”
“It wasn’t your fault. You know that, right?”