“Ah, I was waiting for that one. You sure you’re okay sitting with Stone Age Man here? I mean, I might chew with my mouth open or something. ”
“Whatever you need to do, Jessup. ”
He took a jaw-crackingly big bite of his sandwich and assessed her as he chewed. The scrutiny made her look uncomfortable, which made him chew slower. Finally he swallowed and asked, “To what do I owe this honor?”
“I told you. ” She brandished those papers she’d been clutching since her arrival. “I have signatures. ”
“The petition. ” He’d seen it posted on the bulletin board at the grocery store. “You’re convincing people in Sierra Falls that I’m the bad guy. ”
She only shrugged, letting him fill in the blanks.
“Nice,” he said, nodding. “You do realize I’ll be employing a good number of local men on this project. ”
“It doesn’t make it right. ”
“Whatever you say, gorgeous. Tell everyone to hate me. You can’t stop the work. ”
“That’s where you’re wrong. You need to call Jack right now and tell him he’d better stop hacking off that roof, because I know something that will stop you once and for all. ”
“Do you now?” He cracked open his water bottle and chugged, taking a moment to figure how he was going to play it: angry or easy.
She sure hadn’t wasted any time laying into him. But she wore a little denim skirt that’d ridden up as she sat, and as he stole a glance at those long legs, he decided he’d opt for cool. It was the skirt’s fault—it robbed a man’s strength.
He wiped his mouth, calmly telling her, “We’re not hacking off the roof. Those crossbeams are ancient. We’ve got our engineer out today, checking it out. Hotel or not, it’s something that needs to be done. Can’t have the walls caving in before we even start. ”
That silenced her for a moment, but he saw by the machinations on her face that she was working up to something else.
“El Dorado County voted in a watershed protection bond,” she blurted. “What you’re doing might be illegal. Or, at least, digging for a stupid pool might be. ”
It took him a moment to register the topic change. “How do you figure?”
“The bond was for ten million dollars,” she continued, gaining steam. “All to protect the watershed. There must be implications for the land surrounding the creek. ”
He sighed deeply. This job was turning out to be a nightmare, in more ways than one.
“You sure you don’t want any food?” He dug into his backpack and pulled out a bag of chips. “Sea salt and vinegar?” He let his eyes linger over her body—she was a workout fanatic with a tight little body, but it seemed like she’d gotten a little too thin since taking over managing the lodge. “Do you ever eat?”
She just glared, but he’d caught how her cheeks had flushed at his perusal.
“No? Your loss. ” He popped a chip in his mouth, giving her a wink.
“Ten million. ” She pressed on, undaunted. She turned away, looking back at the ranch house, and the movement tugged that flimsy yellow top tightly along her curves. “That’s something. ”
“It is something. ” He gave an approving nod—he sure was enjoying this argument. “Something else. ” He looked back up at her pretty face before she caught him staring.
He really needed to get this under control. He was a professional, dammit.
“Maybe not for Fairview,” she added, “but it’s enough to catch their attention. ” She pointed toward the mountains lining the horizon—veins of white still capped the highest elevations, the snowmelt providing water for much of Northern California. “You know as well as I do how that snow melts and fills this creek and trickles down until it eventually becomes the drinking water for all of Sacramento. If people felt strongly enough to vote in favor of a ten-million-dollar bond measure—”
“So you’ve said,” he interjected, wondering just how many times the woman could say ten million in a conversation. He wanted to end this chat and get onto more interesting things…like dessert.
“Then they’ll probably have something to say about all that’s going on in this valley,” she finished sternly.
He brushed the chip crumbs off his hands and shoved the trash back into his pack. “Okay, I’ll look into it. ”
“I…you, what?”
The wind had mussed her hair, and a strand had stuck to her mouth, all glossy and girly and pale pink. It took everything he had not to reach out and sweep the hair from her face. He’d bet his new truck that her panties matched the bra and lip gloss.