Page 12 of The Billionaire Land Baron

Chapter 4

Jake woke feeling sticky. He’d spent time in the heat and the south before, but didn’t remember anything like this thick, moist air that almost had its own texture. He wanted a shower, but it was not quite seven. He didn’t know when Shelby or her dad woke up and didn’t want to disturb them. Though the thought of Shelby made him want to run right over to the house. He had trouble sleeping the night before because he just kept playing back over every word said, every glance given, each small touch. Even the crazy moments, like Shelby poking her dad with his prosthetic leg. He smiled now, just thinking about it. And thinking about her tanned, muscular legs under those cutoffs.

He needed a cool shower. For a few reasons. The lake looked smooth and inviting in the morning sun. Why not? There was a dock out over the water with a ladder leading down into the water. He always had a bathing suit. A skin-hugging competition suit, made for speed. Not that he competed anymore, but he loved the way the water flowed over it when he swam. It was the way he cooled his head when he was trying to figure out a problem or just needed to calm down.

The light outside was pretty and gold, a little hazy over the fields beyond the lake. Dragonflies hovered and flitted over the grass and surface of the water. A few cypress trees stood next to the dock, their knobby knees jutting up from the water. This place was beautiful. So different from Chicago or any other place he’d been. He hoped that people coming for the casino would want to stay and enjoy the outside. He’d have to update the designs to incorporate more outdoor things. There was a wildlife preserve on the Louisiana side of the Sabine and he imagined wooden walkways over the water, underneath cypress and live oak trees, the Spanish moss dangling. This is why he always insisted on driving to a place before they officially started a project. Sometimes you had to be somewhere to get the full picture.

Jake didn’t know how deep the lake was and didn’t want to risk breaking his neck diving, so he climbed down the ladder instead. He slipped into the water, which was tepid. Not exactly cool, but still refreshing against the almost blistering morning heat.

Wanting to avoid any mud or the growth of cattails and other things along the edges, he swam straight to the middle and began doing laps across the widest part of the lake. After the second time, he could tell by the number of strokes how long he had until he needed to turn. Without a wall, his turns were slow, but it was nice to get his body moving after days in the car.

He moved from freestyle to fly, loving the sounds of the water in his ears and the full use of his body. He pushed himself, every muscle screaming and stretching awake, feeling the stress leaving his body.

Until he heard the screams.

He stopped mid-stroke, treading water and looking to shore. There was Shelby, running down the dock in tiny pajama shorts and a barely-there tank. And…waving a gun? He turned and swam towards the dock, where she stood frantically shouting at him and gesturing with the gun. He couldn’t understand a thing she said.

Did she say something about T-Ball?

He avoided the ladder and placed his hands on the dock to push himself up. As he heaved his upper body out of the water, something hard touched his foot, then shifted. A log?

Swinging his legs up, he stood on the dock, dripping. He put his hands up because she was still waving a pistol around and shouting.

“Shelby! Slow down! And can you please put that gun down?”

She stopped and seemed to realize for the first time that she had the gun. She tucked it into the front waistband of her shorts, which left her shirt hitched up. Jake swallowed and tried not to look at her tanned stomach. He didn’t have to try that hard because as soon as the gun was tucked away, Shelby started slapping his chest and arms, yelling something about T-Ball.

He gripped her wrists gently. “Hey, hey. Shelby. Breathe. Tell me what’s going on.”

She jerked out of his grip and stepped back, her hands on her hips, glaring. “You idiot,” she said, her accent even thicker with her anger. “This is East Texas.”

“I know where we are.” Why was she so mad? And why did she look so good mad? “Shelby, you’ll have to spell it out for me. You don’t want me swimming?”

“No, you idiot. I don’t want you to be gator bait. And I don’t want to have to shoot T-Ball to save you.”

“T-Ball?”

She pointed over the lake and his gaze followed. Just feet from where they stood on the dock, Jake saw the wicked-looking head of a large alligator. His heart about stopped and then a rush of adrenaline coursed through him realizing that he had just been in that very spot.

He hadn’t kicked a log on the way up. That had been the body of the alligator, he was sure of it. His stomach clenched.

“Shelby, why is there an alligator in the lake?”

“What kind of question is that? This is East Texas. There are over 200,000 alligators from here to Houston. This part of Texas is a lot more Louisiana than it is Dallas.”

Jake still stared at the gator, who seemed to be watching them, head turned to the side so its right eye faced the dock. “Why don’t you have a sign that says ‘Danger: Alligators’? Or even ‘No Swimming’?”

“You’re my first guest. I didn’t think anyone would be dumb enough to try swimming in this murky, swamp-infested water. Everyone around here knows better.”

He glared. “You should have warned me last night. It should be on the website listing: don’t swim or you might die.”

She blew out an exasperated breath. “Hey, Jake. Watch out for the alligator in the lake. His name’s T-Ball and I can’t say he won’t eat you just as soon as look at you. But I like him and don’t want to have to shoot him because you were too dumb to stay out of his dining room.”

She spoke so fast and said so many surprising things that Jake felt like it took him five minutes to process each sentence.

“T-Ball? That’s the name of the alligator?”

“Yeah. That’s his name.”

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