Page 4 of The Billionaire Land Baron

“No,” Slim and Greg said.

A moment later, Matt said, “No.” It was more of a growl. He walked out of the garage. “Let’s go, Slim.”

Jake clicked the button and completed the booking, wondering if he should be concerned about Shelby. Just in the few minutes since he met him, Matt seemed friendly. Shelby must be an ex or something. Jake wanted to tell Matt not to worry. He had terrible luck with women and definitely wasn’t looking to meet someone here in Lucky.

Pocketing his phone, Jake followed Greg as he grabbed keys from a pegboard and walked out to a big wrecker outside the garage. “Let’s get you towed,” Greg said. “And then I can drop you at Shelby’s.”

“You know her?”

“Everyone knows Shelby.”

“Should I be worried? Matt seemed upset about me staying there.”

Greg gave him a sideways look and chuckled. “You look like you could take Matt if it came down to it.”

“Why would I need to—”

“Shelby’s his girl.”

“Oh,” Jake said. “Well, no need to worry about that. Not looking for love. I’m just passing through Lucky.”

“Nobody’s just passing through Lucky,” Greg said with a laugh. “People either never come or come and never leave.”

Except for me,Jake thought. Because he would definitely be leaving as soon as Layla was back on the road. The last thing he wanted was to spend more time in an area that he would be developing. There were typically two kinds of people, no matter the area or project: those who were thrilled and those who thought Jake and his company were the devil incarnate. He’d endured protests, lawsuits, and other legal battles.

“I’m going to make a quick phone call if that’s okay,” Jake said. He wanted to touch base with Xander while he still had a connection.

“Fine by me,” Greg said. “I’m not a gossip.”

Somehow, the fact that he said that made Jake suspect the opposite was true. “Xan, hey. I can’t talk long, but Layla died. I think I’ll be stuck in Lucky for a few days at least.”

“That’s not so bad. I mean, sorry about Layla. It may work out to have you there in person longer. I’ll set things up and message you. Having you there will give the board some reassurance that the bottom isn’t going to fall out of this thing. We’ve got your rep as the Land Baron to protect after all.”

“Shut up. You know I hate that reputation.”

Xander laughed. “Fine. Do your thing, then. Rent a car, get a hotel room. I’ll be in touch soon with some things we’ll need.”

“Sure,” Jake said.

“That’s my boy. Call me when things are finalized. And tell Layla she’s a bad girl with terrible timing.”

“Will do.” Jake hung up the phone.

“Sounds like you’ve got some business here, huh?” Greg said. Jake wondered if Xan was talking loud enough for him to hear.

“Oh, you know. I can work anywhere there’s wifi.”

“The internet’s not so great around here.”

“I’ve got my own hot spot,” Jake said.

Greg laughed and muttered to himself as they pulled up to Layla. “Drives an Aston Martin, has his own hot spot. Hmph.”

Layla thankfully looked just as Jake had left her.

“What were you doing all the way out here?” Greg said. “You’re lucky Matt and Slim came along.”

“That’s what they said.”

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