Page 78 of Can't Fight the Moonlight

"Maxwell is open to taking a call from you tonight. He'll be available after a dinner meeting, so after nine, our time. I figured you'd say yes, so I told him you'd call him."

"Good." He checked his watch. He had about ninety minutes to prepare to make his case.

"Just so you know," Anthony continued. "Maxwell's dinner meeting is with Vinton's VP, Carl Kramer."

"Damn. Carl is in London?"

"Yes."

"I should have known he'd make a bigger play. All right. I better get to work."

"Sorry I wasn't able to close the deal."

"I appreciate your effort. I'll touch base with you after I talk to Maxwell."

"I'll be here."

Justin ended the call and then got to work. He had to save this deal, and he was at a huge disadvantage, with Vinton in London and him in Whisper Lake. But he needed to find a way to show Maxwell that they had the best product at the best price, with the best service and support systems in place. And he would have to do that after Maxwell had been wined and dined by his biggest competitor. Well, he'd always liked a challenge, and he definitely had one now.

A knock came at his door, and his head jerked up. He should ignore the knock. He couldn't see Lizzie now. He couldn't get distracted by her pretty face. He had to concentrate. He had to focus. He had a lot on the line.

But it wasn't Lizzie's voice that rang out; it was his grandmother's.

He got up and opened the door.

"Good morning," she said with a bright smile. "Are you ready for breakfast?"

"No, sorry." He'd completely forgotten he'd promised to have breakfast with his grandmother. "I can't do breakfast. I have a small crisis with a deal in progress. I'm going to be tied up for a few hours."

Disappointment filled her eyes. "This was supposed to be a no-work week, Justin."

"I'm trying to balance everything. But you have to trust me when I say this can't be avoided."

"All right. We'll meet up later. You will make the beach picnic, right? We'll be heading down to the lake around four. Lizzie is making up picnic boxes and it's a whole big thing before the eclipse. I don't want you to miss it."

He nodded. "I'll be there. I just have to take care of this now."

"All right. I'll let you go. I just want you to know how appreciative I am that you came, being as busy as you are. This week, tomorrow especially, is really important to me. The older I get, the more I realize that family is everything."

He couldn't quite agree with that statement, but he didn't want to upset her. "You and Grandpa saved me when I was a teenager. I'll never forget that."

Her eyes grew a little misty at his words. "I wish we'd done more sooner."

"You did what you could. I wasn't your responsibility."

"I know you still have a lot of anger—"

He put up a hand. "I really can't talk about anything now. I'm sorry."

"Of course. Do your work. We'll get together later."

He nodded, then shut the door before she could say anything else. He didn't want to be rude, but he had a deadline, and the clock was ticking.

* * *

Lizzie wandered through the dining room around nine o'clock, checking on her guests, making sure that everyone had everything they needed for breakfast, but her mind wasn't really on her job. It kept drifting back to Justin and the incredible night they'd spent together. She'd been disappointed to find him gone when she woke up. She would have liked waking up in his arms, next to the heat of his body, instead of putting her hand on a cold sheet that had only reminded her whatever they had was over. Although, they could have two more nights together before he left on Sunday. It didn't have to be over yet.

Unless Justin was backing off. Maybe he regretted telling her his personal story. He wasn't one to naturally share, which made her wonder why he'd confided in her.

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