Page 32 of Love Fast

“I agree,” I say with a smile.

He holds my gaze, his stare intense. It heats me from the inside out, like he’s trailing his fingers over my skin, bringing every goose bump to life. “It’s a really creative solution, you know?”

I laugh. “I never even went to community college.”

“Doesn’t mean you’re not clever. It just means you didn’t go to college.”

I glance down at my pancakes, full with his praise and the way he sees me. “Thank you.” I take a bite of pancakes. “Now you have to help me find Athena’s family.”

“I’ll make you a deal: If you don’t find her owners, I’ll take her in when you move next week.”

I tip my head back and laugh. “She hates you!”

He smooths his hand over his stubbled chin. “That is true. But maybe we can acclimatize her before then.” His eyes twinkle as he looks at me. One minute he’s a grumpy, hard-nosed businessman—the next, my thoughtful, hot neighbor who makes plaid look like it costs a million bucks.

THIRTEEN

Byron

The weather forecast has injected the air with panic. Even Kathleen, the project manager, is jittery, and that makes me nervous. People who don’t live in Colorado think tornadoes can’t hit the mountains. The people of Star Falls know different.

“What’s the worst-case scenario?” I ask Kathleen as we stand on the balcony outside Blossom. I can see the entire town of Star Falls from here.

The main building is finished. We have proper storm defenses built into the design of the place, from hurricane glass in all the windows to state-of-the-art generators. Any trees close enough to cause damage to the main building have been removed. It’s not the main building I’m worried about. It’s the buildings that aren’t finished. There’s a real possibility that if we can’t finish weatherproofing before the storm hits, they’ll be destroyed. That includes a block of staff accommodations and ten member chalets.

“Worst-case scenario is total power loss, two blocks of staff housing totally or partially destroyed, and we lose half the chalets,” Kathleen says.

The hits just keep on coming. I feel like I’m playing disaster Whac-A-Mole. Just when a plan to get the people of Star Falls fully behind the Colorado Club starts to materialize, I have to deal with the possibility that I’m going to have to delay opening. Founding members have already paid their fees. For the first six months from opening, potential members are going to come out and experience the Club in all its glory. That can’t happen if parts of the site lie in ruin. The resort has the potential to turn into a gigantic money pit.

“I thought it was up to ten member chalets and one block of staff accommodation,” I reply.

“That’s the mostlikelyscenario. You asked for worst case. But I don’t think it will come to that. We’re beefing up some of the storm defenses in the structures that aren’t completed. Our aim is for everything to be standing at the end of it.”

“You think some of the chalets with furnished interiors will go?” I ask. We’ve invested a lot of money into the soft furnishings. It’s going to be a huge setback if they get destroyed.

“I really doubt it. Less than a handful of shutters still need to be installed, and some of the outside generators still need to be connected. Most of that’s being done today. If everything goes to plan, completed chalets won’t sustain major storm damage. The contractors are working around the clock. Some of them will be staying in the second block of staff housing during the storm, to address emergencies should they arise.”

“How did you manage to persuade them to do that?”

“You’re paying them a lot of money.”

Money’s always the answer.

“You either pay to anticipate the damage now, or more to fix it later,” she adds.

“Right.” I refresh the storm-tracking app on my phone. TheSevere Thunderstorms and Possible Tornadosign is still flashing. “And it might not hit.”

“Absolutely. This could be a nasty storm even without the tornado. It’s January. We shouldn’t be having tornadoes at all, so there’s a lot… up in the air, if you excuse the pun.”

I hate the unpredictability of the weather here. In New York, it’s going to be cold as fuck in winter and meltingly hot in summer. You can depend on it and plan accordingly. It’s my inability to plan that’s a problem for me. I’m used to having a lot of responsibility. I’m used to there being a lot at stake. But it’s usually down to me whether I succeed. My businesses have never put people in harm’s way before. There’s an entire staff here who are at risk.

“The most important thing is to keep people safe,” I say.

“Hazel is dealing with that, as per the procedures. I believe everyone has to shelter in the main building. Which reminds me—are you going to ride out the storm up here with us or down in town?” Kathleen asks.

“I’ll be here,” I say. I don’t want anyone to think I’m not in this with them. There’s no telling whether the cabins will come off better or worse than the Club. It’s not like I’m trying to dodge danger.

And Rosey will be up here too. There’s no point in being down in the cabins by myself.

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