Page 21 of The Mistakes I've Made
I was to stand down.
Dean was the town leader. I was just the business owner, ready to be led.
“And one more thing,” he said, looking up at me for the first time in what seemed like ages.
“Anything,” I answered.
“Make me the biggest damn omelet you can fit in the pan. I’m starving.”
I let out a laugh, grateful for the break in tension. “Sure thing, brother. Happy to help.”
And I was.
I was always happy to help.
Because this was my home and the life that went with it.
“Piper, I was literally shaking the entire time,” I said as I paced my room after recounting the dinner that never happened with Taylor Sutherland.
“Man, one day away, and I already don’t recognize you. Are you sure you didn’t inherit more than your daddy’s blue eyes? After hearing how you made that townie your bitch, I’d almost believe you got his mean streak, too.”
I let out a laugh, remembering how angry Taylor had been when I finally got him to admit who owned that miserable excuse for a hotel. I’d watched as his chest heaved and his eyes hardened in response to my demand. Just recalling it now, I found myself biting my lip to keep from giggling like a besotted schoolgirl.
It had all been a little terrifying. And incredibly thrilling.
Who knew I could be such a ballbuster?
It was too bad he was strictly off-limits because that man was hot.
Likesend out the fire trucks because we’ve got a scorcherkind of hot. And it wasn’t the typical gym-rat hot I was used to, growing up on the beaches of Waikiki. No, his toned physique was thanks to years of hard labor, and it showed.
Yes, it was a damn shame he was on the opposite side of the line that seemed to have been created by the townspeople.
“So, it wasn’t the welcome you were hoping for, huh?” Piper asked as I stood by the window of my beautifully decorated room.
It was sort of a shabby chic with buttery-yellow walls and a soft quilt adorning the bed. It made me feel at home even though I knew I was anything but.
“No, not exactly. But it’s just a minor hitch in the road.”
“You call the entire town bickering about you behind your back a minor hitch?”
I shrugged, taking in the picturesque view of the bay. “They can voice their opinions, but what I do to my property is really my choice, isn’t it?”
“I guess, but don’t you care about what they think at all? It is, after all, their town.”
I let out a solid breath. “Of course I care; I’m not made of stone.”
“Okay, good. Just checking to make sure you didn’t change completely since I last saw you. I’ve just been a little concerned, you know, since you basically committed a felony to get this gig.”
I shook my head. “Hacking into the company system—my company, by the way—is hardly a felony.”
“Let’s see how your dad feels about it.”
My stomach did that little flip-flop thing that it tended to do whenever I’d done something wrong. Like when I’d cheated on my spelling test back in second grade by glancing at Sarah Smith’s paper for the correct spelling of the wordpineapple. Afterward, I could never look at that particular fruit without feeling a little guilty.
“How long do you think I have?” I asked. “Until shit hits the fan?”
“I don’t know, Lani,” she said, a note of hesitation in her voice. “But you’d better be ready when it does.”
