Page 11 of The Cowboy and the Bombshell
Putting on a brave face, I turned to Toby with the biggest smile I could muster. “Thank you, Toby, for everything. I appreciate all you did for me today.”
He stood and offered me his hand. Feeling obligated to take it even though I was perfectly capable of standing on my own, I released him as quickly as I could, turning from the table and gathering my things.
“I would be happy to continue this discussion, say over dinner, perhaps?”
My stomach clenched. Oh, boy. This was the last thing I needed to deal with right now. Holding on to my smile, I turned to him and said, “Thank you, Toby, but I am afraid I am going to decline. I have so much to do to get ready for Wednesday, and the airline lost my luggage so I have to deal with that as well.” I hoped he would take the hint.
“Of course, maybe some other time, then?”
“Maybe,” I said carefully.
He walked with me back to the bank of elevators, where he pushed the button and we waited in uncomfortable silence. Just as the doors opened, I heard my named being called and turned to see Moira walking toward me.
“You go ahead, Toby. I should see what she wants.”
He frowned slightly. “If you’re sure.”
“Yes,” I said quickly. “I am. Quite sure. Thanks again.” And I turned to leave him standing in the elevator, his face confused as the doors closed on him.
I followed Moira to her desk across the foyer where she began to pile things on top, listing them as she went.
“Laptop, company phone with directory already loaded, marketing budget manual, and finally, the keys to the house in Summerlin South.” She looked at me with a smile, her manner completely different from when I had first encountered her. “I figured since the rest of your package hadn’t arrived, you would be missing these things as well. Turns out, after some digging, Angelique sent everything here instead of your home in New York. One might wonder if she did that on purpose, don’t you think?”
My suspicions confirmed, I smiled back. “One just might, Moira.”
I loaded what I could into my purse and carry on, eager to get to the house and have a shower. I had no idea what I was going to do about clothes, though. Turning to the elevator, Moira called me back again. “Miss Lund? If you’ll just write down your sizes, I will have some things sent over to the house for you to hold you over until your luggage arrives. On Mr. Pennington, of course. It’s the least he can do to make up for Angelique’s…mistake.”
My heart clenched at her thoughtfulness, and I had to blink to keep the tears at bay. I wrote the information down on the paper she provided, thanking her again, then asking, “Um, Moira? How did you know that my luggage had gone missing?”
“Mr. Montgomery mentioned it on his way out,” she said easily, like the words weren’t the most shocking thing I’d heard all day. “He said he had noticed you at the lost luggage counter while he was in the airport himself.”
I thought about what she was saying, but decided I needed to file that away for processing later. For now, I just needed to get out of my dirty clothes and get my head back on straight.
“I am here for you, Miss Lund,” Moira said with a gentle hand on my arm. “Don’t let these sharks get to you. They can smell your fear, you know?”
So, with new resolve I made my way back down through the building and out to the front of the property, climbing into yet another cab, and headed to Summerlin South.
A hot bath and a quiet night would do me a lot of good.
CHAPTER FIVE
Stone
The hot water rolled down my back, trying to release the tension in my shoulders and doing a shit job of it.
Today could not have gone worse if I tried. I told myself I was going to try to rein in my attitude, to not be a jerk to my new staff, and then she walked in and everything went to hell.
I didn’t know what it is about her that riled me up. She really didn’t do anything wrong. I knew the whole coffee thing was an accident. But when she stood there gaping at me like a freaking goldfish, I just snapped.
It had been this way for a while; my anger like a rabid dog, barely held back by the pitiful leash I try to keep it on. The only person safe from my wrath is my mother.
Turning off the shower and snagging the towel I brought in with me, I quickly dried off and slid on a fresh pair of jeans, leaving my suitcase to unpack later. Harold insisting I used his personal house was more than a bit awkward. I hadn’t spent any time at a property he owned outside of the hotels. Staying in the same home he built for his other family made my hackles rise. I wanted to hate the place on principle.
As I headed down stairs, I thought again of the walking beautiful disaster that is Miss Penelope Lund. When Harold said he was sending someone from his New York marketing team, I pictured someone more like Ava Carlisle; slick, manipulative, willing to do anything to get ahead. I hadn’t anticipated the gorgeous and delicate Penelope to be who walked through the door.
Yes, she was definitely gorgeous, with her golden hair and big blue eyes, even the coffee stain couldn’t distract from the fact that under that dirty shirt was a body to die for. It was just a shame she had to be from New York.
My prejudice against New Yorkers wasn’t unfounded. After all, people from New York had been ruining my family since before I was born. First Harold, then his awful socialite wife, Dierdre, and her ghastly daughter, Constance. Whenever I would make an attempt to connect with Harold as a child, whether on the phone or when he would bring my half-sisters to Texas to try to make us a ‘family’, Constance never failed to remind me that he was her father, and I was just a mistake.
