Deciding on the deep yellow off-the-shoulder flowing dress, she wrapped her black belt around her waist, found her favorite black cardigan and purse, and decided not to second-guess herself.
She still had so many things to do on her list, including moving out of the west building and into the east building until the new fire system could be installed. She would have to make time for it soon.
When the elevator swung open, her cousin was standing there, as if waiting for her.
“Going somewhere?” Liza’s eyes moved up and down her.
“Out,” she said and started to pass her. Liza moved in front of her and blocked her completely.
“With?” Liza asked, her eyes locking with her own.
“Not that it’s any of your business,” Raven began just as Cade turned the corner.
“There you are,” he said with a smile. “Ready?” His eyes moved to Liza and he gave her a quick nod before taking Raven’s hand in his.
“Seriously?” Liza called after them.
“Just keep walking,” Cade said between clenched teeth.
“Is there a problem between you and my cousin?” she asked once they’d stepped outside.
He turned to glance at her, then stopped. “You look beautiful,” he said with a smile.
“Changing the subject?”
He took her hand and started walking towards a parked car.
“That I know of, there is nothing between me and your cousin. Either of them,” he added with a wink. “Liza did, however, make me an offer before you and Cal stopped by the lunch table.”
“Oh?” she asked as he opened the car door. “What kind of offer?”
He shrugged. “The usual kind, I suppose. She wondered why we hadn’t… done it,” he finished with a smile.
“Seriously?” Raven asked, a little appalled. He chuckled as an answer. “Why haven’t you?”
He rolled his eyes and took a step closer to her, and she felt the air in her lungs back up.
“Because she is not my type,” he said just under his breath.
“What is your type?” she asked before thinking about it.
His eyes moved to her lips quickly, then back to her eyes.
“I think you know that answer.” His hand moved to her waist. Just feeling him touching her, holding her with just one hand, made her knees go weak.
Before she made a fool of herself, she climbed into the car and watched him move around to get behind the wheel.
“I thought you had a truck?” she asked as he started to drive.
“I do, a work truck. This is my personal car.”
They rode in silence for a while. She was so nervous, and she suddenly realized she hadn’t even thought of a few topics to talk with him about.
When she’d dated Reggie, there hadn’t been a lot of talking. It was high school and, well, theirs was a more physical kind of thing.
She glanced sideways at him and hoped that he would start talking about something.
“Did you get everyone moved out of the west building?” he asked as he turned onto the highway.
“There isn’t anyone in it at the moment. Except me.”
He glanced over at her. “You’re staying in the west building?”
“Yes, it’s the newer building. I thought it would need the least amount of work.” She sighed. “I was wrong.”
“Oh?” he asked.
“My list says otherwise. It’s as if my uncle didn’t do any maintenance on the west side at all.” She relaxed back. She could easily talk about work. After all, it consumed her every waking thought and some of her thoughts while sleeping. Well, when she wasn’t dreaming of Cade or running from a fire.
“You grew quiet,” he said, breaking the silence.
She hadn’t realized she’d retreated into her thoughts.
“Sorry.” She cleared her mind. “Where are we going?”
“There’s an Italian restaurant just on the outskirts of Azalea. They have some really great meatballs, and their breadsticks are to die for.” He grinned.
“So, you like Italian.” She shifted slightly and held up her fingers. “Own a dog named Blue, work as the fire marshal, drive a used… Is this a Jeep?”
“Yes. I’m hoping to trade it in for a real Jeep, not a Cherokee. But she gets me around all year long, so I’ve held onto her.” He patted the steering wheel.
She smiled. “Is there anything else I should know about you?”
“Nope, that’s it. Oh, I like having tea and cookies with my mom or my gran.” He shrugged. “Gran’s mother came over from England and teatime sort of became a family tradition and stuck.” He turned towards her. “What about you?”
“Me?” Her stomach dropped. “There’s nothing really to tell.” She instantly wished she hadn’t asked him about himself.
“You moved in with your grandmother just before your senior year. You graduated from?” he let the question hang in the air.
“South San Diego High.”
“College?”
“University of California in San Diego.”
“For how long? What’d you major in?”
“Seven years. I kept switching majors,” she admitted. “But my central focus was business.”
“From what I’ve seen, you’re pretty good at it.” He glanced at her.
“That remains to be seen. I haven’t even had time to think about my marketing plan for this fall.” She shook her head.
“I think word of mouth has grown so much. I mean, everyone in town is talking about the changes that you’re making up there. People are excited to see what you’re doing.”
“I plan on having an open house, once everything is ready. Of course, we’ll be lucky if everything is done by the start of the season.”
“David and his men will get it done. I can’t tell you how much those men have been looking forward to working. Some of them have been scraping by since the big rebuild after the fire.”
“I’ve noticed they are eager to work,” she agreed. “The way things are going, I’ll have enough work to keep them busy for over a year.”
“Oh?” he glanced at her. “What else needs to be done?”
“Besides all the work I’m doing in the common areas like the bar, the dining room, and the pool house, I’m overhauling each of the guest rooms. Putting in new carpet everywhere, and in some cases, new tubs, toilets, and tile. When that’s all done, I’m thinking the kitchen might need an upgrade.” Her eyes grew unfocused as she thought about all of the changes she’d dreamed of. “I would like to add an outdoor dining area for the warmer months, to bring spring and summer clientele. Maybe add a few attractions for those months. Build up the outdoor pool area.” She closed her eyes and tried to plan out. “Make a beautiful area to rent out for weddings or larger events.”
“You know, back when I was in high school, a couple buddies and I took a weekend trip to Colorado. In the summer months, they host downhill bike races on the slopes,” he said.
She turned to him. “Like, extreme sports kind of stuff?”
“Sure. We found out about it and went to see it ourselves. There were more than three thousand people there just to watch a bunch of grown men going downhill and falling off bikes.” He chuckled.