“No worries. I promise to leave you alone.”
“Thanks,” he said with a small chuckle. “I know I’m partially responsible, but…”
“Really, Austin. It’s okay. From here on out, we’ve got this.” Then she laughed softly. “Well, I’ve got this. I really can’t speak for Ryder.”
“He’ll get the same mini-speech if he calls me about anything related to you, so again…you sure you want to work with him?”
Peyton wished the answer were cut-and-dried, but her cousin didn’t need to know that. “I’m sure. I think it’s going to be a challenge, but it will also be a fantastic learning experience.”
“I’m not so sure Ryder’s the guy to be teaching you anything about the restaurant business. If anything, you’ll be teaching him,” he mused. “You’ve worked wonders with both places, Pey, and he’s just dipping his toes into this sort of thing for the first time.”
“So what are you saying?”
“I’m just saying…you’ve got a good head on your shoulders and you’ve got great instincts. Don’t let anyone make you second-guess yourself. I hate the way he beat you out on the property, but…in time, I truly believe you’ll do something even better.”
It was probably the sweetest thing he’d ever said to her, and if she were in the same room as him, she’d hug him. “Thanks, Austin,” she said quietly. “I appreciate that.”
In the background, she heard voices before Austin told her he had to go. With another round of thanks and promises to get together soon, they hung up.
Then she stared at Ryder’s number for a solid five minutes before she felt bold enough to make the call. Her fingers flew across the phone screen, and she held her breath until he answered.
“Ryder Ashford,” he said, his voice was low and a slightly rumbly and almost made Peyton want to hum with appreciation. “Hello?”
Oh, right…
“Ryder, it’s Peyton Bishop,” she said, feeling positive.
“Peyton…hello. This is…unexpected.” His tone was flat and she had a feeling he was frowning.
While his words and tone didn’t instill confidence in her, she also didn’t let it stop her. “Yes, well…you left before we could finish talking last night, and I’d very much like to continue our discussion. I was hoping you had an actual presentation for the resort and I think having a visual would certainly help me get a feel for what it is you’re looking to do.”
“Um…”
“Do you have time this afternoon? I’m free after two if that works for you.”
“I…I have a call at two, but…are you sure about this? After the way things went last night, I would have thought…”
“That we could both be adults and move past it?” she finished for him. “Because it seems to me like the timing was possibly off and maybe if we move into a more professional setting, we could try again. Would three o’clock work for you?” Her heart was racing with false bravado, and she hoped Ryder didn’t see–or hear–through it.
“I’m not sure.” He drew the phrase out and she knew he was trying to come up with a reason why they shouldn’t do this.
“Ryder, I think we’re both mature enough to realize what happened yesterday didn’t mean anything.” Her stomach flipped just thinking about the kiss, but she powered on. “And as for our disagreement over concept, well…maybe I judged things too soon. After all, I never let you finish telling me about it and I’d really appreciate the opportunity to hear the entire presentation. Surely you can spare me an hour for that.”
And once again, Peyton found herself holding her breath waiting for his reply.
“Four o’clock would be better,” he finally said. “Unless that cuts into your time at the café…?”
She knew what he was doing and did her best to hide her amusement. “Four is perfect. There’s plenty of coverage here at the café so they won’t miss me.”
“Oh, uh…okay. Then I guess I’ll see you at four.”
“Great!” she said, and then realized there was one bit of information she needed. “One last thing, Ryder.”
“Yes?”
“Where’s your office?”
“At my home,” he replied. “I’d offer the address but considering you were in my driveway last night, I figured you didn’t need it.”
Crap!
“Um…”
“See you at four, Peyton.”
As soon as she hung up the phone, she gently banged her head against the desk out of pure embarrassment. Maybe working with Ryder was a mistake. After all, how many times could she possibly keep making a spectacle of herself with him?
But as soon as the thought entered her head, she pushed it aside.
“As many times as it takes to get the job done.”
If there was one thing Ryder excelled at, it was doing his research to make sure he was always prepared.
But right now, he was completely unprepared for seeing Peyton again.
All night long he had cursed himself for his lack of control even as he kept reliving how incredibly satisfying kissing her was.
And how much he wanted to do it again.
Yeah, he was completely unprepared for this.
When he put his personal feelings aside, however, he had to admit that he admired her tenacity and the fact that she even reached out to him. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he figured last night was a one-and-done situation and the only time he’d ever see her again was at some sort of Coleman family event.
Which there were a lot of.
But now not only was he going to have to face her, but face her in his home. Her comment about meeting in a more professional setting wasn’t lost on him, and if he had been smart, he would have offered to meet her at the café or maybe some other neutral location. But it hadn’t registered with him until it was too late and now he was stuck trying to figure out the best way to handle this.
One of the bedrooms was set up as an office for him, but…the last thing he wanted to do was lead Peyton past any room with a bed. The living room was another option, but considering how that went last night, they should probably avoid that as well. That left the dining room table and if he tried, Ryder knew he could set it up like a conference room table and try really hard not to be hospitable or let the conversation get too personal.
“Surely I can handle that,” he murmured as he went about setting up his laptop. It took several minutes, but he printed out some reports before pulling up the PowerPoint presentation. Next, he placed two bottles of water on the table along with a couple of notepads and pens in case either of them wanted to go old-school and take notes.
Stepping back, he was pleased with the setup and knew the last thing he needed to do was grab a tie and his suit jacket. It was a childish thing to do; he knew that, but he was using it as a defense mechanism so she’d go back to seeing him as the uptight workaholic she originally saw him as.
He just hoped she took the same approach and dressed a bit more formally than last night’s yoga pants and tank top.
Well, maybe he didn’t hope she did that, but…he needed her to.