Risky Business (8 page)

Harper speared her fork in the air toward Allison. “I have a terrific bookkeeper. My friend, Presley.” She scrolled through her phone, then wrote a phone number on a scrap paper from her purse. “Presley would do a great job. I hope you really do call her.”

“Thank you. I will.” She hesitated, then plunged ahead with the question that had been nagging her since Harper's arrival. “Why are you being so nice to me? Don't get me wrong, I'm grateful for it because I could use a friend, but Theo thinks I'm here to ruin his life, and I figured his friends would side with him.”

Harper smiled broadly and looked at Allison as though studying her.

“What?” Allison asked.

“It's good that you're here. I mean, I'm not going to lie, I was skeptical. I care about Theo. All his friends do. We're frustrated that he was denied the chance to buy Cloud Nine because he wanted it so badly, and he'd been working toward that goal for a long time, but if he can't have the business, then I'm glad ownership of Cloud Nine went to someone who's going to care about it as much as he does. And I can tell that you will.”

Guilt twisted her stomach into knots. She didn't care about Cloud Nine, specifically, not yet. At this point, her motivation was purely mercenary—she needed to make a living and this was her best bet. It had nothing to do with a love of Cloud Nine or Destiny Falls, necessarily, as evidenced in that she was still cursing the fact that her livelihood was going to depend on boats and water, of all the goddamn things.

It hurt that her having financial security meant denying a man his dream, even if he was an ass. It bothered her a lot because she couldn't see a way around it that didn't compromise her financial future. But, despite the fact that her motives weren't as pure as Theo's, the result was the same because she had so much more at stake than he did.

“I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure Cloud Nine stays running smoothly. I want it to thrive.”

“It has that potential. I've seen success in boat rental companies like it in other towns along the canal, but Theo's hands have been tied as far as how much he could do to take it to the next level as a business. Cloud Nine has only been limping along. No offense intended on your ex-husband.”

“No offense taken. In fact, if you ask me, the words ‘limp' and ‘Lowell' belong together permanently.”

They shared a chuckle, then Harper stood.

“I have to get back to Locks, but let's carve out some time later this week to get together and talk business strategy. For now, here's my first piece of advice. Get to know the town and what makes it tick. Immerse yourself in the community in a genuine way and you'll be surprised at the results.”

“Any tips on where to start with that?”

Harper considered it for a minute, then her eyes lit up and she snapped her fingers. “Got it. If you want to see the heart and soul of this town, and ingratiate yourself to Duke and his construction crew, then come to Thursday night's hockey game with me. Duke's their coach and all the guys who work for him play on the team.”

Allison knew more about ice hockey than most other sports. Besides the frequent Sabres tickets bestowed to Lowell on the down low by his friend Leonard Karevko, a local lobbyist who was one of his poker buddies—or strip club buddies, as it turned out—Lowell had played men's league for a few years after they first got together. Silly, lovesick girl that she'd been, she'd thought Lowell looked cute in the uniform, buff, even, with all that padding on.

She tried to picture Will, with his prosthetic hand, holding a hockey stick, and Liam, with the storm cloud he walked around in, working with others as a team. “The men working with Duke on Cloud Nine play hockey?”

“Yep. Men's league.”

“In Buffalo, we call that the Beer League.”

Harper nodded. “We take our hockey more seriously than that, though game nights usually end with copious amounts of beer. Come with me on Thursday and you'll get a sense of what I mean. Plus, I think it'd be good for you to see Theo in his natural environment.”

She nearly choked on her tea. “Theo plays, too?”

Of course he did. He was Canadian.

A sly smile spread on Harper's lips, like she was aware of the reason the idea of Theo playing ice hockey rattled Allison. “He's our number one scorer and number two for assists.”

In the beer league Lowell had played in, nobody bothered to keep stats like that. They were lucky if anyone had the wherewithal to keep track of the clock.

She tried to picture Theo in a hockey uniform like Lowell had worn, tried to imagine what all those actual muscles would look like swathed in padding and a jersey. She bet he was aggressive on the ice. Aggressive and graceful, like the pros were. A wicked, delicious, low burn flamed to life inside her at the image. Not cool.

Going to the game would be a perfect way to help the townspeople of Destiny Falls see Allison as one of them and let her start making business connections. But the free pass to openly stare at Theo Lacroix for a two-plus-hours display of masculine prowess was a recipe for disaster. Like she needed it to be any harder to ignore her totally inappropriate, unwelcomed attraction to him.

“I don't think that's the best idea. Not yet, anyway. I still haven't finished unpacking and the list of things to do for the business keeps on growing.” A harmless white lie. All her possessions that needed unpacking weren't arriving till Saturday, and she didn't have a list of things to do for the business because she had no idea what she was doing and couldn't find any paperwork.

“Oh, come on. You can save your unpacking for the first big blizzard. This'll be fun. I'm the scorekeeper and you can sit with me in the official's box, which is the best view in the rink. And you'll want a good view because our men all look pretty damn fine in their hockey gear.”

Terrific.

“I'll think about it.”

Harper embraced her. “You know where to find me when you make up your mind. And if you don't feel like cooking tonight, I serve a mean beef stew that chases away the cold weather.”

Life would definitely be easier if she made use of having a tavern near enough that she didn't have to worry about cooking her own meals. Allison did a quick mental review of her bank account. Canned tomato soup and grilled cheese it was.

“Thank you. For everything.”

Harper paused at the back door, her eyes going toward the canal. Allison followed her line of sight to Theo, who was bent over on the bow of a boat, tinkering with something. There was a distinct moment of silence in the office as both women admired the view of his backside.

He must have sensed their eyes on him because he looked over his shoulder and scowled at them. Allison averted her eyes, her cheeks heating at being caught in the act. Harper, on the other hand, waved merrily.

“Don't let him get to you,” she said out of the corner of her mouth.

“He hates me.” Damn it. She hadn't meant to blurt that out. At least she hadn't sounded upset or frustrated, but even keeled, like she was simply stating a fact.

“He hates everybody. Or at least he wants us all to believe he does. I'll tell you the trick to dealing with him.”

Allison arched a brow, all ears for the advice.

“Just imagine that Theo's every scowl or growl is his way of showing you he cares. Like in the movie
The Princess Bride
.”

That was the looniest thing Allison had heard in a while. She tried not to let her skepticism show on her face, but it must have because Harper was quick to add, “No, really, it's actually true because if he didn't care—like he wants us all to believe—then he wouldn't bother being so insistent about not caring about us all or Cloud Nine. He'd walk away.”

Up until that moment, Allison's greatest fear had been failing as a business owner. The idea of trying to run Cloud Nine if Theo walked away was unthinkable. He might not have walked away yet, but he still could. And then what would Allison do? She drew a steadying breath to push away the panic threatening to take hold of her. If that happened then she'd be okay. No matter what, she was going to be okay. Because she was in control of her destiny now, not Lowell or Theo or the creditors, lawyers, or even the devil on her shoulder that told her this was impossible and she was doomed to fail. Just Allison.

And she was going to keep telling herself that until she believed it.

Harper squeezed her hand. “What I'm trying to say is don't let him get under your skin.”

Too late. She darted another glance at him. Despite the windchill, he'd shed his jacket and squatted on the deck in a short-sleeve T-shirt, using a power drill to bolt a board over the electrical panel he'd been working on. She gave some serious consideration to his biceps, then blinked away, shaking her head. “I'll give it my best try.”

Harper was grinning. “Oh, I didn't say you shouldn't enjoy the view. We might be smart, strong businesswomen, but we're not robots.”

“I think this would be easier if I were.”

Harper hugged her. “Hang in there until Thursday, then come to the game with me. Think of it as a carrot for getting through this first week.”

After seeing Harper out, she returned to the kitchen and arranged the hot wings on a nice plate. Harper had known Theo for a long time, and if she thought food offering would help Allison smooth things over, then she could swallow her pride and deliver his lunch. After a moment's hesitation, she grabbed a beer from the fridge that she'd stocked the weekend before for Duke and his crew.

When she emerged, Theo was back to working on the boat's engine. Standing as close to the edge of the canal as she could without awakening her panic, she called his name, but he didn't seem to hear her, just like earlier when it was obvious he was ignoring her. She shouted his name louder, but got no response.

She hated being ignored. Hated it with a passion. This ended now. As a matter of principle, she was going to stand there holding that plate of hot wings for as long as it took for him to acknowledge her, even if all she did was drop them in the water when he finally caved and looked her way.

After a while, the music shut off. He looked over his shoulder, saw her, and called something harsh to her in French. With a shake of his head, he added, “You're staring at me. What do you want?”

She tried to do as Harper suggested. This was his way of telling her he cared. He was really a nice guy putting on a surly show. Rather than escalate the situation by responding in kind, perhaps it was time to extend an olive branch instead of a middle finger. “Harper stopped by. She brought you hot wings.”

“I'm not hungry.”

Deep breath. She was going to give this one more try before she gave up. “She said you play hockey.”

“She shouldn't have, because it's none of your business.”

So much for that. She marched forward, as near to the edge of the canal as she could handle. “I'm trying to make conversation.”

“About my personal life? Not going to happen.”

Oh, this man. She took another step nearer to the edge. “She invited me to your game on Thursday.”

“Then consider yourself uninvited.”

Feeling the proverbial smoke coming out of her ears, she marched down the stairs, plate and beer in her hands. The nearness of the water made her dizzy so she kept her attention solely on Theo. “You don't own Lanette.”

She hadn't meant to blurt that out, but he made her mad enough that she could spit.

His expression hardened even more, which she hadn't thought possible. “No.”

“You don't pay rent on it, either.” That time, she meant to push his buttons. She'd never even considered charging him rent and had no plans to, but he had an edge over her in every other way, holding information about the business hostage and thereby leaving her to drown as a business owner. Like he was orchestrating everything to ensure that his prophecy of her failing came true. This was all she could think to do to hit him in his weak spot.

He pushed up from the crouch he'd been in and wiped a rag over his hands, irritation flashing in his eyes. “Are you accusing me of freeloading? Because I made the offer to buy her more than once to your dear, sweet husband, and he refused.”

“Number one: Lowell isn't sweet or a dear, and he's definitely not my husband anymore. Two: I'm not accusing you of anything.
Freeloader
was your word, not mine. And three: why would Lowell refuse? Lanette is your home and he had nothing to gain keeping the boat unless there's something you're not telling me.”

The way he smirked made her think she was right and there was more to the story than he was going to share. Sure enough, he answered, “You'll have to ask Lowell about that.”

She was so over the idea of going to the prison to talk to Lowell ever again. Been there, done that. And she'd vowed to spare herself from the ordeal and stress of listening to him plead for her to take him back, or of waiting for him to ask about Katie, though he never did.

“I will,” she bluffed.

“Are you going to sell Lanette to me?”

There was challenge in his voice. Distrust, too. She held the deed to his home and, even though she'd openly admitted that Lanette should be his, clearly he didn't expect her to do the right thing and hand it over to him.

The assumption made her feel like a villain. Already, she was holding it over his head, using it as a weapon to lash out at him today. Right then and there, even though it meant giving up the most sure-fire leverage she had, she decided to transfer Lanette's ownership to him. It was the right thing to do, and that had to count for something, if only karmically.

But that didn't mean she had to hand over the deed that very moment, while he was being so rude and unhelpful. He deserved to sweat it out if only because he'd refused to help her acclimate at Cloud Nine and Destiny Falls in any way. Even this small conversation got her back up enough that there was no way she'd lie down like a rug and let him stomp all over her.