Gold Fire (32 page)

“Well, that would work, except the money’s gone.” Ruth Ann sounded personally offended, like money just up and disappeared if you didn’t keep your eye on it. “A year’s lease on a yacht and a tropical island aren’t cheap, you know. Image costs, darling.”

Matt’s eyes met Zoe’s. She saw panic and a half second’s hope that she would turn off the speaker, which she met with placid disinterest.

He dropped the sweatshirts and threw himself over a large box, stumbling as he reached for his phone. David still stood frozen in shock as Zoe sat back and listened to Matt’s verbal scramble.

“Give me the name of the company you signed with, Mom. Yes, the yacht, too.” Zoe could no longer hear Ruth Ann’s end of the conversation, but had no trouble imagining the petulant tone. “Are there any other toys you haven’t told me about?” He was starting to sound more like a snotty little kid than an Ivy League–educated executive. “Well, you damn well better hope I can, or your accommodations will be a lot less pretty than your fancy new boat. What? When? Fuck! Hang on.”

He glared at Zoe. “Get out.”

She raised her eyebrows at his tone, but got up and left the office, figuring she should be applauded for not smiling. David hustled out behind her without being asked, yanking the door shut behind them. He swiped
at the perspiration on his forehead. “I think the resort’s in financial trouble.”

“I’d say that’s a safe bet.”

“Ruth Ann likes to buy things.” He wiped his palms on his hips, then repeated the motion as if the sweat wouldn’t stop coming. “She doesn’t have the best head for business, either. I’m not sure she stays within the letter of the law. This could be bad.”

She’d be surprised if Ruth Ann gave the law any thought at all. “David, do you know anything about what they’ve been doing at the Rusty Wire to pressure Jase?”

“No.” He wiped some more, darted a nervous look at her. “Not for sure.”

She blew out a long breath and prepared for the worst. “Let’s go have coffee.”

•  •  •

Zoe figured she could have waited until the next day, but what would be the point? Nothing would change except her bright flare of anger, which might fade a bit, and what would be the fun in that? Matt was here now and her temper was hot. No time like the present.

She strode into her office, getting a vicious glare from Matt as he looked up from the fax machine. “I need some privacy.”

“No problem.” She flapped a sheet of paper so he’d hear the rustle, then set it on his desk. “There’s your privacy.”

He looked annoyed, then kicked a couple of boxes as he squeezed between them to retrieve the paper. It took three seconds for his head to jerk up and his brows to slam down. “What the fuck is this?”

“Exactly what it says. My resignation.”

“You’re required to give four weeks’ notice, not two.”

Two had seemed bad enough. There was no way she’d be able to take another month of working with Matt. “I guess I broke the rules. There’s a lot of that going around.”

He dropped the paper. “Are you implying the Alpine Sky did something illegal? If so, you’d better be able to back that up.”

She dearly wished she could, but David had only known what Ruth Ann told him. “You were smart enough not to leave a paper trail, but we both know you’re responsible for everything that’s happened to the Rusty Wire. The ironic part is, if Jase agreed to sell you his land tomorrow, you probably couldn’t buy it. Your spending got ahead of your greed, didn’t it?”

“You don’t know half of what you think you know.” His lips smiled, but his eyes remained cold. “The financing for the golf course has been in place for a month. It’s a no-brainer for the bank, a guaranteed win for everyone—Garrett, us, the town. So you go right ahead and tell Garrett to agree to our offer. He’ll have his money tomorrow.”

She couldn’t tell if he was bluffing; his arrogance always came across as sincerity. Or maybe he sincerely believed his lies. Either way, she didn’t want her name associated with his resort. And she knew Jase’s answer without asking.

“Sorry, it’s a moot point. He’s not selling.”

He raked her with a cool look. “I see where your loyalties lie. Are you fucking him, too?”

She glared. “Go to hell.”

Tension crackled between them, prickling her skin
like the heavy air before a thunderstorm. “Pack up your things,” he ordered. “You’re leaving now.”

She smiled, baring gritted teeth. “Maintenance is already on its way with a box.” She hadn’t expected him to wait out the two weeks. Her only regret was losing two weeks’ pay. The money would have come in handy while she looked for another job.

He hit a button on his phone. “Diane, call security to escort Ms. Larkin out.” His eyes narrowed and his mouth set in a hard line. “Don’t expect to get a good recommendation from the Alpine Sky.”

“A recommendation from you won’t mean much pretty soon. I’m better off without one.” It felt good to toss it in his face.

She just hoped it was true. Otherwise she was throwing away her dream career based on nothing more than suspicion and hearsay.

At least she was protecting her reputation. When all Matt’s shaky financial deals collapsed, her name wouldn’t be part of it.

•  •  •

Jase spotted the headlights through the trees from the elevated vantage point of his porch, and watched her pull up to the house. Building on a steep rise had put his front door a full story above the driveway at the top of a curving stone stairway. Small ground-level lights lit the way. He figured by the time he was seventy he probably wouldn’t want to climb all those steps, but for now the effort was worth the view. Looking over treetops into the vast mountain sky always made him sigh with contentment.

It was a good place to wait for Zoe. The lights were on in the house behind him, but he’d left the front
porch in darkness to better see the stars and feel part of the night. She probably couldn’t see him on the glider.

For a moment she was visible in the light of her open car door, then she slammed it shut and became little more than a shadow. He wouldn’t have needed that moment of light to recognize her. The outline of her body, the way she moved were imprinted on his mind. At some subconscious level he knew her walk, recognized the smooth curve of her back from shoulders to waist, the sway of her hips, the tilt of her head. They were as familiar to him as if he’d known her for years.

Shoes clicked softly on stone. A quick gait, energetic and light, not the trudging step someone might have at the end of a workday. He doubted Zoe ever trudged.

She reached the porch but hadn’t seen him off to the side on the glider. “Hey,” he called softly. “You’re home early.”

She turned, already smiling. Setting down a box and her purse, she came to him, settling onto the cushion beside him. “By a couple of hours. Should I have called first?”

“Don’t be ridiculous.” She hadn’t moved in with him, but only because it seemed too soon to ask her. She’d been there every night, anyway, an island of happiness in a frustrating week.

He slipped his arm around her and tilted her chin up for a kiss. She curled her hand around his neck, let her lips linger on his, then cuddled against him with a sigh.

“Tough night at the office?”

“It probably should feel like it, but no. More like
satisfying.” She toed off her shoes and curled her legs onto the glider. “I quit my job.”

He pulled back so he could see her face. “You what?”

“Quit. I gave two weeks’ notice, but Matt chose to kick me out on the spot. All my stuff’s in that box. He was probably right to do it. If I’d stayed I would have been searching for evidence to use against him. Now all I have is David’s accusation that Ruth Ann said Matt was behind it all.”

That wasn’t news to him. “That’s why you quit?”

“He made me a part of it, using me as a dupe to make him look innocent.”

“He never looked innocent to me.”

She smiled. “You just didn’t like him because he was coming on to me.”

“Sweetheart, I wanted to
kill him
because he was coming on to you. I didn’t trust him because he’s the kind of guy who will say what you want to hear, and steamroll over you if you get in his way.”

“You’re right, and I wish I’d seen it sooner.”

He didn’t say anything because he wished she’d seen it sooner, too, and didn’t like to think of her being with Matt.

Dancing with him.

Kissing him.

And when they were alone, maybe doing more than that. He wouldn’t blame her for falling for a slick come-on from a guy who fit every requirement on that stupid list of hers. But he could blame Matt. The thought of him putting his hands on her, undressing her, making love to her . . . His body went rigid with anger and he imagined tearing the guy limb from limb. For a start.

Zoe stroked her hand over the bunched muscles in his arm. “I never slept with him.”

He closed his eyes and released a long breath before saying, “I’m not judging.”

“I know, but I’m saying. I didn’t.”

“Okay.” He figured it was the enlightened response. It didn’t stop a smug, fist-pumping “Yes!” in his mind.

“There’s something else.” She tilted her face up to look at him. “Jase, I think Matt is pushing this golf course harder than we knew. I heard part of a conversation between him and his mother today. It sounds like they might have falsified documents or bribed people, something that made it look like they already owned your land, and got Kyle Russerman to put a chunk of money into the golf course. He must have become suspicious and now he wants his money back, but Ruth Ann has already spent it.”

“Christ, what arrogant asses. I hope to hell he sues them. But, babe,” he said, and waited for her to look at him, “this is why I wanted you far away from the Alpine Sky.”

“I know. But I was never involved in the financial side, so they can’t hurt me.”

He squeezed her tighter, hoping to hell she was right. “Good.”

They sat quietly, listening to the whisper of aspen leaves in the breeze. Zoe snuggled against him, warm and soft, smelling vaguely of the sunscreen she’d applied earlier that day. Sunscreen
he’d
applied, taking it out of her hands so he could stroke lotion over her neck and rub it inside the V-neck of her knit top. He’d taken his time, feeling the need to kiss various parts of her first, until her purring, arching response led to the
need to shed his own clothes and carry her to bed. The sunscreen had been abandoned in favor of massage oil that was applied with maddeningly slow strokes in intimate places. When neither could take any more, they tossed the oil to the floor and plunged into a slick, desperate finish.

The memory, tripped by nothing more than scent, had him burying his face against her neck, inhaling deeply. The smell of sunscreen made him hard, a reaction that might have disadvantages in the future, but that he couldn’t find any problem with at the moment.

Reaching down, he flipped the lever that locked the glider in place, then shifted so she was reclining next to him. A tight fit, but workable. He slid his hand up to cup her breast, and she arched into it. Rubbing his thumb over the tip, he nuzzled her ear. “Do you realize that until the Rusty Wire reopens we’re both unemployed?”

“Mmm. I guess we are. I like the way you do that.”

“We’ll have to find a way to fill our time.”

Her hand slipped down to his zipper, finding the hard ridge beneath it and rubbing along its length. “We could get together. Work on some ideas.”

“I like the one you’re working on right now.”

She kissed him, lips soft and mobile, tongue sliding sensuously over his. “It has variations. I could make a list.”

“You do that.” He eased his hand beneath her skirt and up her thigh, watching her eyes.

“We should . . .” Her playful smile went slack and her eyes lost focus. “That feels so good . . .” A small groan escaped her throat. “Oh, God . . .” Her voice died on a whimper.

Right there, he thought. That was the moment he waited for each time they made love, when the part of her that made plans and lists was swamped by a tidal wave of pure
feeling
. Seeing her lost in bliss, knowing he was the cause, was as arousing as the hand that opened his zipper and gripped him inside his jeans.

More. Giving a woman pleasure had never outweighed taking his own, until Zoe. The blurry, dazed look he put in her eyes touched something deep inside him. Driving her up, watching her come apart, was nearly enough to send him over the edge with her. Slipping inside her to do it again took every ounce of control he had to keep from ending too soon.

The shuddering breath she took told him she was nearly there. She reached for him blindly, grabbed his shoulder, bunching his shirt in a desperate grip. “Oh my God, Jase . . .” She ended in a gasp as her body clamped around his fingers. He moved his hand, letting her ride it out until her muscles relaxed and she gave a long sigh.

He kissed her, then pulled down the panties he’d been pushing aside, sliding them all the way off. She sat halfway up as he did, leaning on one elbow while working his pants open enough to pull his erection free. He groaned as she fondled the tip, then slid her hand up and down. The desire to bury himself inside her became a whole lot more urgent.

“Jase,” she murmured as she lowered her head. The warm, wet feel of her mouth was an erotic punch to the gut. “This glider isn’t going to work.”

She was right, but the building pressure in his groin meant he wasn’t about to walk all the way to the bedroom. There might be better alternatives, but he wasn’t
up for pondering them. The hell with it. He slid onto the floor and took her hand.

She grinned at him slowly as she got up. Straddling his hips, she raised her skirt as she lowered her body, until the skirt was bunched at her waist and her body locked tightly to his. She rocked gently, closing her eyes and humming with satisfaction.

Pure lust shot through him. Only one thing kept it short of perfection, and he reached for the buttons on her blouse to remedy it. “Sweetheart, I’ve got a thing for you in a suit, but this feels too much like a desk clerk providing naughty room service.”