Czytaj książkę: «Dealmaker, Heartbreaker»

Chapter One

Three months later...

Noah downshifted and maneuvered onto the road leading to the Wickham Falls Bed and Breakfast. He’d completed the renderings for the homes, surrounded by age-old trees that he planned to build in the valley. The drawings included the retention of much of the natural plant life to blend harmoniously with the existing landscape.

He’d managed to keep busy since his last trip to the coal-mining region with a project in DC. It was the first time WDG had put up luxury condos in the capital city, and most of the units in the twelve-story high-rise were sold before completion. It had taken supreme willpower for Noah not to take a side trip to Wickham Falls with the hope that he would run into Viviana. There was something about her that made him less confident than he normally was around women. Even though he’d wanted to ask Giles about her, he’d decided it was best he not let his cousin know that his interest in Viviana Remington went beyond business.

Noah was definitely not a novice when it came to interacting with women.

Whether subtle or bold, he knew with a single glance whether or not to approach a woman to let her know that he was interested in her, but that hadn’t happened with Viviana. She’d met his eyes and then ignored him as if he did not exist. To say she had deflated his confidence was an understatement.

He had been tempted to ask Giles’s wife, Mya, about Viviana because she had grown up in Wickham Falls but then changed his mind once he realized he would have to return to wait for the town board to approve his building application. And when he’d informed Giles that he was coming to Wickham Falls for an extended stay, Giles had invited him to stay with him, his wife and toddler daughter, but Noah declined the invitation, preferring instead to live at the bed-and-breakfast to get to know Viviana better.

Again, Noah was overwhelmed with the natural splendor of the Mountain State. There were tree-covered mountains, lush valleys waterfalls, as well as rapids, lakes, rivers and primordial forest, which was nirvana for hunters and fishermen. He didn’t hunt, but he did fish. There was nothing more exciting to Noah than fishing off the side of a boat and catching dinner.

Viviana had said she’d needed to sell the land to make repairs to her home, and as Noah drove up the path leading to the magnificent mansion, his practiced eye immediately saw the changes. The house sported a new coat of paint; the black shutters framing tall energy-saving windows were also new. When he’d first come to the home that the locals called The Falls House, he recognized the design was modeled on architecture found in Barbados. He’d seen many island antebellum homes that were built on raised basements to catch the breeze, but it was odd to see the style in West Virginia where heat and humidity did not equal those areas farther south.

He slowed to less than five miles an hour when he saw a tall, slender man with a long, snow-white ponytail come out of the house with Viviana. With wide eyes, Noah stared at her as she embraced the man before he got into a late-model, gray pickup and started the engine. Maneuvering over to the side of the road, he let the man drive past him. Their eyes had met for a millisecond, yet it was long enough for Noah to surmise he was Viviana’s father. There was something about the man’s features that called to mind her brother Leland.

* * *

Viviana smiled when she saw Noah emerge from the racy silver sports car with New York plates. Her first impression of him having looked like a surfer was shattered completely with his transformation. The blond hair was fashionably barbered with a side part and heavy waves brushed off his forehead. She knew in a single glance that his charcoal-gray slacks had not come off a rack and his stark white shirt with a monogram on the left French cuff was also custom-made.

She had recommended Noah talk to her brother about how much he wanted for the sale of the land, and once Leland disclosed the amount Viviana hadn’t been able to say anything for several minutes. The Wainwright Developers Group had paid them more than three times the prevailing rate for land in a region where many people lived at or below the poverty line. Leland did not disclose the details of the negotiations between him, Giles, and Noah, and told her to use the money to make repairs and upgrade the house.

She smiled and extended her hand with Noah’s approach. He had called her the day before to inform her he had finished the blueprints for the homes he planned to build in the valley and would stay until the town council approved his prospectus.

“Welcome back to The Falls.”

Ignoring the proffered hand, Noah leaned over and kissed her cheek. “Thank you.”

Viviana’s eyes caressed his face, finding him even more attractive than when she’d first seen him. She normally didn’t attribute the word beautiful to a man, but Noah was just that. “If you’d come earlier I would have introduced you to my father.”

Noah’s eyes caressed her face. “Is he coming back?”

“No. He just drove down from Philadelphia to spend a few days with me. My father is a professional artist who has just been commissioned to paint a mural for the lobby of a major bank’s headquarters.”

“That’s impressive.”

She smiled. “I agree. As an architect I’m certain the two of you would’ve had a lot talk about when it comes to shapes and colors.” Mya Wainwright had disclosed, during Noah’s visit, that he was an architect and her husband an engineer and that they talked incessantly about buying, selling, designing and erecting buildings. “Please come in, and I’ll show you to the suite I’ve assigned to you.”

Noah hesitated. “If it’s all right with you, I’d rather stay in one of the guesthouses. I need the privacy to conduct business with my home office and potential clients. Will that be a problem?” he added when her jaw dropped.

“Oh no,” Viviana said quickly. When Noah alerted her about his arrival, she’d assigned him the largest suite of the five she had set aside for guests. “I have a vacancy in the second guesthouse. A writer, who insists on anonymity and is only known by his popular pseudonym, has taken up residence in the first one for the next two months while he claims he’s writing the sequel to one of his blockbuster novels.”

“If I don’t recognize him, then I don’t need to know who he is.”

Viviana nodded. Her reclusive guest had paid for the guesthouse two months in advance. He allowed housekeeping to come in to clean only twice a week while he went for a walk to gather his thoughts. Viviana thought it weird that he only ate freeze-dried prepackaged meals people purchased in the event of a catastrophic event that would destroy the country’s food supply. But, it did not matter how eccentric he was as long as he did not burn down the guesthouse.

“Come on in. I have to get your key card. It’s too late for breakfast, but if you want I can fix something for you to eat,” Viviana said over her shoulder as Noah followed her into the great room.

“Please don’t bother. I told Giles I would hang out with him and Mya later this afternoon. I’ll probably have dinner with them.”

“The last time I saw Lily she was talking up a storm.”

“That’s because she’s a Wainwright. When everyone gets together, if you don’t talk fast you won’t get a word in edgewise.”

Viviana walked into the room next to the parlor that she had set up as her office. She swiped a key card over the sensor and pushed open the door. The room was off-limits to everyone in the ten-bedroom house. Since the bed-and-breakfast had opened for business, she had hired a part-time cook, two part-time housekeepers and a landscape company to maintain the grounds.

She opened a desk drawer and removed two key cards and activated them. “I’m giving you two in case you misplace one.”

Noah took the cards and handed her a credit card. “I don’t know how long I’m staying, but put all of the charges on this card.”

Viviana stared at the black card as if it was a venomous snake. She shook her head. “I’m not going to take that.”

“Why not?”

She glared at him. “Because I’m not going to take any more money from you, that’s why.”

Noah’s eyes flashed with glints of anger. “You’re right when you say that your brother handles the finances. How do expect to run a viable business when you let folks lay up for free?”

Viviana felt as if he’d given her a stinging slap across the face as she recoiled from his acerbic taunt. She closed her eyes and counted slowly until she felt her anger subside and could say what was on her mind without regretting what she actually wanted to tell him.

“When I told you to talk to Leland about buying the land, I didn’t think you would pay us more than the prevailing rate for land around here, and that means I’m not going to take advantage of you. Now that you own my land I consider you a business partner, and that means extending certain privileges. You can stay in the guesthouse without me charging you, or you can go and live with your cousin. If you decide not to stay, then give me the key cards and get back in your fancy little sports car and drive away.”

* * *

Noah looked at Viviana as if she had taken leave of her senses, and he wanted to tell her he wasn’t her ex looking to fleece her. The rise and fall of her breasts under a white blouse and the slight flaring of her delicate nostrils told him she wasn’t just annoyed but angry. All he wanted to do was pay her for living in the guesthouse, and she’d gone off on him.

At that point he did not want to do or say anything that would drive a wedge between them. It was apparent he had underestimated Viviana. She had come at him like a cat he’d once seen that’d had a litter of kittens. The one time he tried picking up one of the kittens, the queen sprang and dug her claws into the back of his hand until he let go of her baby.

“Okay, you win,” he said after an uneasy silence.

“It’s not about winning and losing,” Viviana retorted. “It’s about what is right and wrong.”

Noah threw up a hand in exasperation. “You’re right, Viviana.”

“Please don’t attempt to placate me.”

Noah smothered a savage expletive under his breath as he forced a smile. “I’m sorry. I think I can find the guesthouse without your assistance.” At that point he did not care if she felt he was being facetious. All he wanted to do was get away from Viviana before he said something he would come to regret.

He walked out of the house, got into his car and drove around to the guesthouses. As he unloaded the trunk of luggage and electronic equipment, Noah thought about Viviana’s attitude toward him during their first encounter. At that time, he hadn’t known what had made her unapproachable, but now he knew it had something to do with a man—a man who’d used her and nearly ruined her financially. What she would soon learn, however, was that he did not take advantage of women.

He’d sown his wild oats, and now at thirty-three, he was looking forward to finding that special woman with whom to settle down. Some of his friends teased him, saying he was still too young to talk about marrying and having kids, but few knew that Noah had tired of the nonstop, never-ending parties where he woke feeling worse than when he’d gone to sleep, that he’d dated too many girls. However, he had always been very discriminating when sleeping with a woman. He really had to like and date a woman to make love with her. And when he looked back at his continual party days, he was proud to admit he hadn’t used women.

He swiped the key card, and the door opened. The lingering distinctive smell of lemon wafted to his nostrils. Noah discovered the structure contained two bedrooms, and there was a loft with a king-size bed overlooking the living/dining area. The kitchen and bath were updated, and the furniture contemporary and functional. A desk, worktable and chair were set up in a corner under a window which was the perfect spot for him to conduct business.

Noah picked up a brochure on the desk advertising the amenities the bed-and-breakfast offered. There was a buffet breakfast for guests from seven to ten. Check out was at 11:00 a.m., and early check-in was at 2:00 p.m. Cordials and sweet breads were served in the parlor at 8:00 p.m., and all rooms were wired with free cable and Wi-Fi.

He decided to unpack, shower and change his clothes, then drive over to see his cousin. Perhaps Giles could give him a better read on the enigmatic, beautiful woman with whom he had found himself enthralled.