Janice Maynard - Million Dollar Baby

“So open air, but covered.”

“You got it. Plus, we want the stage to have at least two or three rooms behind the scenes with bathrooms and changing areas...you get the idea.”

“And what is this auction exactly?”

Gus chuckled. “It’s a mouthful...the Great Royal Bachelor Auction.” He sobered. “To benefit the Pancreatic Cancer Foundation. That’s what my Sarah died of, you know. My granddaughter Alexis is on the foundation board. I’d like for you to meet her. Your wife has been gone a long time. It’s not good for a man to be alone.”

“I mean no disrespect, sir, but you don’t seem to be taking your own advice. And beyond that, I have no interest at all in a relationship, though I’m sure your granddaughter is delightful.”

Gus scowled at him. “Maybe you shouldn’t be so quick to turn her down. A lot of men would jump at the chance to have my blessing.”

Austin smiled. “If Alexis is anything like her grandfather, I’m guessing she doesn’t appreciate you meddling in her affairs.”

“That’s true enough,” Gus said. “She seems determined to fritter away her time with a man who is all wrong for her.”

They had strayed off topic again, which made Austin realize that Gus was inordinately interested in matchmaking. He sighed. “I’ll need a budget. And the exact specs of the area where I’m allowed to build.”

“Money’s no object,” the older man said. “We want top-of-the-line all the way. And make sure to include some kind of outdoor heating units, concealed if possible. You know how it is in Texas. We might wear shorts on Christmas Day, and it can snow eight hours later.”

“What’s my timetable?” Austin asked.

“The auction is the last Saturday in November.”

Austin tried to conceal his shock. “Cutting it a little close, aren’t you?”

Gus nodded. “I know. It will be tight. But the club’s custodial staff has been given instructions to help you in any way possible, and we’ve also allotted extra funds to hire part-time carpenters to rough in the framing and anything else you need. I have faith in you, boy.”

“Thank you, sir. I won’t let you down.”

“Call me Gus. I insist.”

After that, they made their way outside so Austin could see exactly what he had to work with. Despite his reservations about the quick turnaround, excitement bubbled up in his chest. This was always one of his favorite phases of a project—looking at a bare plot of ground and imagining the possibilities.

The gardens were soggy, but Austin could see that someone had already begun placing markers and lining off planting areas.

Gus pointed. “Over there is where the stage will be.”

Austin nodded. “I can work with that.”

In the distance, he could see the pool, now closed for the season. The new structure would tie in with the gardens and the rear of the original building to create a peaceful, idyllic setting for entertaining.

To their left, a small figure in stained overalls stood three feet off the ground on a stepladder painting a colorful mural on an outer wall of the club. Gus waved a hand. “Let’s go say hello,” he said.

It was only a matter of fifteen yards. Twenty at the most. They were close enough for Austin to recognize the pale, silky ponytail when it hit him.

The woman turned around as Gus hailed her. The paintbrush in her hand clattered to the ground. Her face turned white. She clutched the top of the ladder.

Austin sucked in a shocked breath. It was her . Brooke. His mystery lover.

Only a clueless fool would have missed the tension, and Gus was no fool. He frowned. “Do you two know each other?”

Austin waited. Ladies first. Brooke stared at him, her eyes curiously blank. “Not at all,” she said politely. “How do you do? I’m Brooke Goodman.”

What the hell? Austin had no choice but to follow her lead. Or else call her a liar. He stuck out his hand. “Austin Bradshaw. Nice to meet you.”

The air crackled with electricity. Brooke didn’t take his hand. She held up both of hers, palms out, to show they were paint streaked. “You’ll have to excuse me. I don’t want to get you dirty.” She shifted her attention to Gus. “If you two don’t mind, I’m trying to get this section finished quickly. They tell me another band of showers is going to move in tonight, so the paint needs to dry.”

And just like that, she turned her back and shut him out.

Four

Brooke felt so ill she was afraid she might pass out right there on the ladder. She stood perfectly still and pretended to paint the same four-inch square of wall until she heard a door open and shut. Out of the corner of her eye she saw the two men disappear inside the building.

What was Austin doing in Royal? Had he come to find her? Surely not. He’d been with Gus Slade. If she put two and two together, maybe Austin was the architect Gus had hired to build the fancy stage and outdoor annex. How did Gus even know Austin?

Who could she ask? Alexis? Then again, did she really want to draw attention to the fact that she was interested in Austin? She wasn’t. Not at all.

Liar.

What made the situation even worse was the expression on Austin’s face when he saw her. He’d been equal parts flabbergasted and horrified. Not the look a woman wanted to see from a man she’d spent the night with.

And see what he’d done to her, damn it...now he had her ending sentences with prepositions.

When the coast was clear, she wiped her brush and gathered her supplies. Ordinarily, she went inside the club to a utility sink and cleaned up before going home. Today, she couldn’t take that chance.

For the rest of the afternoon and all night long, she fretted. She’d spent the last eight weeks trying to forget about her one-night-stand cowboy. Now he had appeared in Royal, completely out of the blue, and looking about ten times as gorgeous and sexy as she remembered. If he really was the new architect, she was going to be forced to see him repeatedly.

Her body thought that was a darned good idea. Heat sizzled through her veins. But her brain was smarter and more sensible. This was a bad development. Really bad.

The following morning, when the sun came up on another beautiful October day, she wanted to pull the covers over her head and not have to think . Still, the memories came rushing back. An intimate hotel room. A rugged cowboy. Two naked bodies. What was she going to do? With yummy Austin in town, there would be hell to pay if her secret came out.

More than ever, she needed to get her own place to live. With the money Alexis was paying her for the murals, there would soon be enough in her modest bank account for first and last month’s rent on a decent apartment. In three and a half years, she would receive her inheritance from her grandmother and thus be able to start her after-school art program. Everybody took dance lessons and played sports—Brooke wanted to build a small studio where dreamy kids like she had been could dabble in clay and paint to their heart’s content.

All she had to do in the meantime was find a permanent job, any job, that would give her financial independence from her parents. That task was tough in a town where the Goodmans pulled strings right and left. Brooke had been unofficially blacklisted time and again.

Her parents’ behind-the-scenes manipulations were humiliating and infuriating. And all because they wanted her to be the kind of high-powered entrepreneurs they were.

It was never going to happen. Brooke liked who she was. It wasn’t that she lacked ambition. She simply saw a different path for herself.

Fortunately, her parents were both early risers and left for the office at the crack of dawn. Brooke was able to enjoy her toast and coffee in peace. Her stomach rebelled at the thought of food this morning, probably because she was so upset about the prospect of seeing Austin again.