Gold Fire (17 page)

Jase glanced over in surprise. “Someone there remembered me?”

“Nah. The marketing people didn’t give a damn about using your name, said you’re ancient history, but they loved both the body design and the graphics.”

Jase cared more about his design work than his former glory anyway. “Nice. Good money?”

“I won’t know the exact net until I talk with the manufacturing side, but enough that neither one of us will have to worry about next year’s income.”

Jase smiled at his friend’s excitement. Brandon’s graphics had been carrying their company, and he deserved to reap some rewards. “You’ll finally be able to get a new truck.”

“Whoa! Never. And don’t say that so loudly, she might hear you.” He looked over the rail and raised his voice. “He’s just kidding, baby.” He gave Jase a mock glare. “If I get stranded ten miles from nowhere, you’re the one I’m calling for a ride.”

“Uh-huh. You know that truck’s not a sentient being, right?”

“Shows what you know. That truck loves me. We’ve been together sixteen years. That’s about fifteen more than any girlfriend I’ve had.” He sighed happily. “There’s nothing like the love of a good truck.”

Jase snorted. “Cynical, but simple. You might be on to something.”

A cautious look crossed Brandon’s face. “Woman problems?”

He’d opened his mouth without thinking, and tried to blow it off. “Same old shit. Can’t figure ’em out.”

“That’s my line. You’ve always been pretty good at it.” Brandon gave him a shrewd look. “Are you still obsessing about Zoe Larkin after Uncle Brandon told you not to?”

He scowled. “I’m not obsessing.”

“Whatever you call thinking about her all the time and following every move she makes.”

He couldn’t deny thinking about her. Hell, he hadn’t been able to think about anything else. “Something like that,” he muttered.

“Huh.” Brandon tilted his chair back, giving it some thought. “I thought you suspected she was part of that truck-bashing incident.”

“I did, but now I’m not so sure. Same with the fire.”

“They have another suspect?”

“Not that I know of.” His gut told him Matt
Flemming was a more likely suspect, but the police had found no evidence that he’d hired someone to do it. “I’m just starting to think she doesn’t have it in her.”

“Hmm.” It sounded doubtful. “Is she still looking to buy the Rusty Wire? It’s not a good idea to mix business and pleasure.”

“I’m not doing business with her.” He couldn’t deny the pleasure part.

Brandon was quiet for several seconds as he weighed the facts. “Well, obviously you’re not going to take my wise advice about leaving her alone.”

“Guess not.”

“So quit fartin’ around like you’re twelve years old, and make your move. Talk to her.”

“Did that.”

“Ah, I get it. She shut you down.” He nodded sagely. “Might be for the best. Like I said, getting involved with one of the Larkin girls could be messy.”

Jase felt a prick of annoyance. He might have brought up Zoe’s past, but he didn’t like to hear others do it. “She didn’t shut me down. We argued.”

“Not the best start,” Brandon agreed. “Women do tend to hold a grudge. But don’t worry, if it wasn’t personal, she’ll get over it.”

Jase clenched his jaw and stared at a stand of pine trees as his words replayed in his head. “I might have mentioned her past,” he admitted. “And the way she lets her boss walk all over her. Then I told her she didn’t know what she wanted from life.”

Brandon looked at him in disbelief. “Smooth move, Romeo.”

“Yeah.” He might as well finish it. “Then I kissed her.”

“Jesus!” Brandon laughed and shook his head.
“You’re not too smart, but you’ve sure got balls. That is, if she didn’t knee them halfway up your throat.”

Jase tapped his fingers in a nervous beat against the arm of the chair. “I thought she was going to, but then she kissed me back.”

“No way!” When Jase slid an affirming glance at him, Brandon eyed him as if he’d suddenly grown gills. “Someday you’ll have to tell me how you did that.”

“Hell, I don’t know myself.” Maybe saying it out loud would help him make sense of it. “I was insulting her, and I swear she was mad enough to gut and fillet me on the spot. Then the next thing I know, I’m kissing her, and she doesn’t want me to, but then suddenly she’s kissing me back, and . . .” And desire had hit him like a freight train, with a throbbing erection like he hadn’t had since he was eighteen. He’d had to fight the urge to strip her bare and take her right there against the wall. Incredibly, he was pretty sure she felt the same way.

He couldn’t say that. “Fuck if I know what happened.” He slid lower in his chair, staring at the trees while musing over the kiss. There was only one thing to do. “But I’m damn well going to make sure it happens again.”

Brandon gave him a suspicious glance, then looked away again. “Doesn’t sound like you. You’re the lucky son of a bitch who sits back and lets the ladies come to him.”

It was true; Jase couldn’t remember the last time he’d actually gone out of his way to have a relationship with a woman. If one wasn’t interested, another one would come along soon enough.

But Zoe wouldn’t be one of those women. She had
a plan for her life, and a casual affair with a saloon owner wasn’t part of it. Matt Flemming was. The guy might genuinely like her, but he couldn’t make her happy, and the possessive way he touched her raised Jase’s hackles.

“Zoe’s different,” he told Brandon. “She’d sooner run in the other direction.”

“Smart girl.”

Jase ignored him. “I’ll find a way to change her mind.”

Brandon put his hands behind his head as he stared at the treetops. “Huh. That’s interesting.”

Jase waited for more, but it didn’t come. Impatience finally won out. “Why is it interesting?”

“Because I haven’t seen you do that in, oh, years and years. Go after something you want, I mean. That would require . . .” He frowned at the sky in exaggerated puzzlement and snapped his fingers. “What’s that word? That thing you don’t have? It’s been so long I can’t remember. Oh, yeah. Initiative.”

“Very funny.”

“Very true.”

Jase bit back the retort he’d been about to make. Brandon looked serious.

He frowned. It wasn’t as if he hadn’t done anything the past nine years. He’d provided some designs for their snowboards and skis, even if it had been Brandon’s new graphics that carried the business lately. And he may have been hiding from the rat race, but running a saloon wasn’t exactly nothing. Of course, Russ and Jennifer did most of the actual running. Only the money decisions fell to Jase, and they hadn’t been a challenge.

Still, what was wrong with that? Avoiding challenges
didn’t mean his life had been empty and meaningless. It had been a
good
life. Shooting pool and going fishing whenever he wanted. Skiing for fun instead of to win. Enjoying the customers who came to the Rusty Wire.

Maybe it was a little routine, one day blurring into another, one girlfriend blurring into another . . .

And no real accomplishments to show for almost a decade of his life. Jase winced. Damn, Brandon was right. He’d lain back and let life happen around him without making a move to participate. Avoiding the need to win had taken him out of the game completely. He was a loser, something he’d never been able to accept graciously.

He looked at Brandon. “Guess you’re right. I haven’t accomplished anything in the past nine years.”

“Not a lot. Caught some big fish, though.”

Brandon didn’t look disturbed by the lack of anything larger. And why should he? It wasn’t his life being wasted. “I think it’s time to change that, go after what I want.”

“Zoe Larkin?”

He puzzled over it. “I don’t know.” He needed to get this right, to make sure he didn’t waste his time chasing after the wrong thing. Start with the basics. “I want the Rusty Wire. I’ll do whatever it takes to keep it out of Flemming’s hands.” He paused. “I still don’t know what I want with Zoe Larkin.”

He just knew he wanted something, beginning with another one of those mind-numbing kisses. If it had the same electric kick as the last one, he’d take it from there.

•  •  •

Matt had called her at home. Zoe hoped it was for a real date, something where she could forget that he was in a position of power over her. That had to be
what had tempered her reaction to his kisses. It was probably also why kissing Jase had been so explosive—it was all about power. She was the one offering three million dollars for his saloon. The fact that he didn’t want it was irrelevant, money was power. It was simple psychology.

But Matt hadn’t called to ask her out. He wanted her to come in early for a meeting. She sat at the conference table, unnerved before he even started talking. Any meeting Matt called with just her and David had to be about their future positions with the company. David had to know it, too. He sat across from her, looking too damn smug for comfort.

“I’ll make this brief,” Matt said from the head of the table. “You both know we’ve been planning some changes in management for the Alpine Sky. Since Buck passed away, I’ve taken a larger role in management, and I will continue to do so. We simply don’t need two managers at your salary levels. One of you will stay on as general manager, while the other will run the new golf course and clubhouse once it’s built. Unfortunately, the new position doesn’t pay as much, but your experience with the company makes either of you the top choice for—” He raised an amused eyebrow at the hand she shot into the air. “You have a question, Zoe?”

“Yes.” Hell, yes. “I thought we’d shelved the golf course plan for now, but you’re talking about it as if it’s a done deal. Did I miss something? Did Jase change his mind overnight?”

Matt smiled. “No, he didn’t. But I’m confident in your ability to persuade him to sell, and I want us all to be prepared when it happens.”

He’d said it without a hint of snarkiness, which was
reassuring, but it was still a hell of a lot of confidence. Seriously misplaced, too, if you believed Jase Garrett. She did. “I don’t think he needs the money, Matt. He got all sorts of product endorsement deals after his Olympic wins—not as much as the professional sports stars, maybe, but enough to keep him comfortable.”

“And those contracts were yanked a year later after it became evident he had no intention of returning to competition. When you’re in violation of contracts, you don’t get to keep the money.”

She should have thought of that, but hadn’t really considered how much he’d lost when he quit competing. Probably because Jase had led her to believe he had enough money. She should have questioned what he meant by
enough
. It still didn’t explain why Matt thought the money mattered.

“Speaking of major sports stars,” Matt went on, “I assume you’re familiar with the name Kyle Russerman?”

“The pro golfer,” David said. He was nodding and smiling, as if he already knew where this was going. Zoe narrowed her eyes suspiciously.

“Kyle’s been elusive about putting his name on products, but my mother has had several meetings with him and taken him to see the property. Yesterday she finalized a deal that will make him the official partner in our golf course. That pretty much guarantees its success.”

“Already?” Zoe stared at him.

David chuckled to himself. “If anyone could persuade him, it would be Ruth Ann.”

“True.” Matt nodded. “And it gets better. With the money from the Russerman deal to front us, we will
be expanding Alpine Resorts, Inc., with a new resort on the island of Aruba. Buck was always reluctant to expand, but now that he’s gone, my mother and I have decided to take the company in a new direction.”

Zoe blinked, unable to find words for all the thoughts that popped into her mind. She’d be working in a management position for an international corporation, which put a nice shine on her already polished résumé. Also, Matt was more ambitious than she’d realized, possibly building a huge financial empire. And more willing to take risks with the company.

He seemed to be waiting for her response. David also watched her expectantly from across the table, clearly unsurprised by the news. The arrogant bastard.

She cleared her throat. “Um, I assume you’re talking about several years from now . . .”

“Actually, my mother is flying to Aruba today to arrange financing and look at some promising property. She’s already put the house in B-Pass up for sale, since she would prefer to live in the Caribbean.”

David seemed strangely unmoved by the news that his meal ticket was leaving the country. “The house will sell quickly,” he assured Matt. He turned a smile on Zoe. “The view from the great room is amazing, and the multihead shower in the master bath feels better than a visit to our spa.”

She had to give him credit for packing so much information into one sentence. He’d been in Ruth Ann’s house. He’d used her shower. In other words, he’d slept with Ruth Ann. And he wasn’t perturbed about her leaving, which meant he had reason to believe the position of general manager was a lock.

She wasn’t as surprised by what he’d said as by the
fact that he’d said it in front of Matt. Her gaze flew to Ruth Ann’s son. He was checking e-mails on his phone, seemingly unconcerned. Either Ruth Ann used men like candy and sleeping with David meant nothing, or it meant everything and Matt would do whatever she said, in which case Zoe had just been royally screwed over.

She stood to leave.

Matt looked up from his phone. “Zoe, please stay a minute. I’d like to go over your next meeting with Jase Garrett.”

She lowered herself back down, a sick lump congealing in her stomach. This couldn’t be good. David wiggled his fingers at her as he left the room.

As soon as the door clicked shut, Matt laid his phone on the desk and propped his hip beside it. He contemplated Zoe for several nerve-wracking seconds. “You have the next two days off,” he finally said. “I’d like to see you tomorrow night.”

His eyes pinned her with a meaningful stare. Her mouth parted with a soft “Oh” as his intention sank in. This had nothing to do with Jase. It had to do with Matt making his bid to force Jase out of the picture.