Page 40 of You Know You Wanna

In the end, Remington and I wound up talking so much that there was no time for him to go back to his suite before we had to meet Laurene. He took a quick shower at my place—alone, unfortunately—and we headed out together.

Stepping into the early morning sunshine outside, I took a moment to take in the specks of dust dancing in the gentle rays, and I smiled. There wasn’t a lick of wind this morning and it was shaping up to be a scorching but beautiful day.

Remington bumped his shoulder against mine. “Why do you do that?”

“Do what?” I turned to glance up at him, smiling again at the stubble on his jaw and the fact that he was in last night’s clothes.

A thrill raced through me when I remembered exactly why that was, and my smile widened even more. He pushed down a laugh, shaking his head at me as he slid his hands into his pockets and started moving toward the stairs.

“You’re always stopping for a minute when you leave a building, smiling at nothing, and then carrying on as if it hadn’t happened. What’s up with that?”

I blinked hard, surprised that he’d noticed it about me. At this point though, I had nothing left to hide from him. Physically and emotionally, I’d opened myself up to him so much that I simply shrugged and told the truth.

“It reminds me that I’m alive,” I said quietly. “I stop to breathe in the fresh air and to feel the sunshine on my face, and it makes me happy. It reminds me that I’m still here and I need to make the best of every day that I am. Life is short, Ford. I learned that the hard way, and true happiness is found in the small moments. Moments that you have to create for yourself or you’ll hardly ever have them.”

“You should be a life coach,” he said, cracking another dry joke as he waited for me to join him. “I’ve read and heard so many times that a person is supposed to do that, but I’ve never actually met anyone who does.”

“Well, now you have,” I said cheerfully, almost going to link my arm with his but then remembering that he wasn’t my boyfriend. This was casual. As much as I might want to hold his hand or tuck mine into the crook of his elbow, our relationship just wasn’t that. “You should try it sometime. Especially while you’re here. It’s the most beautiful place in the world. You don’t want to miss the opportunity to really drink it all in.”

“You might be right about that,” he murmured as we set off down the road, ambling toward the restaurant at a leisurely pace, but we had a minute left before Laurene would be waiting.

As we walked, I noticed Alan standing outside the lobby, watching us approach the resort. He crossed his arms, his eyes narrowing in a glare as his gaze swept between us, clearly noticing how close we were to one another.

I touched Remington’s arm as I stopped when we reached my boss. “I’ll meet you inside. Just give me a minute.”

“Alright.” He nodded at Alan and kept walking. As soon as he disappeared, I cocked my head at the old man I loved so much. “What was that all about?”

“Did he spend the night with you?” he asked bluntly. “Don’t lie to me, Barbara. Did he or did he not just leave your cabin after staying there last night?”

“Why does that matter?” I wasn’t ashamed and I wouldn’t lie, but Alan had never really cared what I did in my free time.

Granted, I’d never done a guest in said free time, but it wasn’t like it was against the rules. I didn’t even think it had ever occurred to him to write up a policy about that kind of thing. It happened on occasion, and it had never caused any issues.

So why now does it suddenly feel like it’s causing an issue?

“Why does it matter?” Alan regarded me for a quiet moment before he scoffed. “It matters because he’s using you, Birdie. He’s only trying to get close to you because he’s trying to take the resort from me. Has he told you what he does for a living? He’s an investor. One who came here trying to steal my life’s work so that he can turn this place into another cookie-cutter hotel with no soul.”

My eyebrows inched up slowly and I shook my head. Alan had a tendency to be a bit dramatic when it came to the resort. He protected it like a mama bear protected her cubs, which was kind of what it was for him, and because of that, he could get a bit fierce at times.

The long and the short of it was that I didn’t believe him. I believed that was how he perceived Remington and what he was doing here, but I didn’t think there was any truth to it. “Just give him a chance, Alan. He’s a good guy. I promise. I also promise that he’s not trying to take the resort from you to turn it into a cookie-cutter hotel, okay?”

He grunted in response, his head shaking as his shoulders slumped. “You’re wrong about him, sweetheart. I know you like him and that’s why you want to believe he’s a good guy, but listen to me when I tell you that he’s got ulterior motives for being here.”

I sighed but nodded. “I’ll be careful. You don’t have to worry about me.”

“I always worry about you,” he muttered, then walked away, disappearing into a storage shed nearby while grumbling under his breath.

Once he was gone, I took a moment to recenter myself and then I headed inside, wondering why Alan was so adamant about this. I liked to think that I knew Remington better than he did, but something must’ve happened to make him believe such horrible things about the man.

Deciding that I’d keep my eyes open but not jump to any conclusions, I squared my shoulders and walked into the restaurant. My heart melted a little bit when I saw Laurene embrace her father. The breakfast area was busy, with cutlery and crockery clanging everywhere and happy chatter filling the air, but I shut it all out for a second, just watching the giant of a man hug his little girl.

No, I thought right then and there. I don’t know why Alan thinks what he does, but I really just don’t believe it. He’s here to spend time with his kid. I mean, look at them.

They hugged for a long minute before they broke apart, sitting down at the table side by side with Laurene talking to him animatedly. Remington’s whole being was focused on her, his upper body turned toward her and his expression open and alive with interest as he listened.

There’s just no way he came here for anything other than his daughter.

Smiling as I finally walked toward them, I pulled out a chair on the opposite side of the table. “Good morning, Lulu. Do you mind if I join you?”