Page 10 of Just One Chance

I should pretend we didn't even know each other. But she was slowing down as she approached, looking from me to my parents. A crease appeared on her forehead. Then she came to a stop. "Mr. and Mrs. Hart?"

My heart was beating hard. Who was she?

Mom and Dad stood with a smile on their faces.

"Ms. Barnes, we're so glad you could meet with us."

Kennedy shook Dad's hand and then Mom's.

Did I fuck the woman my parents hired as a consultant?

Mom gestured at me. "This is our son, Boone. He's the furniture maker we told you about."

Kennedy held her slim hand out to mine, and I closed my larger one around it.

I kept her gaze, conveying to her all the ways I devoured her body last night. I wanted her to feel as off-kilter as I did.

"It's so nice to finally meet all of you," Kennedy said, carefully avoiding my gaze as she dropped my hand.

When I didn't respond, Mom said, "Ms. Barnes is joining us for breakfast."

"This is the designer." I hadn't fucked a random woman. I'd slept with the one woman who held my future in her hands. I was so screwed.

Kennedy smiled as if she hadn't been naked in front of me last night. "That's right."

As I pulled out her chair, I decided that I wasn't going to make this easy on her. "I'm excited to hear all about you, Ms. Barnes."

She gave me a side look, then refocused on my parents. Somehow Kennedy was calm, cool, and collected while I was freaking out.

"I'm here to see the inn and the surrounding property. The brewery just opened?"

Dad nodded. "The grand opening was last night."

"I was exhausted from a long day of travel. I'll have to stop by sometime this week," Kennedy said.

"Boone will take you anywhere you want to go. He's your contact while you're here," Mom said.

Kennedy stiffened. "I don't need a guide. I can take myself around."

"You'll want to see the property through his eyes. Boone has insight and knowledge that you’ll find helpful,” Mom insisted.

"That's why I don't see the point of this. Why are we involving an outsider? We know how to run a business, and we know what our guests like." I was frustrated with this entire thing. And the last thing I wanted to do was spend time with the woman who had the power to crush my dreams.

Kennedy sighed. "Sometimes it takes an outsider to see what you can't."

"What do you know about running a family business?"

Her cheeks turned pink.

"How many family-owned inns have you consulted with?" I asked, already knowing the answer.

"You're my first," she said tightly.

I leaned back in my chair.

"Give her a chance. Kennedy's very good at what she does. I think that will translate into a smaller setting," Dad said.

I threw my hands in the air. "She doesn't have any experience in small hotels or inns, certainly not one run by a family. This is a waste of our time."