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“I understand you’re excited about the flower shop. But the warehouse is what makes the money. The shop is mostly an office and—”
“And I’m going to change that. There’s no flowers in there. It looks more like an office.”
“Well, because it is.”
“No, it’s going to house and sell flowers.”
“So you’re talking about start-up capital, and that is something we need to discuss, because the profit comes from the warehouse.”
“This is my family’s business, and that means that it’s part of whatever it is you’ve been doing the past few years.”
“Ten,” he said, getting aggravated. “Ten years. Same number of years you’ve been gone, having no idea what’s going on. Now you’re here, ready to claim a business when it looks like you just lost a fight with a mud puddle,” he said.
“It was a pothole, and it was particularly aggressive, I assure you. In fact”—she waved her hand, which was still gripping a busted shoe, in his direction—“that’s something that should be fixed.”
He laughed. The woman wasn’t even here for a full twenty minutes and she was dishing out orders? Typical. She was a different breed from him. He’d known that back in high school. But it seemed Laura was coming in feisty, and Jake’s patience was being tried. Because the business, Walt, his family, and this town meant everything to him. That couldn’t be risked or messed with. Not even by a Baughman herself.
Walt worked with his hands. He had taken Jake in when he was eighteen and given him a job. His own dad had split when he was young, and he was the oldest. He had his mother and sister to take care of. And Walt had given him the opportunity to be the man his family could depend on.
Which was why preserving what he and Walt had built, his legacy, was so important to him. Jake wanted to buy the business so it could be run correctly and make Walt proud even after retirement. Unfortunately, nearly all of the equity he’d put into the company was sweat. And it was still Walt’s. And Walt wasn’t very helpful in settling disputes.
“You can’t start barking orders when I’m not even sure you’ll last a week here,” Jake said.
Her gaze shifted, like his words cut her somehow. She opened her mouth to yell, maybe defend herself, then snapped it shut. She thrust her chin in the air and said, “This is my home and my hometown, and I’m here for the long haul. The past doesn’t matter, and it’s none of your business anyway. I’m here now. Claiming the flower shop. And”—she clasped her hands together and glanced around—“there’s a lot that needs to be done around here.”
Jake agreed. The warehouse was constantly busy, and he was always either hauling bark or visiting construction sites to drop off lumber.
Baughman Home Goods’ biggest moneymaker was what went on behind the poor excuse for a gardening shop out front. They were the key supplier of lumber and rock in the area. No one came in for flowers; they came in for supplies. Hell, they didn’t even stock and sell flowers anymore. This turn in the business was what had kept Walt from going under years back. And Jake would make sure it stayed that way.
“I want a key to the floral shop door,” Laura said.
He chuckled. “Honestly, Laura, all kidding aside. How long do you think you’ll last here? Your quote in the yearbook was ‘Never stay still and always chase the bigger and better.’”
She looked at him dead in the eye. “Well, that was then. I’m home now. And I’ll be home long enough to outlast you and make these thirty days skyrocket in profit and prove I can run this place.”
Oh, that got his blood heating another degree. He pushed off the forklift he’d been leaning against and invaded her personal space. “Don’t bet on that. I have more stamina than you can imagine.”
Her lips parted and her shaky inhale was the only indication that he was getting to her. Which was exactly what he needed to be doing. Because the air was charged with heat, aggression, and passion. He was ready to kiss her, swat her ass, make her beg and scream his name. All of it. Which was a bad idea. She was wrong for him, and the boss’s daughter to boot. He was set to take over an
d he wouldn’t go risking his reputation—especially with Walt—or the business on Laura’s ideas. Besides, she had a track record for blowing in like a tornado only to run off after the damage was done. The sooner she was ready to either stay or quit, the sooner Jake could officially take over for Walt and officially get over Laura. Something he hadn’t realized was a problem until just today.
At the very least, he had to make her see that this was a hard business. He also had to try to get his dick under control, because Laura Baughman was standing in front of him ripe for the picking. She was also a distraction. For God’s sake, he was hard just from staring down her wet top, mile-long legs, and incredible ass.
“Come on, Laura . . . whether it’s now or in a few days, the end is the same. You’ll run right back to where you came from.”
“You’re wrong. This is my home. My business. And this is where I’m staying.”
“You don’t sound sure about that,” he challenged.
“I am.”
“Because you’re so good at sticking around?” he said.
She frowned. Like he’d hurt her feelings. Which wasn’t what he was going for—he just needed her gone. Already she was messing with his mind. So he slapped on a smile like she didn’t affect him and watched her throat bob on a hard swallow.
Jake wasn’t sure what he was doing. What he did know was that he was drawn to her. If she was going to be around for any length of time, that was going to be a problem. Call it crazy or stupid or full-on lust, but he was feeling all three for the blonde before him, and that needed to stop.
“I’m staying. And there’s nothing and no one who can push me away,” she said with finality. But he didn’t miss her perusal of him.
