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He eyed me with suspicion. "What are you up to, Evie?"
"Let's canvas the guests for ideas on how to get you re-employed."
"Oh no, come on." He made a pained face, his voice evincing the faintest whine. "I don't want pity from the other nudists."
"Don't you mean naturists?"
His lips tightened into a smile he was trying to suppress. "Yeah. I still don't see how the other naturists can help."
"Won't know unless we ask."
For the next half hour, Ollie and I talked to everyone—except Val, who had sequestered himself in the spare bedroom claiming to have "important phone calls" to make. Everybody had an idea for Ollie, though none seemed quite right for him. He wrote down everything they said, accepted business cards from those who offered him one, and thanked each and every person who gave advice.
By the time I returned to the house, Val was in the kitchen. He perched on a stool at the island.
"I've been waiting for you," he said when I walked into the house.
Despite being naked, he managed to look serious. Not suicidal serious, but rather, contemplative serious.
"What's up?" I asked as I parked my butt on the stool beside his. We faced each other, our knees inches apart.
"I have a proposition for you."
"Don't you think it's a bit soon for a proposal?"
He rolled his eyes. "Not that kind of proposition. What I'm offering is a business proposal."
"Okay," I said cautiously. Whatever he was up to, I hoped it didn't involve a massive grant from the private foundation he'd spent the last few hours setting up for this purpose.
Val slanted toward me, his gaze intent on mine. "I want to be your business partner."
"Business?" I searched his face for some sign it was a joke, but he still looked serious. "Partner? Do you mean, like, an official partner? I have an LLC, you know."
"Yes, I know. I want to buy into it and become a full-fledged partner."
My mind seemed to have screeched to a halt. I couldn't form thoughts, much less words. When I managed to speak, I babbled and even laughed nervously while I did it. "My company is a single-member LLC. I'd have to, uh, redo it somehow. I mean, a partnership LLC is different and— Are you sure about this? I've made some strides with the business, but you might lose your shirt."
He smiled. "I lost my shirt years ago. Best decision I ever made."
"You know what I mean." I wrung my hands and bit the inside of my lip. "Risking my own money is one thing. Risking yours… If I bankrupted you, I'd feel awful."
"I wouldn't enjoy bankruptcy either, but I want to do this." He slanted in more, his gaze aimed straight into mine. "For you, I'll take any risk."
A rock hardened in my throat, its edges sharp and rough. Take a risk with Val? I'd done that already, several times over, and it had been the best thing I'd ever done. But personal risks were a whole other thing from professional ones. I might bankrupt us both, and we'd wind up living in a tent in the state forest.
I hadn't worried about losing everything until he'd announced he wanted to be my business partner.
"Trust me," he said, his tone as earnest as the look on his face. "I know the risks, and I want to take them with you."
"What about your modeling career? Your life in LA?"
"I've had enough of that. Earlier, I called my agent and gave her the news. I'm retiring from modeling. After that, I called a real estate agent and put my house up for sale."
My mouth dropped open. "Why would you uproot your whole life?"
"Come on, it can't be that hard to understand." He cupped my face in both his hands. "I'm doing this for you. I want my life to be here with you, running this resort together."
"But why?"
