Ready, Set, I Do!

“With me,” Cassidy clarified. “A partnership.”

Blood coursed through Hailey’s veins. She saw herself working with clients, offering advice and instruction on makeup and hairstyling changes that would enhance a woman’s natural beauty. She wanted to seize this opportunity and run with it. But she made herself slow down. Josh had taught her that if something seemed too good to be true, it was best to take a step back. “Why a partnership?”

“You need to think of this venture as yours. I want you to use your social connections to help this new business fly.”

The chill that swept through Hailey cut deep, all the way to the bone. “I thought you wanted my expertise, but all—”

“Don’t get on your high horse.” Cassidy gave a dismissive wave. “This is a new venture. I’ll be bringing my years in business, my license and my connections to the table. You’d be providing a keen eye, your experience with cosmetics and your connections.”

Hailey tamped down her anger and focused on the facts. After a couple of seconds, she let out a breath and nodded. “I guess that makes sense.”

“Certainly does.” Cassidy pushed back her chair. She stood there for a moment, a curvaceous woman who commanded attention. “We can discuss particulars when you’ve decided you’re interested.”

“Don’t you mean if I decide I’m interested?”

“We’re both champing at the bit to get this thing rolling.” Cassidy grinned. “It’s just I already know it. You have to think it through before you realize I’ve dropped a sweet deal right in your lap.”

The bell over the door jingled and Winston Ferris strolled into the shop, cell phone to his ear. Hailey’s heart skipped a beat at the sight of her good-looking neighbor.

Tall, with an athletic build, Winn had the confident demeanor of a person used to giving orders. His dark hair was cut stylishly short and though his handsome face would draw any woman’s attention, it was his steely hazel eyes that defined him.

“I need to get back to the salon.” Cassidy gestured with her head toward Winn. “I’ll leave you to canoodle with your new boyfriend.”

Hailey pulled her brows together. “Winn is my neighbor not my boyfriend.”

Cassidy merely gave a wink and strolled away, a broad smile on her pouty pink lips.

* * *

“It’s a setback, nothing more.” Winn absolutely refused to let his emotions show on his face as he listened to his boss’s rant. He prided himself on his self-control, even if it wasn’t always easy. He gave a short nod of acknowledgment to Cassidy Kaye as the business owner strolled past him on her way out the door, a flamboyant leopard with pink hair and a hot body.

His boss finally ran out of air and abruptly disconnected. Winn pocketed the phone. It was never easy telling a man accustomed to getting his way that the golf-course development they’d spent months trying to get approved had hit another snag. The final vote on the project was delayed. Again.

Forget the coffee, Winn thought. A stiff shot of whiskey would better suit his mood.

But when he saw Cole Lassiter standing behind the counter, Winn changed his mind. Cole was a driving force in Jackson Hole and walking out of his shop once he’d been seen wouldn’t be a smart move. Winn was all about smart moves.

“Cole.” Winn offered a smile to the man behind the Hill of Beans coffee-shop empire. “What’s the head honcho doing working the counter?”

“Learning the challenges my people face,” Cole said easily. “I work each position periodically. Since this store is in the town where I live, it’s easy to do here.”

Anyone seeing Cole, with his shaggy dark hair and green apron over casual shirt and jeans, would never peg him for a successful entrepreneur. Unless they looked in his eyes and saw the sharp gleam of intelligence and a hint of a take-no-prisoners brawler beneath the civilized facade.

“Makes sense.” Winn lifted the briefcase. “I thought I’d grab a cup of caffeine and look over some reports.”

“Just coffee then?”

“Black and strong.”

“Coming right up.” Cole turned toward the stainless-steel machine.

Winn used the moment to glance around the shop. To his way of thinking, networking was a 24/7 thing. Unfortunately, with ten o’clock being right between the morning crowd and lunch rush, the place was fairly quiet.

His gaze had almost made it around the dining area when it locked on the petite blue-eyed blonde dressed casually in jeans and a hot-pink hoodie. The sight of her made him smile.

Hailey Randall. His next-door neighbor. Alone.

Winn had been hoping to speak with her for days. Though he told himself—again—that her personal life was none of his concern, once he got his coffee, he headed straight across the dining area to her table.

She looked up from her phone as he approached, her welcoming smile bringing an unexpected shot of light to his day.

“May I join you?” he asked politely.

She gestured to the empty chair. “Please do.”

“I didn’t expect to see you here this morning.”

“Ditto,” she said with an impish grin, relaxing against the back of her chair. “I haven’t seen you around lately. Were you out of town again?”

Winn took a sip of his coffee before answering, and was impressed by the rich, robust flavor. No wonder Hill of Beans was so successful.

“I was helping put up hay at my dad’s ranch.” Winn took another long drink and felt some of his tension ease.

“That’s hard work.” A doubtful look crossed Hailey’s pretty face. “You don’t seem like the physical-labor type to me.”

“I don’t know whether I should be insulted or flattered.” Winn chuckled. “The truth is, I enjoy getting hot and sweaty as much as the next guy.”

There’d been no intent to be suggestive, but for a second there was...something in the air. A spark, an awareness that he’d experienced before but had ignored. After all, Hailey was not only seven years younger than he, she was his neighbor. More important, he considered her a friend. One of the few he had in Jackson Hole.

That was why he had to be honest with her. Though he realized Hailey and Josh had only been dating steadily a couple of months, the guy was another Vanessa.

He’d tried to tell himself her jerk of a boyfriend was none of his business and to just let it go. Then he would think of Vanessa, a woman he’d dated for almost a year. A woman he thought he might love. A woman he trusted, who’d slept with another man when they were supposedly in a monogamous relationship.

Winn wished someone had told him the score. Hard as it would have been to hear, it would have saved him a lot of grief.

“I have something to tell you.”

“If you’re going to say you’re quitting the business world to be a rodeo clown, give me a sec to order a double shot of espresso,” she said with a teasing smile. “After the putting-up-hay revelation, I can’t take another shock. Not without a hefty dose of caffeine.”

Winn laughed and shook his head. From day one, Hailey had enchanted him. How could anyone not be charmed by this woman, with her winning smile and sunny personality? That was why he’d put off the task he now faced. The last thing he wanted was to bring her pain. “It’s not about me. It’s about Josh.”

The man’s name tasted foul on his tongue.

Her smile wavered, just a little. When she picked up her cup and took a sip, her hand trembled, as well. “What about him?”

“He’s not the man you think he is—”

“Oh, Winn.” Her laugh sounded brittle, like a fragile egg ready to shatter into a million pieces. “I think I know him pretty well by now.”