The Widow's Bachelor Bargain

“Of course not.” Moonlight revealed her mouth curving up in a smile.

“Danielle is settled for the night?”

“She is.”

“Then, you should take some time to enjoy the beauty of your own backyard.” He saw her catch her bottom lip between her teeth and need sliced through him, sharp and deep. “I’ll bet you don’t do it very much.”

“You’d win that bet.”

“Take a chance, Potter. Throw caution to the wind. Five minutes to fill up your soul.”

She sighed and he knew he’d won this round. There was a thickly padded chair at a right angle to his and she lowered herself into it.

“No guilt allowed.” In front of him her friends had teased her about feeling guilty for enjoying an evening away from her daughter. “Whatever you have to do inside will still be there when your spirit is renewed.”

“That’s for sure,” she agreed. “Somehow the B and B fairies never make it here to get breakfast ready or do laundry.”

“It’s just sad. You can’t get good fairy help these days.”

She laughed. “You’re very funny, Sloan.”

“I’m glad you think so.”

“April and Delanie thought so, too.” She met his gaze. “They told me after you left.”

“So that’s why my ears were burning.”

“Oh, please. A man who spends as much time as you do with a vast number of women couldn’t possibly be surprised that we talked about you after you left.”

“I’m not at all surprised. Especially since your friends came right out and copped to the fact that you were discussing me before I got there.”

“You gotta love honest gossipmongers,” she pointed out.

“It was refreshing. And I liked your friends very much.”

“As I said, the feeling is mutual. You were exceptionally charming tonight, Holden.”

“I did my best.”

“Do you remember when you said we could ask you anything?”

“Yes.”

“Well, you may also recall that I never asked a question at all.”

He did. “I’m sensing that you would like to now. Am I right?”

“Yes. And I have several, if that’s okay.”

“Should I be afraid?”

“I promise it won’t hurt,” she said.

“Okay, then.” He set his empty tumbler on the outside coffee table. “What would you like to know?”

“Did you follow me to Bar None tonight?”

“That makes me sound like a stalker,” he hedged.

“Are you?”

“Wow. I’m not sure if going from serial killer to stalker is a step up.”

She folded her arms over her chest. “You’re very good at not answering questions.”

“Lots of practice,” he admitted. “Okay. It’s a hard habit to break, but I’ll stop sidestepping. When Josie mentioned that you were meeting friends it sounded like fun and I did deliberately crash the party.”

He couldn’t speak to how hard it was being a single mom and needing some downtime. But he knew how it felt to be a fish out of water, a big fish in a little pond and craving some social time. Not to mention being curious about Maggie. He braced himself for a grilling about following her.

“Why would you do that?”

“I needed to talk to someone about something other than work.”

“Oh.” She nodded. “I understand that. And then my friends asked you to build a movie theater.”

“It’s actually a great idea. The resort is going to bring in a lot of people. They’ll be looking for entertainment involving something other than skiing or boating and water sports.”

“Speaking of entertainment...” She tapped her lip. “Is it true that a woman once broke into your hotel room and waited in your bed? Naked?”

He groaned. “Don’t remind me.”

“So it is true.” She leaned forward, warming to her subject. “You make it sound like a bad thing.”

“By definition, breaking into my hotel room is bad.”

“Surely not the naked part.” Her tone was teasing.

“Whose side are you on? I was the injured party.”

“You sound like an outraged spinster. I don’t understand your problem. Was she fat? Cellulite? Abs weren’t prime-time ready?”

“She had a lovely body. Hotel security thought so, too, as did the police. Why would this be okay because I’m a guy? She violated my personal space.”

“I see what you mean.” She scooted to the edge of her chair. “There was another story about you spending millions of dollars on breakup baubles.”

“Baubles?” That’s one he hadn’t heard. Apparently he wasn’t aware of all his publicity.

“Yes. Diamond tennis bracelets. Emerald pendants. Sapphire earrings. If this is true, it could explain why women throw themselves at you. Naked,” she added.