“If Riley doesn’t want you for a boss,” Carson said, “she could always find a new job. But it won’t come to that. She’ll love having you as the manager because she can wrap you around her finger. I mean, who could be a better boss than an ex who’s still carrying a torch?”
Not true. “I’m not still carrying a torch.”
“Really? Who have you dated lately?”
No one. But that wasn’t because he still had hopes for Riley. Lucas just hadn’t found anyone he was interested in. There weren’t many candidates in Lark Springs. That number got smaller when you could run a background check…which he did on a regular basis.
Carson took Lucas’s pause as proof he was right. “I bet whenever Riley wants a day off, all she’ll have to do is flutter her eyelashes, and you’ll give it to her.”
“Or I’ll tell her to find someone to cover for her.”
“Well, at any rate,” Carson said, “I’m sure the two of you will be fine working together. I’ll let you know Mr. Ross’s response once my real estate agent finalizes the offer.”
Maybe Mr. Ross wouldn’t agree to Carson’s price and all of this would be a moot point. “Okay,” Lucas said. “By the way, Riley says you should call her before you buy an engagement ring. She knows what kind Olivia likes.”
“That’s not a bad idea,” Carson said. “I’ll do that before the talks with Mr. Ross, just in case Riley does hate having you as a manager and is mad at me for hiring you.”
“Your confidence is a fickle thing.”
“Text me Riley’s number when we hang up.”
Lucas would have liked to say that he didn’t have it anymore just so he could prove that he wasn’t carrying a torch. But he still had it. As a police officer, it paid to have people’s contact info.
There were absolutely no torches anywhere.
“Sure,” Lucas answered. He said his goodbyes, forwarded Riley’s number, and cast one last look at the inn.
The four-story building was painted a warm, buttery yellow that popped against the riot of red and orange leaves from the nearby aspens. The place looked like something straight out of either a Hallmark Christmas movie, or when the weather was stormy, an Alfred Hitchcock murder mystery.
The first three stories were lined with narrow, paned windows, all framed in white. The top floor was different, smaller, like someone had set a cozy little house on the roof and decided to call it a day. That was where Mr. Ross lived.
Lucas had always pictured the manager’s apartment filled with knick-knacks, mismatched furniture, and the sort of mysterious energy that made cats jump at invisible things. If Carson bought the place, it would be Lucas’s new home.
He turned away from the building and started his car, suddenly wondering if Riley was looking out one of the windows, curious as to why his car was still in the parking lot. How would she act in a few weeks if he walked back through those doors as the new manager?
Perhaps it didn’t matter. Lucas’s job wasn’t to change how Riley thought of him. It would be to run the place well. That was all. Riley could either get on board or quit. Or, worst possible scenario, she’d be so horrible to him that he’d have to fire her.
Lucas sighed and drove away from the inn. He really didn’t want to fire her. It was bad enough that she thought of him as the cheating boyfriend. He didn’t want to be the cheating boyfriend who made her lose her job too.
CHAPTER 3
When Riley finished work and went home to her apartment, both of her roommates were there. Annie sat on the couch, still in her nurse scrubs, going through email on her laptop. Delancey, who’d taken Olivia’s room after she’d moved to Denver, was not far away, cooking in their small kitchen. She worked at a beauty salon but cooked well enough that she could’ve gotten a job at a restaurant.
“I need a date,” Riley announced to them.
“Get in line,” Annie said. “I’m still waiting for Prince Charming to show up at the ER.”
Annie was blond and beautiful with the sort of curves Riley had always wanted but didn’t have. It probably wouldn’t take her long before some titled guy on a horse discovered her and swept her away from the life of a commoner.
People described Riley as athletic and toned but never as voluptuous. She was pretty but not beautiful. She was the type that guys were friends with, not the type that guys were entranced by.
Was there a way to change that?
Riley had been growing out her auburn brown hair since the summer, mostly because Delancey went on about how thick andgorgeous it was, how it could totally be starlet hair. Delancey liked to bemoan that people with the best hair never appreciated it. On most days, Riley didn’t know what to do with hers and just wore it in a French braid or ponytail.
Maybe she needed a makeover. Would new clothes make any difference?
Riley dropped her purse onto the coffee table and sank down on the couch beside Annie. “It occurred to me today that if Olivia and Carson get married, I’ll be stuck at the wedding with Lucas and whatever pageant queen he decides to bring. I need to start dating someone. And not just any guy, someone who’s as handsome as him.”