“Tell her now. She was threatening to call Jennifer and apologize.”
Lucas couldn’t help but laugh at the thought of that conversation. “That’s what Jennifer gets for not coming to the wedding.”
“And speaking of Jennifer,” Jace went on. “Do you remember how I said that most people could tell the difference between us even without the glasses? Turns out I was wrong about that. Quite a few people came up to me at the reception and suggested that you should talk me out of dating Jennifer. I heard all sorts of opinions about her. None of them good.”
“Ouch. Sorry, bro.”
“What has our family been telling people about her?”
And that would be why Jace had offered perks to the inn’s guests. It was his way of getting back at Lucas and Carson.
“Um, I really couldn’t say.” Because it wouldn’t be polite.
“You spoke to Riley about her last night. I think the term Riley used was: as unpopular as snow in May.”
“Riley was drunk. I’m sure she’s remembering the conversation wrong.”
“Uh huh. She said literally any other woman on the planet would be better for me.”
“See, that was the alcohol talking. Most of the women on the planet are completely the wrong age for you.”
Jace let out a tormented sigh. “Tell Riley the truth or the next time I see her, I’ll tell her.”
“She’ll know before the next time you see her.” Not a hard task. Jace was flying back to school soon and wouldn’t come back to Lark Springs until the summer.
Lucas planned on winning her back long before then.
CHAPTER 21
Riley was glad, as she parked at the inn on Monday morning, that it was going to be a slow day. Carson’s teammates had checked out on Sunday, leaving the inn almost empty. Mrs. Nickle was still there, along with an elderly couple and half a dozen college girls driving through the area. The inn was only expecting one check-in today, a Ms. Jensen. The woman had called to see if she could still get the month-long rate, had seemed desperate to get that rate, and in a moment of generosity, Riley had agreed.
They wouldn’t be busy at all.
She didn’t even feel that bad for coming to work ten minutes late. It was the first time she hadn’t been early in over a year. She hadn’t been able to force herself out the door any earlier and hoped Lucas had the day off. Maybe she wouldn’t have to face him today and wonder how much Jace had told him about Saturday night.
If Lucas knew, he would either be furious or smug that she’d been involved in a cheating kiss with his twin. Either way, he’d give her no end of grief.
She sent up one last prayer that Jace had enough sense never to mention their kiss to Lucas, squared her shoulders, and strode inside.
Not only was Lucas standing in the lobby, he’d apparently called a company meeting because most of the staff was there as well. Rusty and JoAnn, the inn’s chefs, sat on one couch. Rusty was tall and broad-shouldered with close-cropped blond hair—the sort of man who’d been in the military at some time and could take down enemy combatants if necessary. He made a sharp contrast to JoAnn and her grandma vibe.
Wendy and Mariah, the housekeeping team, sat together on a different couch and were similarly mismatched. Wendy’s light blue uniform was clean, crisp, and as professional-looking as a nurse about to assist in surgery. Mariah hadn’t ever tried to calm her dark curls, and her shirt looked like it had gone through either a bleach accident or an attempt at tie-dying.
Kathy, the waitress/dishwasher, sat in a chair, wearing one of her brightly colored tops. She liked to make a statement, and sometimes that statement was: oncoming traffic won’t make the mistake of not seeing me.
Glen, the maintenance man, leaned against a wall, chewing on a toothpick because he was trying to give up smoking but still liked to have something in his mouth.
Sara and Jody, the desk clerks, sat in the side chairs, looking impatient. They both would clearly rather be somewhere else. The only person missing from the picture was Oscar the groundskeeper.
Another woman stood in the group, a perky thirty-something brunette in business wear and a hundred-watt smile.
“Here’s Riley,” Lucas said, using his manager voice. “So now we can get started.”
Riley’s first thought was that something horrible was happening. Carson was firing everyone. Her gaze bouncedbetween the woman and Lucas, trying to discern how bad the news was.
He smiled at Riley, a wide grin without regret or discomfort. So maybe it wasn’t something horrible. What was going on?
“Everyone else has already been introduced to Mrs. Cisneros from Professional Solutions. She’s here to do team-building exercises with us.”