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“Do you like fireworks?” He turned and pushed me onto the bed, cuddling in next to me.
“I haven’t seen them in a long time. The town used to do them on the Fourth of July, but they stopped that a few years ago.” I rested my head on his chest, benefitting from the comfort it gave me to be in his arms. “I always watched with my grandparents. We would pack a picnic basket and sit out by the lake with all our neighbors. We’d light sparklers and I’d run around with all the other neighborhood kids. I didn’t have a worry in the world back then.”
“I could bring them back.”
“The fireworks?”
“Fourth of July could be big here.” He tangled his leg between mine. “All the holidays could be. I want to give the resort a nostalgic feeling. Maybe a place where families could come and get that small-town vibe for a few days. The people who live in New York City might like that.”
“Do you have many plans for your little town?”
“So many,” he said.
“What inspired this idea?”
“It started small, really. Which is odd for me, because most of my projects are grand and obnoxious.”
“I wouldn’t have guessed.”
When he laughed, my muscles loosened, causing my body to mold into his. Since meeting him, there weren’t many opportunities where I truly relaxed. Our encounters had been intense and sexually charged, but in this moment, the mood shifted.
“This one was born from an old Irving Berlin movie. A few years ago, I was traveling and I couldn’t sleep so I turned on the TV in my hotel room and caught Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire in a movie. They fell for the same woman.”
“She chooses Fred Astaire, so Bing Crosby leaves to run a farm.”
“You know it?”
“Holiday Inn.” I smiled. “I watch it every year. My grandmother loved that movie.”
“I liked that he turned the property into an inn that’s open on the holidays. The concept intrigued me. It was supposed to be an idea that would possibly come to fruition at a later time, but the more I thought about it, the more the concept grew.”
“And now look at you.”
“I’m almost there,” he said.
“You’re doing all this work to only be open on holidays?”
“No, that’s not practical from a business standpoint. With all the properties available, this will be successful all year round.”
“No offense, but I don’t really see you as an innkeeper.”
“I’ll hire a team for that.” He interlocked our fingers together and rested our hands on his chest. “My job is to get it up and running and make the investors money.”
“Why did you build a house on the property?” If Travis was right about Huxley, he wouldn’t stick around, so why make a home here?
“I like this area. The lake, the trees, the nostalgia of it all. I envision something really special when the project is complete. I wanted to be part of it.”
“I guess it doesn’t hurt that you’re on the other side of the lake, away from all the tourists.” I squeezed his hand, working up the nerve to tell him my plans. “I shouldn’t complain because your traffic might help me in the long-run.”
“How so?”
“Your vision could be my opportunity.” I propped myself up on my elbow so I could read his facial expression. Not that I knew anything about him. He didn’t give much away, and I was hardly a poker player. “Maybe you could share a few of your customers with me. Like if you’re all booked up, you could send them my way.”
“You want to strike a deal?”
“Umm, I don’t…” I can’t negotiate with him. Can I? “What kind of deal?”
“I’m sure I could think of something that could be beneficial to both of us.” He tugged on the ends of my hair. “This house has good bones. It could probably be renovated to restore its glory.”
