Read Online Wedding His Takeover Target by Emilie Rose - Free Book Online Page B

way. Her stomach churned like the cement mixer rattling the diner’s windows as it thundered down the street.
    Gavin’s calmness only agitated her more. But then he was getting his way. “Dragging me to a restaurant has been your goal all along. Congratulations. You’ve succeeded.”
    â€œAnd the enthralled expression on your face will make every woman on the sidewalk want my phone number.”
    His dry sarcasm made her lips twitch. She wasn’t going to like him. No way. Not after the past hour.
    In a store as large as the one they’d just left, how could there have been such a shortage of space that she and her unwanted shopping partner had repeatedly made contact? But they had. Their hands had bumped over banisters and their hips by the hedge trimmers. Every time she’d turned around he’d been in her personal space, crowding her and not giving an inch.
    Her pulse hadn’t been in the normal range since she’d climbed into his cramped truck cab, and she’d gasped so many times while shopping that anyone who didn’t know her would think she had a chronic lung condition.
    How could she get rid of him and still protect Pops? She traced the lip of her mug, then glanced at Gavin. His attention seemed riveted to the movement of her finger, and then abruptly shifted to her face. The impact of his dark gaze swept her into an out-of-control, lighter-than-air feeling that made no sense considering she was sitting in a diner in the middle of downtown Aspen. But she felt as if her parasail had suddenly been caught by a strong gust and she’d been lifted off her snowboard, off solid ground and carried up the mountain.
    She snatched her hands from the table and gripped the booth’s bench waiting for her breathlessness to ease. She scrambled to find a rational thought. “Did you have to order top-of-the-line everything?”
    â€œThe more expensive products have better warranties. If you have problems the replacements are free.”
    That much was true. But still…the total of the supply bill had been about twenty percent higher than she’d anticipated. Luckily, she’d balanced the checkbook last night and knew the account had enough to cover the amount. The inn wasn’t hurting financially yet despite some zero occupancy days,but it was the principle of Gavin being so free with someone else’s money that bothered her.
    She sipped her unwanted coffee, grudgingly admitting the brew he’d made this morning was better than the trendy diner’s—maybe even better than hers, and she prided herself on making great coffee for the inn’s guests.
    So the man made decent coffee. Big deal. That wasn’t a reason to keep him around.
    â€œWhat do you want from my grandfather?”
    â€œI told you. The mine and the acreage surrounding it.” He sounded sincere, but the way his eyes turned guarded and he tensed ever so slightly contradicted his words.
    With almost fifty years between him and Pops, the men’s sudden friendship seemed unnatural and calculated. Gavin had to be up to something. That blank check he’d managed to get from Pops spoke volumes. There had to be more. She just didn’t know what yet, and the only way to figure out his agenda was to get to know him better. Not a project she relished.
    What made Gavin Jarrod tick? “Where do you live when you’re not here?”
    â€œI divide most of my time between Vegas and Atlanta.”
    â€œWhy two such different places?”
    â€œBecause Vegas is where my brother’s hotel is located and Atlanta is close enough to the Appalachian Mountains for hiking and river rafting and has a major airport hub.”
    â€œYou’re an outdoorsman?” The breadth of his shoulders implied as much.
    â€œYes.”
    â€œA hunter?”
    â€œI shoot nature with a camera these days, although I have nothing against putting food on the table through