immediate plan of action, she shoved her chair back, took up her mug, and stalked into the kitchen. She hadn’t eaten since the middle of the day before and that wasn’t helping the hollow pit of dread in her stomach. Of course, the thought of food at that moment was abhorrent, but it was something she could do instead of staring and swearing. She popped the fridge door open and saw the neatly stacked containers of pasta and sauce. Her stomach gurgled. Pasta for breakfast. She reached for the container. Why the hell not?
She was heating up a bowl of noodles when Brett walked into the kitchen. “Hey,” he said.
“Hey.” She kept her gaze on the microwave door. As if that was going to speed things along. But she didn’t know what to say to him, so it was a handy distraction. The bell dinged and she slid the bowl out.
“Pasta for breakfast?” he said, coming closer but stopping at the cook island.
“Sounded like a good idea at the time.” She fished in the silverware drawer for a fork. “Thank you for saving some for me. And for cleaning up. You didn’t have to do that.”
“I didn’t mind.” He took another step closer. “Kirby-”
He broke off, and she paused in the act of forking up her first mouthful and glanced at him directly for the first time.
“I’m sorry,” he said, surprising her.
She lowered her fork. “For what?”
“Whatever’s going on with you. And for pushing last night. I just wanted to help out. I still do.”
“If I don’t fill this inn to capacity by the weekend and keep it that way until at least the middle of April, I’m going to lose the place,” she said, putting it out there without meaning to but too tired to get back into the verbal cat and mouse game they had played last night. “I don’t think there’s anything you can do about that, but I appreciate the concern.” She realized she sounded less than gracious and was certainly not on good hostess behavior, not by a long shot, but there didn’t seem to be much she could do about it. Brett was a guest, but he wasn’t exactly a guest. And he’d asked for the truth, so she refused to feel bad about giving him what he’d asked for.
“Actually,” he said, just as calm as he’d been before her less-than-cheerful reply. “I could. Help, that is.”
“How? You have a lot of poker buddies who need a place to hole up for a few months, get out of the desert for a while?”
He smiled at that. “You know, that’s not a bad idea. If Vermont had a gaming commission, I could probably get a game going out here, make you all kinds of revenue.”
“We have a lottery, but no gambling that I’m aware of.”
He didn’t respond right away, and it was clear his mind was spinning on something.
“What are you thinking?”
“I was thinking maybe something for charity. There are ways around the rules, or to make them work for you, anyway.”
She straightened from where she’d been leaning against the counter by the sink. “That’s-well, that’s actually a very nice idea, but if anything like that even looked like it was going to happen here, I can bet you the resort would find a way to co-opt it. They’d be equipped for it.”
“Yes, they would. And that would be exactly the way to go.”
She took her bite and then gestured to him with her fork. “So, how would that help me?”
“Because putting on an event like that isn’t just about bringing in a few players. It’s a lot more complex, and there are a lot of tentacles. I’m sure your place and any other place around here with rooms to spare would have no problem booking.”
“Is professional poker that big a draw?”
He didn’t say anything to that, and the light dawned.
“You’re that big a draw.”
“Do you want me to look into it?”
It was both a non-answer and all the answer she needed. Maybe it was time to do a little research on Brett. She’d been curious, but out of respect for his request, she hadn’t done any digging. Besides, in the past twenty- four hours, her thoughts had been on other issues. But with this offer, it appeared all bets were off when it came to leaving the past in the past.
“Could you honestly set something up that quickly?” She immediately waved a hand. “Forget I said that. I’m sorry. I have no business exploiting your fame, or livelihood.”
“I’m pretty sure I offered. That’s not exploiting.”
“You came here to get away from that. You’re a good guy, Brett, an incredibly nice guy, but I don’t want you to do something that you otherwise wouldn’t do.” She waved off his response again. “It’s amazingly generous of you to even offer. And I am appreciative, even if I don’t sound like it. But even if I was willing to let you do that, I think it would be too late to save me-the inn, I mean. And then you’d have done all of that for nothing.”
Now he closed the gap between them. He carefully took the bowl of pasta out of her hands and set it on the counter. Then he stepped right up into her personal space, pinning her back against the counter before he’d even touched her. Kirby could have scooted away. She could have done a lot of things. But she didn’t. And what that said about how much she’d learned regarding what she should accept, and what she should stand up to, she didn’t want to know.
But sticking her ground, at that moment, felt like the right thing to do. And if she was just lying to herself about that, well she could add that to the list of things to beat herself up over later.
“I want to help you, Kirby. One of the things about having achieved the successes I have is that I am in a position to do things like that. I kind of thought it must be something pretty drastic when you walked in here last night and, barring bad news about a family member, your business was the only thing I could think of that would put that look on your face. So, I gave it a lot of thought, but until just now, I didn’t see a clear path on how to help. Other than just hand you a chunk of cash to bail you out, if that was the problem, which I’d do. Hell, I’ll buy the damn place and you pay me back instead. I’m a lot friendlier than the banks. But I figured you’d be too proud to do something like that, despite the fact that I wouldn’t think one iota less of you for doing so. It won’t put a dent in my world, and it could make all the difference in yours.”
“You’re right. I couldn’t accept that kind of offer.” She looked past his shoulder, then made herself look back at him. “So, you’d already spent time thinking about this before you came in here?”
“Yes. If it was something with your family or a friend, I’d just do whatever I could to ease the situation, but if it was your business, the inn, then I figured a more direct kind of help would be better. I just didn’t know how to do that. But the charity event is perfect. It’s a way to do good, all the way around, without much of a downside.”
“Except putting you back in the world you just drove cross-country on a bike to get away from.”
“That’s my decision.”
“It feels like all of this is your decision.”
“That’s where you’re wrong. You can decide whether or not to take what I’m offering. I can’t force that solution on you. All I can do is let you know it’s available if you think it would help. But it’s your choice, your business to keep or lose, your life. If you have other ideas, then that’s great. I’ll help you there, too, if there is any way that I can.”
“Why?”
That stopped him. “What do you mean, why?”
“Why is it so important to you to help me? I realize we had sex, and I realize that you’re going to move on to whatever it is you decide to do next. This is merely a stop on your journey.”
“What in the hell does that have to do with me helping you? Do you think this is some kind of angle for some other…I don’t even know. What other agenda could you possibly think I have? I know you have some issues you’re dealing with, and I’m not talking about the inn now but with going forward with new relationships. You were totally up front with me about that. But I’m being totally up front with you. I have no other agenda other than I can help, I see you need some, and so why wouldn’t I step up?”
She’d pissed him off. Which she was sorry for, but it also was kind of fascinating to see. He was typically so laid back, matter of fact, but so soft spoken in the way he stated his thoughts. So this…this was different. And she wasn’t going to lie, it had her attention in more ways than one.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I was out of line, but I didn’t mean any insult. You’re right. I’m not as evolved as I thought I was. I still have some hang-ups-”
“I said issues. We all have them.”
