“So why didn’t you ask her why she’d lied when you saw her today?” he pressed.
“Because I don’t give a fuck. You know how I feel about liars. I grew up with one. I tend to avoid that shit once someone shows me who they are. I should have called her out right when I met her. Why would I give a shit what her name was? She had no reason to lie to me. But I left it alone because I never planned to see the woman again.” I shrugged, glancing down at my phone to see a text from Gigi.
Jackson looked over my shoulder. “There’s someone you should plan to never see again. That woman has been trying to get her hooks in you for years.”
Gigi Wellington and I had known one another for a long time. She was someone I attended events with occasionally, and we’d spent an evening together here and there. But I hadn’t been out with her in a few months because she’d made it clear that she wanted it to be more than it was. I would never intentionally lead anyone on. I didn’t do drama or complications. I was honest about what I had to offer, and it wasn’t much if you were looking for something serious.
“Whatever. She’s just saying hi. I’ve put some distance there.”
“Good luck with that. She’s a woman on a mission when it comes to you.”
I held my hand up for Benji and pulled out my credit card, and he left to close out the tab. Jackson was taking the private jet home to the city tonight, and I had a few hours of work left to do.
“Benji, right?” Jackson asked when he handed me my credit card slip and a pen to sign.
“Yes. Benji Carlson.” He extended his hand, and Jackson shook it and told him his name.
“Well, it seems your friend Montana left something at Myles’s place, and he’d like to reach out to her. I figured it being a small town and all, you might know the best way to reach her.”
What the fuck is he doing?
Benji smirked before pulling out his phone and raising a brow at me. “You want her number, don’t you?”
“What? No. This is just Jackson being an asshole.” I shook my head.
“You’ll need it anyway. You bought the Seaside Inn. That’s where she throws ninety percent of her weddings. You’ve kind of destroyed her business without even realizing it. So, you should probably reach out and see if you can work something out for her. She’s been scrambling, trying to find new venues for the weddings that had been reserved there.”
My phone was sitting on the bar, and Jackson reached for it and handed it to Benji. “This man is all business. He’ll want to make things right.”
Benji typed what I assumed was her contact information into my phone.
“I don’t need to make anything right. I agreed to honor the wedding that was scheduled there this month. The others will just have to be moved to other venues until we’re done with construction. When I bought the place, I made sure that the contracts that had been signed had a clause stating that if the place were to be sold, the weddings that were scheduled would not be honored. The clients signed that contract. It’s not Montana’s fault that the venue sold.”
“I hear you, but look at the size of this town. It’s not like there are hundreds of other options,” Benji said.
Cry me a fucking river.
This wasn’t personal. People bought and renovated and expanded property all the time. That’s the real estate game, and I played it well.
Benji set my phone down on the bar.
“She seems like a resourceful girl. I’m sure she’ll be fine.” I pushed to my feet.
“She’s very resourceful. Built that business from the ground up with her best friend. But I sure as hell hope you hire her dad when you reopen, because the quickest way to get on Montana’s bad side is to fuck over her father.” He whistled.
“Who the hell is her dad?”
“Daniel Kingsley. He’s been running that kitchen over at the inn since Montana was born.”
I groaned. All the employees had been given plenty of notice that the place was closing down and that we’d soon begin construction. They were all welcome to reapply once the doors opened again next year. I wasn’t going to hire people just because they’d worked there before. I wanted the best, and there would be an interview process.
“I’m sure Howard and Lydia are giving great severance packages to their employees.”
“They’ve only got three employees, and Daniel’s been there the longest. He’s pretty much run the whole place for them.”
I pushed to my feet. I didn’t want all these backstories. When I purchased buildings in the city, I didn’t know anything that went on behind the scenes. I didn’t know who’d worked for them or how long they’d been there.
The place would be vacant when I took over, and we’d start construction and rebuild.
