“Oh, Dottie was quite the looker back in the day.” Art motioned toward the far room Charli had just walked into. “Yesterday, there were times I thought I was looking at Dottie’s twin across that table.”
“Really?” Jack tilted his head, considering that information. He hadn’t known Dottie until she was a gray-haired matron of the island, securely in her sixties.
“Oh, yes, right down to the hair and eyes,” Art assured him. “In her prime, Dottie had to beat the men away. And sometimes, the women, too,” he added with a cackle.
Jack laughed and followed the older man into the conference room, where several maps and papers were spread out over the large table. Charlie stood off to the left, leaning down to study one closely. His eyes took in the way the blue fabric wrapped lovingly around her ass. Then they traveled down to her legs again and imagined them wrapped around his waist...
He ground his teeth, disgusted with himself.
Mind out of the gutter, man! She’s your new business partner, not a damn tourist at the bar.
“Are you sure you’re okay, Jack?” Art asked in a stage whisper, the same annoying smirk on his face.
Jack narrowed his eyes and gave him a quick shake of the head. “I’m fine,” he ground out.
“You positive?” Art’s smirk eased into a teasing grin. “You look a little light-headed.”
Jack cursed under his breath when it was obvious that Charli had overheard their conversation. She glanced over her shoulder, a look of concern on her face.
“I’m fine,” he replied between clenched teeth. He walked over to Charli. “What are you looking at?”
She gestured toward the top of the map. “This looks like the original plat map of the property from 1850.” Her hand landed lightly on his arm and jolt of lightning shot through his body. “Are you not feeling well, Jack? We can do this another time if you’d like to go home.”
He smiled at her gesture and gave a quick shake of his head. “I’m fine, really. Just a light headache—nothing a good cup of coffee can’t take care of.”
“Well, then, my timing’s perfect. Here’s the coffee,” Theresa announced as she wheeled in a cart with an elaborate display of porcelain cups, spoons,silver bowls containing several types of sweetener, cream, and two large carafes of coffee.
“Oh, wow! Theresa, you really didn’t need to pull together anything this extravagant. A simple mug would have been fine for me,” Charli remarked, her eyes owlish as she took in the coffee setting and options.
Theresa snorted. “Are you kidding?” she answered, hands on her hips. “I have been dying to use this cart and coffee set since I picked them up in that little antique store on Simonton a few months ago.” She grinned. “Isn’t it great?”
“It’s amazing!” Charli returned the grin, not realizing how it made her face light up. Her gaze shot to his core, nearly paralyzing him. “Jack, how do you take your coffee?”
Damn, she’s beautiful. Smart, beautiful, and my business partner. You can’t forget the business part, Jack!
His brows dropped. “I take it black, but I can get it myself.”
She gave him a coy smile. “Don’t worry about it. I’m already here.” She turned and handed him a full cup, then turned back to make her own. He couldn’t help watching how she moved, seeming to glide gracefully in everything she did. He had noticed that about her yesterday as they’d walked through Dottie’shouse—her house now. He squeezed his eyes shut at the memory and took a big gulp of coffee, nearly choking as the hot brew scalded his mouth.
Jack coughed and cleared his throat to cover the mishap and then glanced over at Art who had walked around to the other side of the table, still grinning knowingly at him. Jack narrowed his eyes at his old friend and gave him a firm shake of his head, silently urging him to be quiet.
Art tapped a knuckle on the table to get their attention. “I laid out all these maps to provide some historical perspective, but this is the document you’ll want to focus on for the restoration.” He ran his finger over the delicate parchment.
Jack perked up and stepped over to examine the document. All night, his imagination had been pondering what extremes they’d have to accomplish to get the resort back to its original condition.
He sensed Charli as she moved next to him and goosebumps popped out on his skin as her arm brushed his. Her light, floral scent surrounded him and his skin tingled as if his senses were in overdrive. He squeezed his eyes shut to clear his mind.
Get your shit together, man!
Charli nudged his coffee cup at him. “Take a drink. It’ll help with your head,” she suggested softly, apparently thinking he was still suffering from theheadache. He looked to his side, meeting her gaze, and froze again. The bright color of her dress made her eyes pop a brilliant bluish purple, like a deep sea, and for a moment he felt like he couldn’t respond...couldn’t breathe.
He gave her a quick side grin and took a sip of coffee, then cleared his throat. He tapped a section along the right edge of the document. “This was the original main entrance, directly across from your house, but Dottie had it filled in about a decade ago.” He moved his finger to the other side of the parchment. “This was the back gate and is the current entrance where we’ll get in and out until we can reopen this front gate.” His finger traced inside the walled structure. “And you’ll notice that there are four buildings within the compound. From what I know, none have been inspected in well over five years.” Charli nodded as she followed his movements.
“A landscaped garden was in this front section,” he continued. “This is all deep overgrowth now, so I’d recommend we clear this out first before we move on the structures.”
Charli pursed her lips thoughtfully and flexed her arms. “Good idea. It’s been a while since I’ve done any major yard work, but I’m sure I can handle it.”
Jack chuckled. “My team will be doing most of the heavy work. Once the garden is done, we’ll have agood bead on what we’re dealing with. It’s been a couple years since anyone has been in that compound, so it could be pretty bad.”
