Chapter Six
The resort hopped with the end-of-summer crowd. The season would soon change to fall and they were booked. He had Cayden to thank for the influx of business, and truthfully, Levi didn’t know how he felt about it. Usually the silent partner, she brought in a flow of money with her presence.
“Levi!”
He dodged his marketing manager and headed down the opposite end of the lobby, which seemed worse. The resort crawled with people he didn’t want to see.
“Thanks for letting us take over while we get out pipes fixed.” Taylor Garber, St. Geneva’s Assistant DA, caught him mid-stride. “Besides, this place is so much cooler than city hall.”
“No problem,” he lied with a smile to match her too big and bright one. For over an hour, the mayor’s council had locked down his conference room. They were a small group of prominent members in town who counseled the mayor on all things St. Geneva.
“Hey, congratulations on your Margot Award! I’ll be giving a speech at the ceremony … maybe we can carpool up to the big city?”
Used up on small talk, he took a sip of his coffee and tried to think of a way out of this conversation. Levi nearly forgot about the philanthropist award business owners received for excellence. However, the camp for underprivileged kids at the resort had nothing to do with him. Cayden put the whole thing together.
As he thought of a way to gently let Taylor down, his partner’s rich voice broke through his pile of excuses. She rounded the corner with Katie. Loose hair cascaded over the shoulder of her strappy dress, and his heart skipped a beat. “So how much would three more miniature ponies cost?”
“That’s a good question, Ms. Young. Can I get back to you on—”
“Katie, that is far from a good question,” he interrupted them with a sigh before the conversation got too far out of hand. “No more ponies.”
“But those two are super lonely … you saw them.” She batted her big brown eyes at him. A lesser man would have melted, but he got hip to Cayden a long time ago. Determined to stick to his guns, they stared each other down.
“Hi, I’m Taylor Garber, Assistant DA,” the brunette butted in, and Cayden took her hand with a smile. “We were just talking about Levi receiving the Margot Award. It’s an amazing program he put in place for the resort. You couldn’t do any better having such a great businessman in charge around here.”
“Yeah, he’s just a huge pony hater.”
“I’m sure he has the resort’s best interest at heart concerning the little beasts. Taking in account your type of lifestyle, you should heed his advice,” Taylor chastised her as if she were a child.
“And what type of lifestyle might that be?” Cayden asked.
Amused by the whole scene, Levi hoped she didn’t rip the attorney’s head off.
“Uh, you know … jet setting,” Taylor responded, a lot less sure of herself as the rest of the mayor’s council spilled into the lobby.
“Cayden, Cayden Young?”
“Dale Newman!”
“Soon-to-be Mayor Dale Newman,” the condescending ass said.
The actual mayor of the town teetered near death. Two years away from the end of his term, the town had to wait for him to resign or die. Considering Dale had become their only viable choice of late, Levi hoped the old geezer lived forever.
“You look awesome.” He heaped the compliments onto Cayden. Tall but not close to Levi’s height, Dale scooped Cayden up into a big bear hug. “How the hell are you? I think I saw something about Monaco and a prince?”
“No prince.” She laughed.
“Well, in that case, how about lunch?” Dale tried to run his hand through his unmovable hair but settled on a quick pat instead. Too much damn product, Levi figured. “We just wrapped up the city council meeting and I would love to catch up.”
“Sorry, Dale, I’ve got plans.”
“Come on now, you can’t blow me off that easy.” He grabbed her arm a little too aggressively for Levi’s taste.
“She’s not blowing you off,” his mom said from behind the big idiot. “And quite frankly, I don’t appreciate you holding up our date.” Reaching over, Mom pulled Cayden out of his vise-like grip.
“Oh, sorry, Mrs. Scott. I didn’t see you there.” Dale chuckled.
“Raincheck?” Cayden’s right eyebrow twitched at her obvious lie.
Levi hid his smile behind the lid of his coffee before he took another drink.
“It was nice meeting you!” Taylor called at his mom’s and Cayden’s back. “You two would make a great couple.” She elbowed Dale before she snagged Levi’s coffee cup out of his hand and took a sip. “Whoa, doggy, that’s crazy strong.” She plopped the cup back. “Let me know about the award’s ceremony.”
“So, Cayden’s back?” Dale inquired after Taylor turned the corner. Considering Levi never had much to say to the tool, he let the question linger. “You’re not going to mess this up for me again, Scott.”
With one divorce under Dale’s belt and too many angry ex-girlfriends to count, Levi doubted he had to lift a finger. Dale’s charm only went so far. “We’re not in high school, man. If you want to chase after someone who’s not interested in you, be my guest.”
“I know you flattened my tires at prom.”
Levi closed the small space between them to breathe his hot-coffee breath in his face. “Grow the fuck up,” he growled. It would be one hell of a lawsuit if he hit the jerk on his property. Levi waited for him to throw the first punch.
“Ahem.” Katie cleared her throat. “Three miniature ponies from a good breeder will cost upwards of three thousand dollars,” she read from her phone with a quiver in her voice.
Dale’s mask of affable businessman slid back into place. “Thanks again for letting us use your facility,” he said. “Katie, always good to see you.” The fake smile he had perfected over the years returned. “Tell Cayden I look forward to that raincheck.”
Fighting back the urge to follow him to the parking lot, Levi clenched and unclenched his jaw.
“Word is he wants to run for city mayor,” she said, which broke through the angry haze that had taken over. “Honestly, who would vote for him?”
“Yeah, my mom said the same thing.” They shared a chuckle which helped knock away the slimy energy Dale left behind. Grateful that Katie stopped him from murdering the stand-in mayor, he promised to sit down with her for a marketing meeting sooner rather than later.