Lana wasn’t going to win over the town. Not when she owned most of it.
“Last chance, is there anyone else who has an announcement?” Jonah asked, trying to draw everyone’s attention back to him. It wasn’t working.
Rick glanced at Lana, and for a brief moment, she let her breezy smile fall, her shoulders slumping as she nibbled on a bit of cookie. He hated being the center of attention, and everyone already knew he held a pool tournament every year right before Christmas. But too many people were staring at her, and not in the good way. Without realizing what he was doing, Rick shoved to his feet.
Standing there self-consciously, Rick said, “I’m doing the holiday pool tournament thing again this year. Same day as Lana’s thing, later that night. So…yeah.”
So far, the tournaments he held at the pool hall were still lucrative enough to keep running them. They were a pain in the ass, but they got people in the door. And lately, his door hadn’t been swinging open nearly as often as he needed it to.
“There’s a bigger prize this year,” he added. “A thousand dollars to the winner.”
Ash flashed the room a smirk. “What Rick means is I’m going to be a grand richer. If you’re smart, you’ll stay home.”
“Please, Zoey’s gonna crush you,” Graham bragged.
“You two never stop.” Zoey sighed good-naturedly. “Are you sure you aren’t all related?”
As they argued about whether or not Graham’s mother and the Lockett twins’ father could have been secretly involved in a romantic tryst, Rick stood there feeling stupid. There had been more, but he wasn’t all that interested in continuing. The only one still paying attention to him was Lana. Rick gratefully dropped back into his seat. Lana shot him an appreciative look from across the chilly room, warming him far better than the space heaters working overtime.
Man, that woman was pretty.
The first time Rick had seen Lana Montgomery on one of her many visits to Moose Springs over the last several years, his eyes had nearly fallen out of his head. That look had been by accident, and as a then happily married man, Rick had kept his eyes firmly anywhere else when the bombshell was in his vicinity.
Now that he was allowed to look, Rick tried not to. Curves like hers were dangerously fast, and Rick’s life had slowed to a crawl. Not only was he not interested in dangerous curves, he was seriously considering getting off the road permanently. Rick wasn’t a loner, but he was a private guy. And when you’re brutally, humiliatingly left in front of the entire town, it does more than make you a source of local gossip.
It makes you the most pathetic schmuck in the entire village.
Normally, Rick was not the kind of man who women like Lana noticed, so he didn’t understand why she flashed him a sweet smile across the room. He tried to return that smile, but it was awkwardly done at best, probably coming off as a grimace. The last few years hadn’t been the easiest, and Rick was out of practice. Her positivity never failed to impress him though, especially when she had her hands full with a town that hated her.
They all heard Graham’s joke that she was the evil overlord, but it was true that nearly every business owner in the town hall was waiting for the proverbial axe to fall on them. When the Montgomery Group bought out most of the commercial property in Moose Springs, it left the bulk of them at her mercy. If she felt like it, she could take down the entire town.
He was very aware of how behind he was on his business’s rent and that he owed the gorgeous woman across the row more than he could hope to regain before rent came due again.
Like everyone else, Rick was worried about keeping a roof over his and his nephew’s heads. Then again, powerful women had always been a turn-on.
Rick had zoned out, missing whatever Jonah had left to say. Apparently, the meeting was over. Jonah had places to be and things to do, even if their overworked police officer didn’t want to go there or do those things. Rick lingered in his seat, letting everyone else mill about and move toward the exit, then he rose to his feet and started to put up the folding chairs left on the barn floor.
Out of the corner of his eye, he watched Lana and Zoey in a spirited discussion as they folded chairs on the other side of the barn, but their voices were hushed. Only the words “moose” and “proper attire” were audible. Graham, who was within hearing distance of the pair as he turned off and gathered the space heaters, kept chuckling.
Ash normally would have helped, but tonight she sat on the top of the snacks table, finishing the last of the cookies instead. A cigarette was in her hand. Ash didn’t need another brother figure in her life, but Rick had been playing that role with both of them since they were kids. Besides, Christmas had been tough on all the Locketts since Ash’s and Easton’s mother had died, so he tried to pay more attention to both the twins this time of year.
“Didn’t anyone tell you it’s dangerous to smoke in a barn? And illegal?”
Not that Ash had ever let a little thing like breaking the law stop her from what she wanted to do on any given day. She snorted, waggling the travel mug she was using to flick her cigarette into.
“I live on the wild side,” she said. “Plus, no hay or Jonahs in here. I’m pretty sure it’ll be okay.”
“The elves might not like it.”
“They’re sugar addicts, all of them.”
One of the plastic elves had survived being played with by a group of children, only to be abandoned on the floor. Retrieving it, Rick stood the elf on the table next to Ash’s hip.
At her raised eyebrow, he shrugged. “You looked lonely.”
“I’m not lonely.” Except Ash spent a lot of time by herself, flying supplies up and down the state. Years of knowing her had taught Rick that the lonelier she felt, the more she smoked.
“You’re not not lonely.”
“I suppose I’ll have to go to Lana’s stupid party.” Sighing, she finished her cigarette. “Zoey will make sad eyes at all of us if we don’t.”
“It’s free cookies,” Rick said. “Who’s going to pass on those?”
Ash’s lips curved. “I don’t know, but the more that pass, the more leftovers for me.”
They’d known each other all their lives, so Rick wasn’t buying the tough routine.
“You’d go even if Zoey didn’t say anything,” he said. “You’re much nicer than you pretend to be.” Rick unplugged the coffee urn and handed it to her. “And more useful.”
“Yeah, yeah.” She slid off the table, coffee urn in one arm, and managed to light up a second cigarette one-handed.
Two cigarettes in a row was a definite sign this holiday season wasn’t going any easier on Ash than it was on Rick.
Everyone else had finished clearing up after the meeting. Since the Lockett twins were both on the town council, Easton had keys to lock up. Rick tried not to focus on Lana saying her goodbyes and heading for her Mercedes SUV. Ash and Easton went straight to Ash’s Jeep while Graham wrapped an arm around Zoey’s shoulders, the pair lingering on their way to his truck. Lana had parked right next to Rick, on the far side of the lot. Meaning he had to trail her across an empty parking lot after dark.
Well, that wasn’t creepy at all.
Stuffing his hands in his jacket pockets, Rick hoped it didn’t seem like he was following her, even though technically, he was. He had no idea if she even knew he was there…her head was down as she rapidly scrolled through a message on her phone. Rick hadn’t spent much time around Lana, but over the last several years, the socialite had visited Moose Springs enough that she was a familiar fixture in Graham’s diner, the Tourist Trap, a drink in her hand and a grin on her face. She and the bartender had been friends for a while now.
Lately, Lana’s bright smile had been replaced with a focused expression and a frown more often than not. She’d been in “work mode” ever since this summer, when the town had learned of her condominium project. It was as if Moose Springs consumed her every waking moment.
It didn’t escape Rick’s notice that he was overly aware of her facial expressions for a man who could barely get a word out when she said hi. Yep, definitely not creepy at all.
Slowing his pace so Lana reached her SUV well before he reached his car, Rick waited for her to unlock her door. She had parked facing away from the barn while he had backed in, and there wasn’t much room in between the two vehicles.
“I promise I don’t bite,” Lana told him sweetly.
Her voice was this combination of smooth and husky that made him think of blankets in front of a fireplace, warm red wine, and slow kisses beneath the firelight.
“I didn’t want to crowd you,” Rick explained, allowing himself to scoot an inch closer. He watched her unlock her SUV and set her purse on the passenger seat.
“My personal bubble is less inflated than most.” Lana offered him a warm smile as she took a step toward him. “I think I was born with it leaking.”
Rick had the sheer brain-destroying pleasure of the scent of her perfume lingering in the cold winter air.
“Mine is made of duct tape and plastic pipe,” he said randomly. “It’s indestructible.”
Lana laughed softly. “Why does that not surprise me at all?”
He shouldn’t be this focused on her eyes or how long her lashes were. Rick really shouldn’t be wondering if his own personal bubble could stand to be deflated a bit. He didn’t try to keep people at arm’s length, but he still managed to do so.
Rick probably should have said something clever, but he was saved by Graham’s truck pulling up and the window rolling down.
“Hey, Lana,” Graham called through the window. “Hold up a second. I forgot to give you something my ma made for you.”
Graham hopped out. Unlike Rick, he had no problem squeezing in between the cars to hand Lana a reusable shopping bag while Zoey waved enthusiastically from the car. Blinking in surprise, Lana looked down into the bag, her face brightening.