her father sitting in one of the wicker rockers outside.
“Daddy.” She came forward and bent down to give him a hug. “How’s retirement treating you?”
He pushed up his silver-rimmed glasses. “I’m still adjusting,” he said gruffly. “Miss the resort, but I’ll make do.”
“We miss you, too.”
Her father guffawed. “No, you don’t. You’re like me. I know you’re glad to have the run of the place without my interference.”
Kimberly shrugged. “I guess the apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree?” She smiled at him. His face didn’t look a day over fifty, she thought, though his salt-and-pepper hair and mustache gave away his age. For some reason she felt a little sentimental looking at him. Perhaps her conversation with Jack had made her a touch homesick.
“Never has,” her father said. “But all is well?”
She shook off her thoughts. “Yes, everything is fine.”
“You know you don’t fool me,” her father replied. “You’ve always been a bad liar, Kimberly. So why don’t you tell me what’s really going on?”
“Can’t I visit my parents without the Spanish Inquisition?” She rose in a huff from her seat.
“Sit back down, girl.”
Kimberly rolled her eyes at the commanding tone in his voice. Once upon a time, it would have stricken her with fear, but not anymore. But out of respect, she walked back to her seat.
“This is about your brother?”
Kimberly nodded and was irked that he could read her so easily. “Have you heard? Sean’s opening a new restaurant.”
“Not from him.” Her father reached for a cigar out of his cigar box next to the rocker. He cut the edge with a guillotine and lit it up. “One of my pals at the club told me while we were out on the ninth hole. Imagine my surprise to hear this from a stranger and not from your brother.”
“I had no idea, either, until Robyn told me today,” Kimberly responded. “I tried to play it off like I knew, but I didn’t. I mean I know he always wanted a place to call his own.”
“He had that at The Pearl.”
“Apparently he didn’t think so. For him, being executive chef at The Pearl and managing the resort went hand in hand. He didn’t want one without the other.”
“Your brother is stubborn,” he said as he puffed on his cigar. “He couldn’t see what I see.”
“Which is?”
“The big picture. He internalized my decision, when it was strictly business. There’s a lot more to the Belleza than just the kitchen, as you’re fully aware.”
“I am.”
“Then good, let’s not beat the dead horse. I wish your brother much success with his newest endeavor, but I don’t regret my decision for one moment.”
Just then, her mother came up the steps with a wicker basket full of large, plump tomatoes. “How about some dinner?”
Kimberly breathed a long sigh of relief. Coming here had been the right choice. Hearing her father reaffirm his decision that she run the Belleza was exactly what she needed to hear. “Thanks, Daddy.”
“Have you seen the papers?” Jaxon’s best friend, Nate Griffin, asked him on the phone the following morning as Jaxon walked into the Belleza’s gym for his morning workout.
“No, what are they saying now?” Jaxon stopped short of the doors and stepped aside for some privacy. He didn’t want anyone hearing his conversation or associating him with the Dunham family.
“Stephanie is claiming that you made promises to her, that you went back on your word.”
“You know I never promised that woman a darn thing,” Jaxon responded harshly. “We agreed to a mutually beneficial dating scenario, which once over should have been over.”
“She doesn’t seem to think so. She’s telling every gossip columnist or blogger in the Beverly Hills area that you broke her heart and she’s completely devastated.”
“Well, if she’s looking for sympathy, she’s not going to get any from me,” Jaxon replied. “Did I tell you she’s the one who told my parents we were getting engaged?”
“No, you didn’t. You just rushed off and left Beverly Hills without a word.”
“I’m sorry about that, but I had to bounce. The heat was on.”
“Where are you?”
“Can’t tell you that,” Jaxon said. Walls had ears and he didn’t want anyone in his family to find out where he was until he was good and ready.
“I’m supposed to be your boy.”
“And you still are. I just need some time away from the Dunham clan—hell, from the entire situation. To get some perspective. You understand?”
“Of course I do. I have your back. I could have told you that Stephanie was no good. Those society types are always looking for a husband. When she saw you, she saw fresh meat.”
Jaxon laughed at the analogy. “I’ll talk to you soon, Nate. I gotta get my workout on.”
“All right, Jaxon, take care of yourself, man.”
“You can bank on it.”
Jaxon ended the call and pulled the handle to enter the facility. The Parker family had spared no expense when they’d renovated the Belleza a few years ago. The gym was state-of-the-art. It had the usual equipment and flat screens, but it also contained a glass-fronted fridge with cold water, towels, alcohol wipes and, most important, a killer view of the mountains. He was about to head over to the rows of free weights when a curvy backside caught his attention. He would know that backside anywhere. It was the same one that had him up last night wondering what it would be like to run his hands over it.
It didn’t help that she was wearing one of those skimpy outfits that women loved to wear to the gym under the guise of working out. Most wanted to show off their figures and have men take notice. Kimberly, however, appeared oblivious to the appreciative stares of the men in the gym. The hot-pink halter sports bra and matching capris she wore looked as if she’d been spray-painted into them. They revealed her sculpted arms, legs and firm behind.
He walked over to the treadmill where Kimberly was jogging and added a taut stomach to that description of her amazing figure. It was well earned because even though she was running at a steady pace, only a light sheen was on her forehead. She had on earbuds, so he was forced to move in front of the treadmill to catch her eye. When he did, she stumbled and had to press Stop on the treadmill to prevent herself from falling.
“Are
