“Blake, I’ve finished,” he heard Gavin say.
He blinked and saw the others staring at him. He had to get back to business. “Right. The next item on the agenda is mainly for you, Trevor. One of the wealthy guests has approached me about opening a boutique here at the lodge.” He explained further.
Trevor nodded as he listened. “Sounds good. We could see—”
There was a tap at the door.
Samantha came into the room, looking slightly apologetic. “I’m sorry for the interruption, but Trevor’s assistant asked me to give him a message.” She walked toward Trevor and passed him a piece of paper. “I ran into Diana downstairs,” she said directly to him. “She was on her way up here, so I said I’d hand it to you and save her coming up.” Then she gave a general smile and turned to leave the room.
Blake watched her walk away with a slight sway to her hips that emphasized the soft lines of her body, but as she closed the door behind her, he heard Trevor mildly curse.
“What’s the matter, Trev?” Guy was the first to ask.
Trevor looked at the note and shook his head. “I don’t know what’s going on. It’s some woman called Haylie Smith. She left a message the other day saying it’s important she speak with me but that it’s private and she won’t discuss it with anyone else. I’ve never even heard of her.”
“Maybe she’s got a crush on you?” Gavin mocked.
Trevor shot his brother a look that wasn’t amused. “I don’t mind a novel approach but this is getting ridiculous.”#p#分页标题#e#
“Perhaps you should call her back,” Melissa suggested.
Trevor shook his head. “No, if it was that important she could leave a message as to why.” He grimaced. “I’ll have to let Diana know not to interrupt my meetings in future.”
“Maybe you should get a tap on your phone,” Christian said, ever the lawyer.
Erica looked at her fiancé. “Darling, the woman’s only left two messages. Hardly enough reason to put a stalking charge on her.”
“Hey, who said anything about a stalker?” Trevor choked.
“I think—” Melissa began.
“People, can we focus here,” Blake cut across her. “We have other matters at hand.”
A few seconds ticked by.
Then Trevor nodded. “Yes, of course.” His forehead creased as he thought. “Now, where was I? Right. I think we can give this Mrs. Richardson a short-term lease and see how it goes. I’m sure she won’t want a long-term lease anyway.”
Blake agreed. “Good idea. Perhaps you’d like to check out her business practices and financial situation before we decide anything further.”
“Sure.”
Blake turned to Melissa. “How’s the spa going, Melissa?”
Melissa launched into a brief report.
“And now we need to discuss plans for the upcoming ski season.” Blake looked at his half sister. “Erica, I believe you were going to prepare a report on how the Christmas bookings and the hiring of staff are going.”
Erica inclined her head, looking very efficient. “Yes, Blake, that’s right. I’ve drawn up a presentation, so if you’ll all just look at the screen…”
Blake glanced at the screen, immediately impressed by Erica’s attention to detail, and he couldn’t help but surreptitiously glance at Christian sitting down the table on his right. The other man was looking at Erica with pride and admiration. But Blake saw something in the other man’s features that reminded him of how he felt whenever he looked at Samantha.
Samantha.
Something twisted inside him. In less than ten days she would return to Vegas to wrap up everything. Then in another two weeks she would be out of his life and gone for good. He swallowed hard. There was nothing good about her going, he decided, dropping his gaze to the paperwork in front of him in case the others saw his thoughts.
The next agenda item jumped out at him.
Samantha’s replacement.
Dammit, he had to do this. It was time to bring to the table a list of suitable applications for her position. It was only fair he keep his family up-to-date. After all, the new applicant would be mainly working out of here now and he wanted everyone to—
Just then there was another tap at the door and Samantha stuck her head around it, then entered the room farther. “I’m sorry, Blake, but there’s an urgent message here for you from Mrs. Richardson. She wants you to call her back as soon as you can. It’s to do with her boutique.”
Here was the woman who was leaving him. The woman who could so easily walk away from what they had. Resentment rose in his chest and up his throat. He was tying himself up in knots for her and she was standing there looking so damn poised and polite.