Free Goodbye Gifts: (The Steamy Version) (A 'HOT' Castle Mountain Lodge Romance Book 5) by Elena Aitken Page A

one of those fancy suites like where Gage Mitchell stayed when he was here. Bill, he was the star of Extinction . And that new Western show. I can never remember the names of these—“
    “ Tumbleweed ,” Carmen supplied.
    “Tumble-what?”
    “ Tumbleweed ,” Carmen repeated. “That’s the name of the show.”
    Her mother waved her hand. “Whatever. It doesn’t matter. Did you get us one of those suites? I hear they’re quite fancy and have their own living rooms and—“
    “Linda, I’m sure whatever room Carmen got us will be fine,” her father interrupted. “We’re just happy to be here, kiddo. It’s been too long.”
    Carmen grabbed the handle of a suitcase and started walking towards the elevator bank. “It has been awhile.” She tried not to do a mental countdown of how many hours she had left in their visit, but the idea of spending some time with Dylan and away from her family was becoming more and more appealing by the second.

    Dylan forced himself to focus on the task at hand, which at that moment was dealing with his general contractor. He glanced one more time out the window at the sunny fall day. He'd been in his makeshift office, an empty boardroom that Trent had given him to use, since six a.m. He'd already decided to work at least until one o'clock before taking a break because he knew exactly where that break would take him, and once he found Carmen, he was pretty sure he wouldn't be returning to the office. At least that was his hope.
    With a sigh, he pushed thoughts of Carmen out of his mind for the moment and dialed the number for Jake Mentz, his head contractor working on the Springs, returning his call. He already knew what Jake was going to want. The same thing he'd been wanting to know for the last few weeks—when he was going to get paid. And Dylan would have an answer for him, too. Just as soon as Trent showed up with the signed contract from the Braxtons. But Dylan couldn't put off the call any longer.
    The phone rang only once before Jake picked up.
    "Harrison."
    "Hey, Jake. Sorry it's taken me a few days to get back to you. I've been trying to get some answers about that issue we were talking about."
    "By issue, you mean my paycheck?”
    Jake never minced words, which is one of the things Dylan had liked about him from the beginning.
    "That's pretty much it."
    "Tell me some good news then, Harrison. I have a whole crew that's looking to get paid here next week and I can't keep sitting on promises."
    Dylan rubbed the bridge of his nose. He had two choices. He could tell Jake the truth, that the funds were close, but not confirmed. Or he could take a gamble that Jake would take his crew off the job and walk out. Well," he said after a moment. “I have good and bad news.”
    “That doesn’t sound like what I want to hear, Harrison.”
    Dylan sighed. “I’m sorry, Jake. The good news is, the investor is closer than ever to signing.”
    “But?”
    “He hasn’t yet.” Dylan braced himself for the contractor’s response.
    There was silence, and then Jake said, “You know I’ll have to stop work, Harrison. I’m sorry.”
    Dylan was afraid of that. The promise of money was just not the same as actual money. “I get it, Jake. I do. It should only be a day or two at most,” he added.
    “Let me know, Harrison. As soon as you have the funds, I’ll get my guys back on the job. But—“
    “I know.” Dylan ran a hand through his hair, tugging on the roots. “I’ll talk to you soon.”
    He hung up the phone and Dylan looked out the window in an effort to slow his thoughts. He needed to secure the Braxtons and fast. If Trent found out work had stopped on the Springs, it wouldn’t go over well. He hated to lie to him, but maybe he could just avoid the topic altogether and as soon as the Braxtons signed, everything would be back to normal. Trent better come through with the contract because without it the Springs was in real trouble. Not to mention himself. He picked up the