The Billionaire Op - Lori Ryan Page 0,9

about this. She couldn’t be more wrong about him. So, he liked Jennie? He’d liked a lot of women. Some he’d dated and others he hadn’t.

Liking Jennie when he couldn’t date her didn’t mean he was damaged in some way. And it didn’t mean he wouldn’t date the next woman who came along and caught his eye.

Right?

His eyes found Jennie again, but he forced himself to look away. He really needed to make a point to start seeing someone. His mom might be overbearing at times, but she was right about one thing. It was high time for him to get the hell past Jennie Evans. He’d let this go on way too long already.

Chapter 4

Jack and Andrew listened as their friend, Peter Mihalik, described the resort property he wanted them to evaluate for him. He was looking to purchase the property from a friend of his family but wanted Jack’s and Andrew’s opinion of the property as an investment.

“The owner, Jonathan, has carried his nephews for years.,” Peter explained as he cut into his steak. “Jonathan’s brother and sister-in-law were killed in a car accident when the brothers were twenty and twenty-one. They were a little wild and out of control. They partied a lot, got into a mess of trouble, and brought a lot of stress on the rest of the family. Jonathan had the resort, so he sent them there to run it. It’s never been entirely clear to me why he thought that would be a good idea. They’re not the brightest guys and I think they’re pretty damn lazy. I’m fairly sure the brothers let the managers run the place and they just party and live off their uncle,” Peter said with a shrug.

“Why is he looking to sell it now?” Jack asked.

“He’s getting older. He also owns Master Blend Winery so his focus has been on wine for years. He doesn’t get out to the resort at all anymore. Seems like he wants it out of his hair. Wants the brothers closer to home. I’m pretty sure he’ll set them up with a cushy job here. But, if I’m right about them not actually doing any work, despite drawing a salary, and living on the property, then the investment would be a good one. For anyone buying the property, the brothers’ salaries would become instant profit. If the general manager wanted to live on the property, she could take over the villa the brothers share,” Peter said.

Andrew took a sip of his drink before speaking. “And you want us to look into it for you. See if it’s the great buy it looks like it’ll be?”

Peter nodded. “If you can. I don’t expect you to send anyone out there like you do for your own investments. I was hoping you could look over the paperwork Jonathan sent over. See what you think.”

Jack grinned at Andrew and there was a hint of something in his eyes.

“What are you thinking?” Andrew asked Jack.

“That Chad and Jennie could use a vacation,” Jack answered before turning to Peter. “You said this resort is mostly for honeymooners and young couples? Can you give us a couple weeks to position ourselves and get back to you?”

Peter looked back and forth between the two of them. “What are you guys plotting?”

“We know a couple that could use a fake honeymoon. I think we’ll send two of our team members over there after all. Give us time to have our people take a look. We’ll get back to you. In the meantime, can you send me all the financials Jonathan gave you? I can fax a nondisclosure over to you this afternoon,” Jack said.

The men shared a few more drinks and caught up over the rest of their meal, but Jack was already scheming in the back of his mind.

He’d watched Jennie and Chad dance around each other for almost a year now. Even though they seemed happy on the outside, he knew they were both missing something in their lives. If he and Andrew could give them the push they needed, to see if there might be more between them than great chemistry, he’d do it. An undercover assignment as honeymooners for two weeks might be just the thing to push those two over the edge.

Chapter 5

“Getting too old for this, Jack?” Chad asked his cousin as he, Jack, and Andrew walked off the basketball court after three hours of pickup play.

“You do seem to be limping a little there, Jack,”