in place to judge whether it was too much or not enough. There was a fine balance. I was grateful for the program I used to do mockups. I had all the pictures loaded into my computer, and now that I had the exact measurements, I was hoping to come up with a solid plan.
“Thank you. I need to take all of this back to the office and start running scenarios.”
“What about the dining room?” Parker asked me.
“Crap,” I muttered. “I forgot about that.”
We packed up and moved to the formal dining room. We were doing something small there. Nothing too over the top. We wanted to keep it classy without crowding the space too much. We spent another ten minutes taking pictures and measuring the corner where we would be placing a tree.
“I think we have it all,” Parker said.
“We do,” I agreed. “Now it’s time to do the real work.”
“The real work?” Cori exclaimed. “We have been busting our ass since this morning. Can we break for lunch?”
“We can order a pizza. We don’t have time to stop and eat.”
“You are crazy.”
“I’m on a deadline.”
“But we still need to eat,” she whined.
“Eat and join us when you’re finished.”
She put a hand on her hip. “I’m sure Parker would like to eat.”
I glanced at Parker, who looked caught in the middle. “I’m fine.”
“I’ll order pizza and bring it in. Sheesh, you could really learn how to relax.”
I didn’t stop to say another word. I really did have a lot to get done and not a lot of time.
Chapter 14
Chase
I looked over the final plans for the grand opening. The chef was taking care of the food order, but I wanted to make sure there was plenty. We were running an open bar and I expected the alcohol to flow freely. I wanted my guests to feel spoiled. I wanted them to feel like they were royalty. When they remembered their visit to my resort, they were going to remember feeling like they were spoiled rotten.
I signed my name to a stack of invoices, refusing to look at the numbers. I knew the grand opening was going to blow the budget out of the water. I had given myself a generous budget and I was still going way over it. I spared no expense. I hoped it didn’t blow up in my face.
I heard a knock on my office door. “Come in,” I said, expecting it to be Jake.
Nick walked through, looking around the room. “This is quaint,” he said with a laugh.
“I don’t need a top-floor office in Denver. I need to be on site. I can’t be like you and sit in an ivory tower while a windfall of cash rains down on me.”
“It works for me,” he said and took a seat.
“What brings you here?” I asked him.
“I needed to see what this was all about. You’ve been off the radar for months. I was beginning to get worried about you.”
“I’ve been doing this. This stuff doesn’t just happen. It takes time and work. What are you really doing here?”
“I was going to see if you were interested in making more money.”
“I might need to after I get done with this grand opening. This is going to bury me.”
“You’re going all out, huh?”
I grinned, excited to tell him about all of our plans. “It’s going to be huge. It’s going to be unlike anything anyone in our circle has seen before. I want them to be impressed.”
“I saw your little squad in the lobby. Cori’s involved?”
“She is. She has some really great ideas. She wants to do a pop-up shop.”
“Really?”
“Yep. She’s been a huge help.”
“Who are the other two?”
“My new marketing manager and her assistant.”
He gave me that look. “Bullshit.”
“What do you mean?”
“I saw the girl with the auburn hair. I know you’re hot for her. Is that why you hired her?”
“You are such a jackass. No. She’s very good. You can’t see it now, but she has some pretty wild ideas. I’ll let you in on a little secret, but you cannot tell anyone. Not yet.”
“Just tell me.”
“We’re going to offer a Santa concierge service. Every room will have their own personal Santa to deliver gifts, food, whatever they want. They will get pictures and the whole nine yards.”
“That isn’t cheap. Was that her idea?”
“Yes, actually.”
“I knew it.”
“What? Why?”
He grinned. “Because that’s a brilliant idea and I know you didn’t think of it.”
“Harper did. She had an inside lead on some Santas that needed work. It