“Tell you what. The council is meeting for lunch today. Why don’t I schedule the first fifteen minutes for you to present your golf course design, and then you can stay and listen to our plans. Plus, Mrs. Shiller has bridge today, so you’d be eating all alone. What fun is that?”

“All right.” Sophie needed to take every opportunity to convince people her designs worked. “I’ll be there. Tribal Headquarters at eleven?”

“Yes. See you then.” Loni clicked off. Probably before Sophie could change her mind.

A couple of hours later she climbed the hill toward headquarters, her new boots working the pedals of the Jeep. She told herself that she’d taken extra care with her makeup to prepare for a business meeting and not because Jake may be at headquarters.

Then she told herself to stop lying, that it wasn’t healthy.

Loni met her at the door and took one of the large mounted designs from her hands. They headed into the familiar conference room and placed the designs on easels, then Loni introduced Sophie to three men ranging in age from sixty to ninety named Earl, Jacob, and Freddie and two white-haired women, June and Phyllis, whom she’d already met at the picnic.

“The chief may pop in, and Jake should be here sometime.” Loni gestured for Sophie to grab a plate and sandwich from the table.

“Jake is on the council?” Sophie sat beside Freddie, who looked a bit like Bob. Dream Bob.

“No. But we act much like a Board of Directors, and every board needs a lawyer.” Loni sat on Sophie’s other side and selected a turkey sandwich.

“So I hear the sheriff won the pot again this year.” Freddie pushed his plate away. His long jowls swung as he spoke, his deep brown eyes surveying a platter of cookies with interest.

“Quinn has a knack for that kind of thing.” Loni grinned. “Those boys are not in cahoots.”

“Humph,” Freddie replied around the cookie.

“What was the pot, anyway?” Sophie dropped her napkin on her empty plate.

“About two grand this year.” Freddy rubbed his chin.

Sophie swung her gaze to him. “Two thousand dollars?”

Loni shrugged. “It’s an event. Every year.” She sat back. “All right, Sophie, show us your plan.” She nodded toward the colorful renderings.

Drawing in a breath, Sophie stood and passed out packets detailing the project, with residences scattered every two acres. “The group is proposing a golf course community, most likely retirement folks, with a clubhouse and restaurant. It’s close enough to Maverick that the public could come golf for the day, maybe on the way to the tribe’s casino, three miles down the road.” She paused and crossed to the renderings. “The Charleton Group has developed similar properties all over the world with great success.”

“Didn’t the Group buy this property with a development in mind?” Phyllis asked, her face buried in the papers.

“I believe so, yes.” Sophie tightened her knees so she didn’t tremble.

“That was gutsy, since the county commissioners could refuse their permit,” Freddie chimed in.

Sophie nodded. “The Group seems confident the law will allow the development. Their lawyers are more up to date with the legal aspects of the proposal. My area of focus is just the golf course.”

“This does look like a fun course,” June mused. Her deep eyes emerged large and round from thick glasses. “Look at those sand traps around the fifth green.”

Jacob nodded. “And the water hazard on the sixteenth hole. Man, that’d be fun.”

Loni grinned. “This is a wonderful design, Sophie. I like how the residential lots are two entire acres while keeping the feel of the country. The council meets again tomorrow, and we’ll discuss an official position on your proposal.”

The council had been more receptive than Sophie had hoped. Pleasure lifted her lips in a smile and her shoulders relaxed. “Thank you.” She retook her seat.

“Our next item on the agenda is Willa’s Garden at the base of the road.” Loni perched narrow glasses on her nose.

The group peppered her with suggestions—everything from a gazebo to flowerbeds and ponds.

Loni turned toward Sophie. “Willa served on the council until she became too ill and passed away. She taught school for thirty years before that and never married. The tribe was her family.”

“So was the entire community, tribal or not,” June spoke up.

The loving way the board spoke about Willa touched Sophie. Ideas shot through her head. A community garden? “How much land are we talking? Do you want fields for sports?”

Loni shook her head. “No. In fact, we’re going to build an entire sports complex on the other side of the high school. That could be your next project. But for Willa’s Garden, we just want peace and tranquility.”

Sophie’s hands itched to get ahold of her charcoals and start designing. But she’d never designed a garden. “Well, I can draft up a design for you and then see what you think.”

“By Wednesday?” June’s eyes lit up.

Sophie nodded, trying to contain her own excitement. “I can have a rough design by then.”

“Excellent.” Earl leaped to his feet. “Come on guys, bingo starts in an hour at the casino.” The other two men tossed their empty plates into the trash and followed him out the door.

“Thanks again, Sophie,” Freddie called over his shoulder.

Sophie smiled. They’d drawn her in as if she were one of them. Being included shouldn’t matter to her. Yet she couldn’t lose the smile. She stood to help Loni clear the rest of the table. She expected a handshake, but both ladies gave her gentle hugs on their way out the door.

A deep voice from the doorway startled her. “Drop those sandwiches, Mom.” Jake strode into the room, his eyes on the food as his mother handed over the plate.

Sophie had thought the man was devastating in chaps. That was nothing compared to his look in full charcoal-gray Armani. The strength of his upper torso was evident through the dark silk, and his red tie breathed of power. The subtle stripe in his pants emphasized the impressive length of his legs. Butterflies danced in her stomach.

She lived in a big city. Muscles were earned in gyms and exercise rooms. Jake earned his the hard way—outdoors battling nature, lending a wildness to a man she should resist. Men like him didn’t exist in her world, and she didn’t fit in with theirs. But those butterflies beat with furious wings and didn’t give a hoot about logic. Or safety.

She needed to shut her mouth before she drooled.

His dimple winked and his gaze slid over her face like a kid eyeing licorice in a candy store. Her gaze dropped to his lips. She remembered how his mouth felt against hers, his tongue tangling with hers, and she flushed. His lips curved in response.

“How was court, dear?” Loni pushed the plate of cookies toward her son and broke the tension.

Jake released Sophie’s gaze and dropped into a vacated chair. “Idiot EPA,” he mumbled between bites.

“Jake, are you done for the day?” Loni asked.

“Definitely.”

“Good. Sophie needs to see the five acres for Willa’s Garden, and I have an appointment in town. Would you show it to her?” Loni edged toward the door.

“Subtle, Mom. Yes, I’d love to show Sophie around.”

The double meaning wasn’t lost on Sophie. Probably wasn’t lost on any of them.

“Good. ’Bye.” Loni made her escape.

Sophie clasped her suddenly trembling hands. She had the oddest urge to tackle the lawyer to the ground and steal a kiss but busied herself gathering the extra copies of her presentation. What was wrong with her?

“So they suckered you in, huh?” Jake turned amused eyes on her.

Oh yeah. Her job. The one she loved. Man, she lost all sense of reality when Jake was around. She ran a quick hand over her face. “Completely. Easily and without much of an effort.” Of course it helped that she wanted to design the garden.

“They do that.” Jake grabbed another cookie. “But—” He paused, obviously to choose the right words. “The tribe isn’t going to support the Charleton Group’s proposal on that land no matter how much we like your design.”

Sophie stilled. “Are you sure?” Maybe he was wrong about the council. They’d seemed to like her golf course design.

Jake rubbed his chin. “They may seem like a sweet, old, bingo-playing group, but they’re ruthless. Before you know it, ten years will have passed and you’ll have designed everything from memorials to summer gardens. We both know you’re meant to be in the city.”

She frowned. “We both know I belong in the city?” The man had just met her. At his nod, she raked her gaze over his now relaxed form. “Look who’s talking. Armani looks good on you, Jake.” She’d bet anything he was a force to watch in a courtroom.

One eyebrow lifted. “I was in court today.”

“Obviously. What wrong are you and the EPA trying to right?”

“Ah, stereotyping, are we?” His narrowed eyes belied his lazy drawl.

Heat roared through her ears. “Excuse me?”

“I sat on the opposite side from the EPA today, sweetheart.” He explained why the tribes often sat across the fence from the government.

She tilted her head. Every time she thought she had a handle on Jake Lodge, he surprised her again. His analytical mind complemented his sexy grin in a way that would intrigue any woman. She had to fight her attraction in order to save her uncle’s company.

“Come on, we can load these, and then I’ll take you to the memorial site.” Jake stood and tossed his trash into the can before grabbing both foam boards with the golf course designs and holding out a hand.

She relaxed as he turned off that direct stare and placed her hand in Jake’s much larger one. Warmth shot heat to her lower stomach. Warmth she didn’t want to feel.