AllFreeNovel
Share Us
With me.
I needed to take a different approach.
“So, in your opinion, if we build the tower on the west?—”
“That’s the only place to put the tower. For you to think it should be on the east is the dumbest idea I’ve ever heard. You clearly know nothing about construction or the importance of the layout of a hotel.” His eyes narrowed. “The fucking east. You have to be kidding me.”
I smiled as I took in his face, something I was positive would annoy him, so I grew my grin even wider.
I understood Cooper much better than he realized. Because despite how much it would pain him to hear this, he was very similar to my brothers. And I’d mastered the two of them.
That didn’t mean he wasn’t a giant asshole. That just meant that I understood his kind of asshole-ness.
I folded the blueprints and tucked the heavy paper under my arm, my fingers gently landing on his bicep once they were free. “Come with me for a moment, will you?”
“Rowan …” My name came out like a roar. “I don’t have the fucking patience for this. There’s nothing to discuss. We’re going with a west build-out?—”
“Except there is something to discuss, Cooper. In fact, everything is up for discussion.” I was going to make this man learn to compromise even if it drained every bit of endurance I had. “What you’re forgetting or maybe what you’re ignoring is that this isn’t just your project. That means, when it comes to anything—like the build-out, the design, the processes that are implemented within the hotel—you have to consult with me.” I straightened my shoulders, facing off as I felt a battle begin to erupt. “You don’t have the authority to tell me which side of the lot the high-rise will be constructed. That’s something we’lldecide together whether you like it or not. So, stop chirping and come with me.”
His nose flared as he exhaled, the air so hot that it looked like steam as it hit the coldness outside. “You have balls.”
He was right.
But it was also necessary to bring him down because the place he was perched on right now was far too high for his own good.
“And there’s nothing I fucking like about that.”
My grin grew wider. “I know.” I tightened my grip on him, surprised that he hadn’t thrown my fingers off. “Come on. There’s something I want to show you, and you’re wasting time.”
It took a few seconds before he broke eye contact and started walking. But when he did, our feet crunched across the pressed snow as I led him toward the road.
“Does it ever stop snowing here?” I said mostly to myself, glancing up as the little flurries touched down on my eyelashes. “I can’t wait to experience summer here.”
“Why?”
I turned my head just enough to look at his profile, wishing I didn’t remember what it’d felt like when I was kissing that cheek. “The water sports on the lake are going to be so fun.”
“Fun?” The annoyance was etched into his face now. “Who the fuck is going to have time for fun? When the two of us move to Lake Louise for this build-out—something I’ll never come to terms with—it’s going to be a twenty-four/seven job. Fun won’t be on the agenda, sweetheart.”
He could take hissweetheartand shove it.
Because he was wrong.
Again.
“The first two months of construction will only hold us up six days a week …sweetheart,” I countered. “After the first two months, when we start concentrating on the details, yes, thehours will be grueling. But during my time off, however much that ends up being, I have every intention of spending some time on that water.”
“You do you, Rowan.”
“And what are you going to do?”
As his eyes locked with mine, a flicker came across them. I couldn’t tell if it was heat or anger, but the change came with a wave of emotion even if it was brief.
“Not spend it with you.”
Dick.
“You know, you’re such a gift, Cooper.”
