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“But—”
“I have brought a professional fundraiser and event planner with me,” he said, interrupting whatever she’d been about to say.
And honestly, Chloe wasn’t sure what that was. In order to have arrived right now, he’d have had to have left New York at the crack of dawn to have made the cross-continental flight, not to mention the drive from the nearest airport that could service his company jet.
Chloe’s gaze slid to the polished woman standing at Ariston’s side. Wearing a suit by a midlevel designer that would impress, but not intimidate the locals, the woman’s smile was just as perfectly targeted.
She put her manicured hand out. “Angela Carston. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Spiridakou.”
“Ms., actually.” Chloe shook the other woman’s hand. “But you can call me Chloe. You’re really here for the annual dinner auction?”
“Angela, please. And your husband is paying me a very nice fee to do just that, yes.”
“Ex … husband, that is. And thank you for being here, regardless of your reasons for doing it. I’ll be able to fly to New York once I get you up to speed on what’s been done so far and our objectives for the auction.”
She turned to Ariston, but he looked a lot less pleased than she would have expected now that he was irrefutably getting his way.
“That should only take me a few hours, at most,” she told him. “This isn’t a Spiridakou & Sons Enterprises event, or even close to that magnitude.”
He didn’t smile, but he did nod. “Good. You can do so on the plane back to New York.”
“She can’t do the job from New York.”
“She will not. Angela will fly back commercially later this week.”
“Why did you make her fly out to begin with, then?” She frowned at him, not liking the idea the other woman had been forced duplicate travel on Chloe’s behalf. “You could have told me about it over the phone.”
“I assumed you would want to meet Angela before you allowed her to take over.”
“You didn’t show me the same courtesy regarding my own business.” Though she had to give him full marks for his choice in managers for her store and gallery.
The middle-aged couple were both enamored of the art world and Chloe had liked the wife’s work so much, she’d offered a permanent revolving spot in her gallery for the woman to sell her pottery.
“They were ideal,” he countered, as if reading her mind.
She smiled, unable to help herself. “They are.”
“And yet you are not in New York today.” His frown held something akin to consternation.
“I’m not leaving here without making sure my obligations are all taken care of.”
“So you said on the phone last night.”
“And your answer was to hire a fundraising expert?”
His shrug said it all.
If he saw a problem, he fixed it.
Chloe shook her head. “You’re probably paying Angela more than the funds we expect to raise with the auction.”
“I offered to donate a lump sum in lieu of the auction.” There was no mistaking the disgruntlement he felt at her rejection of his money.
“The auction isn’t just about raising funds for community projects. It’s a social event residents of the area look forward to all year long.”
“That was the impression you gave, yes.”
“Ariston!”
“What?”
“You’re very frustrating.”
“I do not understand why. You expressed your concerns and here am I, meeting them.”
Suddenly realizing that she and Ariston had stood there talking as if Angela wasn’t even in the gallery, Chloe felt heat crawl up her cheeks. She had ignored the other woman’s presence to the extent that Chloe had as good as gotten into an argument with Ariston in front of her.
A headache forming right behind her left eye, Chloe turned to the newly hired event coordinator and grimaced apologetically. “Please pardon my lack of manners. Thank you very much for flying across country at a moment’s notice to take on this job.”
“I’m happy to be here,” Angela replied, looking supremely unfazed by her very last-minute double cross-continental trips.
“Not that you’ll be here very long at this point.” Chloe’s grimace slipped into a full frown. “You can’t be looking forward to hopping right back onto the plane.”
Angela smiled winningly. “My job often calls for travel and I’ve got to say, flying in the Spiridakou jet is a lot more comfortable than commercial.”
“It is,” Chloe had to agree. “But even the most comfortable transportation doesn’t make up for spending so many hours of a single day in the air.”
