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Jack didn't hang around. Loading her into his arms, he strode with her to the sofa, where he laid her down with the utmost care.
"Let me get you that glass of water," he insisted after propping her up on some cushions.
Harold, meanwhile, had lit up a cigarette, and was watching her through a cloud of smoke.
"She doesn't need fussing over," he snapped. "I can't believe she came on to you like that—a man like Jack Castle? How embarrassing. Don't women let you down? Eh, Jack?"
She dragged in a painful breath as Jack winked at her and straightened up. Putting his arm around Harold's shoulders, he led him towards the door.
"We both know your wife is crucial to our discussions tonight. Why don't you get her a bottle of sparkling water from the kitchen? I can't see any here, and as I don't know my way around, it will be faster if you do it."
She could hardly believe her eyes when Harold wobbled obediently to the door. He had never gone to fetch anything for her before.
Once the door had closed behind him, she challenged Jack. "So you're here to buy the house."
Jack stared at her shrewdly. "It's for sale, according to your husband. I brought a draft contract with me for you to look over."
Arabella's heart lurched. "You don't waste any time."
"You do know that your husband has been telling people he's keen to sell? I'm happy to meet the asking price."
Harold was keen to sell so he could spend every last penny—if there was anything left after they paid off their debts, which she doubted.
"Let me save you the trouble," she blurted. "There isn't an asking price, because the house isn't for sale."
So much for handling things calmly! Where the house was concerned, it seemed that emotion would always get in her way.
"Try to see things from my point of view," Jack said mildly. "This house is in the middle of the land I own. It makes sense for me to buy it."
"Not to me, it doesn't," she argued, glancing at the door. "So that wasn't an exciting ride you took me on the today. You were just touring your estate."
"I know it must hurt you to think of some stranger owning the property where you grew up—"
"You have no idea."
"I know it's all you've got," Jack said bluntly.
"You don't know anything about me."
"Maybe not," he agreed, "but I'd like to."
"Why? So you can soften me up and get me to sell?"
Jack's laugh made heat shoot through her veins. "You underestimate me, Bella. I have far more interest in you than that."
"You can't," she protested, sure that Jack Castle was mocking her.
"After what I've seen today?" Jack shrugged. "I have a lot more interest in you than the house."
"Back to discussing the house," she said firmly. "There isn't going to be a deal, because it's not for sale. This is my home—the only home I've ever known. It's been in my family for generations, and in my family it will stay."
Jack's eyes flared with amusement. "I have to admit you are one stubborn lady, and a complication I hadn't factored into my calculations."
"I bet you hadn't," she agreed.
She was so heated she was unprepared for Jack cupping her face between his big, rough hands, and demanding, "Why the fuck do you put up with this?"
"I beg your pardon?" She reeled back, and then rallied. "I don't see much difference between you and Harold. You both think you can put one over on me."
