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The solitude, though foreign to a native New Yorker, actually appealed to her. Sometimes the hustle and bustle of city life could be so tiring. A glance out at the distant horizon, where the lonesome landscape butted up against the reddish outcrop, made her feel like she was on a different planet from the one she’d known all her life.
Cord crossed his arms and shifted his weight against the railing. “Let’s get down to business. Are you here because you’ve decided to hang up your designer heels in exchange for a pair of scuffed-up cowboy boots?”
“Not exactly.”
“But you are interested in the acreage I have for sale, aren’t you?”
“The thing is…” She hesitated, searching for just the right words.
“If it’s the price, it’s non-negotiable.”
“It’s not that.”
Concern flickered in his dark eyes. “You do want the land, don’t you?”
“Yes, I do.” Alexis strove for a strong, confident tone. “The thing is, I’m not interested in buying it for personal reasons. I’m a land developer.”
“What?” A whole host of expressions filtered across his face. “You mean, like those people who divvy up huge tracts of land to turn it into residential property?”
“Well, yes, but that’s not what we want to do here.” She reached into her purse, pulled out one of her business cards, and handed it over.
“What do you want to do here?” He accepted the card, but he didn’t so much as glance at it before stuffing it in his pocket.
“Does it matter as long as you get your money?” When his brows furrowed together, she decided to take a different approach. “Normally I’d make this offer through your real estate agent, but this project is very personal to me. I thought if we could talk one-on-one, we could reach a quick and equitable agreement.”
“I don’t know about this.” He ran a hand over the back of his neck. “This isn’t what I’d been expecting.”
“My company is prepared to meet your asking price.” The way his brows furrowed into a dark, formidable line, she hesitated to say more. She worried that if she mentioned the ghost town now, he’d balk.
“Yesterday at the store you knew who I was, but you didn’t let on.” His narrowed gaze held hers. “You make me wonder what you’re really up to.”
Gone was the kind, thoughtful cowboy who’d teased her about her craving for chocolate and who’d taken time out of his day to show her his impressive stallion. She narrowed her gaze in on him. She just couldn’t make up her mind about him.
She glanced away, breaking their connection. “I didn’t know who you were at first. It wasn’t until we were on the sidewalk that I heard the ghost town mentioned and put two and two together. I tried inviting you to dinner to explain things, but you shot down my offer, more than once.”
He glowered at her. “You should have said something as soon as you realized who I was.”
No matter what she said now, he’d take exception to it. He was definitely in no frame of mind to be receptive to her plans. Time to back off and let him absorb her offer. “I’m simply offering you what no one else has, the full asking price for the land.”
“And you haven’t denied that there’s something you’re hiding from me.”
She crossed her arms, not about to be bullied into an admission. She was tired of men who thought she should cave in to their demands. First, her father and then her ex-fiancé. And look where that had gotten her—her father didn’t believe she was capable of running HSG without him, and her ex had had the nerve to replace her without even bothering to tell her that they were over. Well, things would be different with Cord. Of that she was certain.
She straightened her shoulders and tilted her chin upward, meeting the cowboy’s hard stare. She refused to let him intimidate her. He’d get his answers, but not like this. Past experience had taught her that sometimes the two negotiating parties needed to part company mid-negotiation. The downtime allowed common sense to settle in before they met again and tried to resolve any lingering issues. That’s exactly what was needed here—a chance for Cord to cool down.
“You need me,” she said, knowing about his financial bind. “And when you come to that conclusion, you can reach me at the motel in town. Good day, Mr. Lawson.”
Alexis lowered her sunglasses to the bridge of her nose. Without another word, she marched down the steps. She could feel Cord’s glare poking her in the back, but she refused to acknowledge him.
Had she made the right move? Or had she taken too hard of an edge with him? Was she walking away from her only opportunity to successfully complete this project? She envisioned how the news of her failure would send her father’s heart rate soaring through the roof. Her stomach churned. She’d
already come too close to losing him. She’d do her best to keep it from happening again.
The knowledge that the contrary cowboy couldn’t afford to be egotistical for long gave her some peace of mind. Soon, reality would settle in, and then the stubborn Mr. Cord Lawson would be more agreeable to her terms.
And if not…she was working on a backup plan.
Before she’d left New York, Alexis had set up a meeting with one of New Mexico’s leading real estate agents to talk about other prospective properties for HSG’s ghost-town resort. Not about to take any chances upsetting her father when his health was so precarious, she wanted to have something to show him if she couldn’t make the Haggerty deal work. Luckily, the Realtor had mentioned he’d be passing by Whistle Stop today and they’d made arrangements to meet at the Poppin’ Fresh Bakery at ten. Apparently, the bakery’s reputation for divine baked goods was known far and wide.
