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He whipped around at the sound of the familiar-sounding feminine voice. A tight feeling settled in his chest as he came face-to-face with Hope. She was just as spectacular as he remembered her being. Today she was dressed in a pair of casual yoga pants and a long-sleeved shirt. Much like the last time he saw her, Hope’s beautiful face was twisted in disgust. “What are you doing here?”
“It’s beautiful.” The words slipped out of his mouth. Why had he said that? He sounded like an inarticulate idiot. Truth be told, he was off the charts intelligent and very verbal. Something about Hope made him tongue-tied.
“It’s called trespassing.” Hope folded her arms across her chest and glared at him. Her almond-shaped, brown eyes were flashing. He took a step closer, mesmerized by the little gold flecks glinting from her eyes.
“Wow. Your eyes are pretty spectacular.”
Hope frowned. “Seriously? Do you think you can distract me from your presence here and your identity by giving me false compliments? Does that normally work for you?”
He smiled at her. “False? No way. I don’t give out fake compliments. It’s not my style.”
Hope rolled her eyes. “Is this the part where I’m supposed to swoon and get all fluttering eyelashes over the cute surfer boy?”
Grayson felt a burst of joy flutter inside him. “Aww. So you think I’m cute, huh?”
Hope’s cheeks flushed a pinkish color. Uh oh. She looked mad again. She let out a sound of frustration. “You really are full of yourself, aren’t you?”
“Not at all. I’m actually the shy, bashful type.”
He could have sworn he saw the corners of Hope’s mouth twitch with merriment. She quickly reined it in and continued to scowl at him.
“Can we call a truce or something?” Grayson asked, shooting her his most dazzling smile. “After all, I’m new to Savannah and I don’t know a soul except you.”
“You don’t know me. And I certainly don’t know you,” she said, a skeptical look etched on her face.
Grayson placed a hand over his chest. “You wound me. I thought we were buddies. After all, you saved my hide the other day.”
“Trust me, if I’d have known who you were, I wouldn’t have wasted my supplies.”
He raised his eyebrows. “Are you saying you wouldn’t have tended to my injury if you’d known who I was before you let me in to your home?”
“Of course I would have. I would have told you to hold your foot out and then poured a bottle of rubbing alcohol over your wound.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “And you would have stayed outside the entire time.”
Grayson let out a low whistle. “Wow. That’s really cold. I mean…I didn’t think you had it in you.” He narrowed his gaze. “Honestly, you look like butter wouldn’t melt in your mouth. But I guess I was wrong.”
Hope held her chin up. “Don’t mistake my kindness for weakness. I’m not a shrinking violet.”
“No, you’re not. You’re like a rose with thorns.” Grayson placed his palm over his heart. “Ouch. It seems you’re determined to hurt my feelings.”
Hope rolled her eyes. “Spoken by the guy whose main goal is to take away my livelihood. And trample over our rights of inheritance.”
“That’s not my intention! What kind of man do you think I am?” Grayson asked. His pride felt a little wounded at Hope’s harsh words. He wasn’t used to being criticized. For the most part, women adored him. Clearly, Hope Matthews was not most women.
A low chuckle emerged from somewhere deep inside Hope. “Do you really want me to answer that question?” she asked.
Grayson counted to ten. There was no use in getting frustrated or angry. He reminded himself that all Hope knew about him was his lawsuit seeking ownership of Savannah House. If the shoe was on the other foot, he’d be livid. “Hope. I think we got off on the wrong foot. Clearly, there’s a little tension here due to the lawsuit. I am not a bad guy. I’m simply someone who sees things a little differently than you do. And that puts us at odds.”
For a moment Grayson thought Hope might be breathing fire like a dragon from medieval times. He almost took a step backward.
“You’re suing us!” she fumed. “This isn’t some simple matter that will resolve on its own. You’re dragging us into court.”
“You’re angry at me, right? Because of the lawsuit.”
Hope huffed. “Does that surprise you?” she snapped.
“A little bit. But honestly, it’s not personal,” he explained.
“Well what is it then? Because up to this point, we’re a little bit in the dark, which I actually think is a deliberate strategy you cooked up with your attorney. You wanted to bring us to our knees by filing this vague lawsuit and now you’ve shown up here in Savannah to rattle us.”
