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For the past few years, he seems to have gotten the upper hand. He’s been taking properties out from underneath me by giving last-minute offers marginally higher than my own and purchasing the properties before I even realize he’s looking at them. Not this time. Not this property.
“I honestly don’t know how he found out. I got a call from Caroline DuPont and she pointedly told me that Patrick Shaw was asking about property specs. She also said that he had some not very nice things to say about you.”
Shit.“Of course he didn’t. That man is the biggest pain in my ass. We need to find out who has been blabbing their mouth, and either shut them up or fire them.”
Richard is leaning forward, elbows on his knees, head down, deep in thought. “We need to do damage control on this,” he says. “We’ll get a meeting between you and Mrs. DuPont on the books. I’ll get your schedule from Hollie and set it up in the next few weeks, if possible.”
Nodding my head, I try to hide my dismay. It doesn’t matter what I’ve done, Patrick Shaw could really fuck this up for me. This property is my dream. I have the board tentatively behind me because everything I’ve ever pitched them has always turned into a cash cow for us. They are already worried about building a resort in a small beach town on the California coast. I know in my gut it’s the right move, but I need to show them results.
“Why is he interested in this property anyway?” I ask. “It’s land on the beach. Not exactly the best location for cheap housing or a shitty mini mall. It’s way out of his normal price range.”
Richard shakes his head. “It doesn’t make sense to me either. It’s possible he’s still upset about Selene.”
Selene, I had almost forgotten about her. Those two had been off and on for years. Back when I was rubbing his face in his defeats, Shaw’s little plaything had hit on me during one of their off times. I gave her the fuck of her life, and I made sure he knew about it. It wasn’t my finest hour.
“But that was years ago,” I protest. “He couldn’t still be angry over some girl, could he?”
Richard’s giving me a look like I might be a little touched in the head. “You mean SeleneShaw?” he asks.
Well, fuck.“He married that gold digger? I genuinely thought he was smarter than that.”
“Apparently, he loves her… or her family connections. You need to pay closer attention to these things,” he chastises.
I wave my hand in the air dismissively. “I’m too busy for that kind of shit. We’re going to need to go back over everything about that property and make sure there isn’t anything I’m missing. We’ve got to make sure we’re giving the best offer we can. I don’t need any of his sneaking in at the last minute and one-upping me. This is too important.”
His face is full of sympathy, but thankfully, he keeps his thoughts to himself. I’m not in the mood to psychoanalyze my need to make this hotel happen.
“Hollie and I are working late,” I tell him. “I’ll have her do some additional research while I run the numbers again. If there’s anything I’ve missed, we’ll find it.”
“It’s Friday,” he states, raising his eyebrow at me questioningly.
“Since when is that an excuse not to work?”
“You know, you could always go out and have some fun. You could try to meet someone.”
I roll my eyes at him, “Thanks, but I don’t need a mother asking me when I’m going to give her grandchildren, Rich. Go home to Flora while I handle the heavy lifting,” I tease him. I realize that he’s just looking out for me. He’s the only person who I can count on to always have my back. Usually Uncle Gilbert’s too wrapped up in himself to know or care about what’s going on. He certainly never had that paternal instinct.
We come up with a tentative plan for reworking the quotes and meeting with Caroline DuPont before he heads out for the evening.
I don’t pull my head out of my work again until I notice that the light outside my floor to ceiling windows has begun to fade. Hollie knocks and walks in with my meal from Emilio’s, setting it down on my desk.
“Grab your food. We’ll eat together so I can go over what needs to be done tonight.”
She heads back to her desk to grab whatever she’s ordered while I take the lid off the container holding my Chicken Parmigiana. I always get the same thing from Emilio’s and the Chicken Parmigiana never disappoints. She takes a seat, setting her meal down on the desk while I head over to the wet bar I keep at the back of my office. It’s been a long week and even though the meal calls for wine, I need a bourbon, especially if I’m going to be spending the evening with my sexy as hell assistant.
“Can I get you a glass of wine?” I ask her, pulling out two glasses.
“Sure,” she looks over her shoulder and gives me a small smile. “White, if you have it.”
I reach down to the small wine fridge and pull out a local Pinot Grigio to fill her a glass. Carrying both drinks back to my desk, I sit down and hand her the glass of wine.
“Thanks,” she says. As she takes the glass from me, our fingers touch and desire shoots through my body. I guess my reaction to our handshake on the day we met wasn’t a fluke. I’m pretty sure my dick has been hard more than it’s been soft since I met her.
She jerks her hand back from me, almost allowing the wine to slosh out of her glass. Looking into her eyes, I can see that they are a touch glassy. Could it be possible that she feels this connection between us as well? I certainly fucking hope not. That might tear away the last shred of restraint that I’ve been holding on to.
Clearing her throat, she looks at me with a hint of a smile on her pink lips, “I emailed Greg and had him send me a copy of the employee handbook.”
I’m not exactly sure where she’s going with this, so I cut into my chicken while she swirls her fork in what looks like some kind of seafood pasta. Thank God. I’m sick of going out with women who order a piece of lettuce and a glass of water and call it a meal. There’s something intrinsically sexy about a woman who isn’t afraid to eat in front of another person. Lord knows our society says it shouldn’t be done. Hollie’s soft curves need actual food to be maintained. It would be a shame if she tried to get rid of them.
