AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Thank you.”
My tone was formal, and I hated it. But damn it, I was there to do a job, to redeem myself professionally. I’d made my decision to make my work be my life’s focus, and I would live with the consequences, whatever they might be. Even if they hurt.
CHAPTER 15
Bennett
NO ONE COULDever accuse me of not being a man of my word. Just over twenty-four hours since Claire had asked, I’d pulled together a gathering of the local business commission members, and all but one was in attendance. It had only cost me a round of beer on the house. I’d even borrowed some basic AV equipment from the public library so Claire could show her stupid presentation. I didn’t bother telling her that it would be lost on this group.
“Should we get started?” I asked the group once everyone had a cold drink in front of them.
“Let the lady talk first,” someone called. “Be a gentleman.”
“And hurry it up!” someone else added. “I’m missingCSI.”
“No, you’re not,” the first speaker argued.
“The hell I’m not. I taught my wife how the TV works, and if I’m not home, she’ll stream it without me.”
I nearly smirked.Tough crowd.My gaze locked with Claire’s, and I knew she was thinking the same thing I was.
“I’d wish you luck…” I said with a shrug.
“But you wouldn’t mean it,” she finished.
Things between us had been great, but there was always a massive elephant in the room. That night, the beast was being unleashed. I wondered if she was as regretful about it as I was. Truth be told, I would have been happy putting off this meeting longer, but with Mayor Stoltz’s deadline approaching, Claire was getting impatient. I couldn’t blame her—she was here to do a job, and she had too much integrity not to fulfill her obligations. And honestly, I wouldn’t respect her otherwise. It was a damn quandary.
She cued up her presentation. “Can someone dim the lights?”
“Then I won’t be able to see!” someone protested. “I have night blindness.”
Mouth agape, Claire blinked. This crowd wasn’t the usual group of suits she was probably used to dealing with. If so much hadn’t been on the line, I would have laughed. As it was, I took a step back, folded my arms, and leaned on the bar. She’d wanted this rodeo, so she’d have to rein them in. And again, if the circumstances had been different, I would have loved watching her work.
“Um, it’s okay,” Claire said. “We can leave the lights on. I brought handouts.”
Damn.The woman was nothing if not prepared. I wished I hadn’t gone through the trouble of borrowing the AV equipment. The librarian had stopped short of taking a blood sample before she let me have it. Granted, I wasn’t exactly a trusted library patron. I might have still had outstanding fines from when my eleventh grade English teacher made us check out books for research.Who needs books when we have the internet? Good old Mrs. Perkins, rest her soul.
By some miracle, Claire made it through the first seven minutes of her presentation without being interrupted, but that could have been because the members were too busy reading ahead to actually listen to what she was saying. I tried to determine if that worked in her favor.
I fucking hated this. I cared for this woman, but I wholeheartedly wanted her to fail in this endeavor. It was a shitty situation to be in.
I wondered how she felt about it. If her preparation and professionalism in this meeting was any indication, she was more determined than ever. I tried to read the room, and I scowled when I saw a few heads nodding in agreement.Fuck.That wasn’t how this was supposed to go. But Claire knew her shit. If I hadn’t already made up my mind, she might have convinced me.
“Wouldn’t a casino increase crime?” Martin asked. He was the dart shark who’d hustled Claire’s sister their first night at the Brew Co.
“That’s a great question.” Claire smiled. She’d obviously anticipated the inquiry. “Studies show there is no correlation between violent crime and casinos.”
Martin grunted in response.
After years of him hanging around my bar, I could decipher his grunts. That one was positive.Damn it.
“Markham resorts have been rated as some of the safest in the country,” she added. “There is on-site security that works in conjunction with local authorities.”
“Security?” Martin crossed his arms. “Now, just wait a gosh-darn minute. Why do the resorts need security? What kind of clientele are they attracting?”
There was a chorus ofyeahs. This reaction was more to my liking, though I stepped forward in case the group got belligerent. I wanted them to respectfully disagree with Claire not be assholes to her.
She didn’t seem fazed. “The security is a precaution so that the influx of people does not overtax the local authorities, which brings me to my most important point. We all know how wonderful the Carolina Banks is, and the resort will allow more people to enjoy it.”
