AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Ah, the flattery approach.It was a smart move, but she might have pulled that trick too soon.
“What if we don’t want to share more than we already do?” Martin asked,
His question was followed by someuh-huhs, mostly from the older individuals. Most of these folks had lived here their whole lives and had seen the cinder block surf shacks torn down to make way for massive beach houses.
For the first time that evening, Claire seemed taken aback, with no ready answer. Then her expression hardened, and I got a glimpse of the New York City lawyer she’d been. She looked around the room, making eye contact with each face her gaze traveled over. “I would say that’s rather selfish, but not only that, it’s untrue. All of you are in the tourism business.”
“She makes a good point,” a female voice murmured.
I peered through the crowd to see it was Jackie Landry who had spoken. Several people looked chagrined. I wasn’t one of them. I didn’t have a problem with the tourism in the Carolina Banks. I just didn’t want a massive commercial resort that would damage the integrity of the islands.
“What about you, Bennett?” Martin called. “You’ve been consorting with Ms. Holden. That doesn’t seem right. It’s a conflict of interest.”
Claire’s back stiffened. I kept my expression neutral, though I was feeling anything but that.How fucking dare he question my motives?As soon as the red in my vision cleared, I realized he had every right to do that, because Claire and I being together probably looked sketchy as hell.
“My opinion hasn’t changed,” I said, somehow managing to keep my voice even. “I’m against the resort.”
Martin blew out a breath. “How can we take your word for it when you’ve been locking lips with her all over town?”
At that remark, I was pissed, and I couldn’t shake it off so easily. For starters, we hadn’t done what he’d accused us of. I’d maybe kissed her a handful of times in my own damn bar. No one needed to make her feel guilty for that. I was a big boy—I could handle these people. But I would not tolerate anyone disrespecting my guest in my bar, even if she was on the opposing side.
I’m shutting this shit down. Now.“I’ll abstain from voting. Satisfied?”
Properly placated, Martin nodded.
Now the damn thing really was out of my hands. “Can we proceed with the meeting?” I asked, mentally patting myself on the back for keeping my cool. “I hear there’sCSIto be watched.”
I nodded to Claire, indicating that she should continue with her presentation. She offered a small smile, but it didn’t meet her eyes. She looked stricken. Martin’s comments had gotten to her. That might put her off her game, which would bode well for my antiresort position, but somehow, I didn’t feel good about that. Not one bit.
***
Claire
I ENDED MYcall, returned to the living room, and plopped down on the couch next to my sister. The two of us were having a lazy morning on the couch, watching some reality housewives show. I often wondered why she liked these shows. She herself was a socialite housewife—she didn’t need to watch people with that lifestyle, because she lived it.
She muted the television. “Who was that?”
“Mayor Stoltz. The commission is voting on the zoning tomorrow.” My work with the resort proposal had been crawling along, and suddenly, everything was happening all at once. Apparently, the members felt like they’d gotten all the information they needed and wanted to vote early to get it over with.
“That’s exciting, right?” Stephanie beamed at me. Then, noticing my expression, she frowned. “Not exciting? I thought last night’s meeting went well.”
I’d told her my presentation went well, which was true—it had gone as well as could be expected. What I didn’t tell her was that my relationship with Bennett had come under fire.
Relationship…It had only been a week. Was it even fair to call whatever this was a relationship? Technically, yes, because every connection between people was a relationship, but using my lawyerly logic did nothing to clear up my muddled feelings.
“These things can be unpredictable,” I told her. “I’m not sure how the vote will go.”
At any rate, it was out of my hands. I thought back over the past few weeks.Did I do everything I could? Meeting with the board members one at a time hadn’t been efficient, but I wondered if it would have been more effective. There was no way to know.
“If you couldn’t convince them, then no one could.” She waggled her eyebrows. “Did you manage to change Bennett’s opinion?”
I blinked. I appreciated her vote of confidence, but her latter comment was insulting. “Is that what you thought I was trying to do?”
“Well, no, I thought you were just getting a piece of the lumberjack beach man, but it would have been a nice side effect.”
Lumberjack beach man?That cued up an interesting visual of Paul Bunyan hacking away at palm trees.Would that make Larry the blue ox?
“We didn’t talk about the resort. That’s why we were able to get along.”
