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“Thank you,” she says solemnly.
She rises so that we are face to face. She wears a V-neck T-shirt with a design at chest level. Seriously? As if she needed to focus anyone’s attention there. The T is tucked into jean shorts. Although they are not lasciviously cut, they don’t have to be. She has legs for days. Smooth, toned, and solid. The result is the same.
On the one hand, it might be easier to deal with Brynne if she looked more like Adrianne – who, while attractive, is too put together. Too calculated. Too artificial. On the other hand, the attraction I feel for Brynne is based less on her extraordinaryphysical beauty and more on her sassy and sexy personality. We have a vibe.
“I heard everything, by the way,” she says. “I wasn’t listening. I couldn’t help but overhear.”
“Thank you for making that distinction,” I say, but a breath apart from her. “Look, I don’t want things to get ugly between us. I give you my word. I will not demo the inn until you have figured out where you are going to go and where you can store your things. But there is a time limit – I will not hold off forever – I have investors to answer to. And if I do agree to hold off, I don’t want to hear about how you were mistreated – otherwise, I’ll go for it.”
She nods. I look past her to the window boxes and the sidewalk garden.
“You do good work,” I say. “You have a good sense of design. Just like the interior of the inn, the way you staged it. That was you, wasn’t it?”
“Yes,” she rasps.
“You really have a graduate degree in environment studies?” I ask.
“Yes,” she replies wearily.
“There’s probably a place in my company for you. We have to prepare reports on properties and the building materials.”
“Are you trying to bribe me?” she asks.
“That would be a novel way to do it. But why would I think a job offer would entice a tree hugger?” I zing.
She raises her eyes to me with a deadly gaze.
“I’ll go,” I say. “I have to take a meeting. With the zealous woman.”
“Jealous?” she says, looking right through me.
“That too,” I laugh. “Jealous and zealous.”
I press my fingers to my lips and whistle for Nick. I am sure that makes a lousy impression on Brynne – it probably confirmsher image of me as an entitled asshole. Nick doesn’t seem to mind. He exits the diner, wiping his hands on a paper napkin.
“Ready?” he asks.
“We’re going to meet with the stalker admirer,” I say.
Nick stops and flares his eyes.
“Nooo,” he says.
“I am going to get it over with,” I say. “This project is turning into more and more of a nightmare.”
I’m more tired than I thought and nodded off during the short ride back to Santa Monica. I hit REM sleep; it was just the power boost I needed to face Adrianne. She was waiting in reception when I arrived.
“Adrianne,” I say politely, offering my hand to shake.
She accepts it. That’s a good sign.
“After you,” I say, putting my best gallant foot forward. “Gretchen, do we have any munchies? Can you bring some things to nibble on to the Santa Rosa room, along with a bottle of the Pinot Grigio in the wine cooler?”
“Pellegrino for you?” she asks, though she knows that’s a yes.
“Pellegrino for me,” I say.
Adrianne flashes a snarky look at me over her shoulder like she wants to make a joke. “Breaking out the alcohol,” Adrianne says, allowing me to hold out her chair for her. “Trying to get me drunk to take advantage of me?”
