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It didn’t.
Not even when he boldly announced, “Money makes the world go round. Maybe you aren’t aware of just how generous we’re prepared to be.”
I licked my lips as I took a moment to calm myself down. “Oh please. This isn’t about generosity for you. This is about getting your way and thinking you can do it with your fancy suit, flashy car, and wads of cash. This is about guys like you doing whatever they want to whomever they want. You don’t care about being generous. You only care about your goals.”
“Rhea—”
“Miss. Marks,” I demanded through gritted teeth.
“Miss Marks,” he corrected himself. “I’m not asking you to agree to anything just yet. All I’m asking for is an hour of your time to explain what our project is and why we’re looking to acquire the land. I’d be happy to do it at a time that’s convenient for you. If you name the time and place, I’ll accommodate that. I’d like to say that I’ll take you out for lunch or dinner to discuss this, but something tells me that’d make you angry, so I’d rather leave the ball in your court.”
This guy just didn’t get it.
Then again, I didn’t expect he would.
Because it was just like I’d already said to him—men like him were all the same. They didn’t know the first thing about compassion and kindness. They didn’t know about family and memories. They were ruthless and cold-hearted. The only thing that mattered to them was getting their way.
“I hate to break it to you, but I will not be going out for lunch or dinner to discuss something. Giving you an hour of my time to listen to whatever you have to say about this project would be a waste of my time, so I’m sorry, but the answer remains the same. No, Mr. Westwood, my family is not interested in selling our land for whatever project you’ve conjured up.”
Wyatt looked as though his head was about to explode. I couldn’t quite work out whether it was because I’d declined to honor his request for a meeting, or if it was because I refused to call him by his first name. If I had to guess, it was probably a bit of both.
I’d learned a lot about men like him.
They didn’t like to lose.
He proved that notion when he took a step forward, set his hand down on the counter, and leaned in. “Miss Marks, I’d ask you to reconsider. Thirty minutes to allow me to plead my case. If you feel the same after that, I won’t bother you again.”
“Respectfully, Mr. Westwood, I’m going to ask that you don’t bother me about this again without me giving you that time,” I fired back.
He audibly sighed as he pushed back from the counter. It was obvious he was a bit out of sorts. Clearly, he wasn’t accustomed to not getting what he wanted, and this wasn’t going how he’d anticipated.
I was prepared for him to try again, but he surprised me when he said, “I apologize for bothering you today. If you happen to change your mind and would like to sit down to discuss this, you have my card.”
Relieved—and a little shocked—he was accepting my answer as final, I gave him a slow nod. “Yes, I do.”
He held my stare intensely for a few seconds before giving me one last downward jerk of his chin. “Thank you for time, Rhea.”
Before I could correct him, he turned around and walked out of my shop.
I immediately tossed his business card in the trash.
But I didn’t think it would matter.
Because for some strange reason, I had this feeling I hadn’t seen the last of Wyatt Westwood.
4
RHEA
“That’s so low.”
“Dirty scoundrel.”
Brooke and I had shared our honest sentiments regarding what we’d just learned from Emily about how she’d discovered the man she’d been dating for half a year was already married and had three children.
The three of us had come out to dinner as we’d planned, and it took Emily from the time we placed our orders, on to the dinner salads, appetizers, and halfway through dinner to finish telling us everything.
There were a multitude of things that could be said about Ryan, and none of them were good. I thought I’d met some unsavory men in my lifetime, but I wasn’t sure there was anyone else in the world who was as bad as Ryan.
