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“Like I said, I’m serious about this. Can I have a moment of your time?” He gestured to her bistro table-turned-office desk for the day. She nodded.
“Have a seat. But only if you plan on ordering something from Mae.”
He sat, and a twinge of regret tapped at her heart. His scent tickled her nose and vanquished the good angel she tried to keep on her shoulder when he was around.
“Oh, I plan on it. I’m a new fan of that fancy coffee from here.”
She smirked, determined not to let his grin affect her rational decision-making skills.
“So, what did you want to discuss?”
“The exclusivity contract I sent your office a couple weeks ago.”
Maggie crossed her arms, looking down at the three pages of orders folks had made, orders that would really help their operations.
“I’m not sure I want to be exclusive. The town is in dire need of an upgrade, and I have the equipment they need at half what competitors are offering. It doesn’t seem right to keep it from them, so you get the best of the best.”
He tapped the table and ran his hands over his new beard.
She pointed at the new facial hair, afraid to let her finger get too close, since her body acted of its own volition where Bennett Marshall was concerned. “When did you decide to grow that out? I’ve never seen you anything other than clean-shaven or with a little scruff.”
Not that he didn’t pull it off. Her mouth went dry imagining cupping his furry cheeks in her hands and feeling it for herself. Which, of course, was off-limits for so many reasons.
“You like it?”
She nodded.
“I dunno. Just wanted to try it, I guess.”
“Well, it suits you.”
He smiled, then grew serious again. “Okay,” he finally said.
“Okay, what? You’ll have to be more specific.”
“I’ll alter the contract.”
Maggie eyed him suspiciously. “Oh yeah? To say what?”
He crossed his arms over his chest. She tried not to notice the way the fabric of his shirt strained against his muscled forearms, but she was only so strong. This time the heat snuck past her waistline, and she crossed her legs uncomfortably.
“Well, let’s see. I want one year of exclusivity for your Legacy Elite line. And you want to help the town get what they need. So, I’ll subsidize one-third of all Premier Ranch equipment they order—which is more than enough for the needs you mentioned if I’ve done my research right.”
He sat back in his chair, wearing a pressed grin that matched the focus in his gaze.
Maggie cleared her throat. “You’re prepared to spend almost half a million dollars to help Deer Creek ranches solely to keep Legacy Elite for yourself.”
He nodded. “For one year. After that, if anyone wants to upgrade, they can do so.”
“Why is this so important to you?”
Bennett shrugged and his eyes narrowed. “I’m not pretending my ranch isn’t the most successful in Travis County.”
“Yeah, because you bought everyone out.”
“Only those who were failing anyway.”
“Like my dad.”
