He didn’t care.
“Please don’t push me away,” she begged. “We did not meet under the best of circumstances, I admit. What I witnessed the first night showed me who you truly were. I didn’t return because of my investment in the Cloven Hoof. The reason I keep coming back… is you.”
“I can’t push you away,” he reminded her, his voice cold. “You own the deed and a stake in my business. But what I can do is ask you politely to get the bloody hell out of my sight.”
She flinched.
At first, he thought she would run.
He should’ve known better. She wasn’t the sort to back down from danger—or confrontation.
“I do own the deed and a temporary stake in the business,” she agreed, her eyes flashing. “I came here to see if selling the land to you was the proper decision, and I have not yet made up my mind. That I have enjoyed our time together does not signify. I will not make a decision on the sale of the deed until our contract is through. If you want to influence the outcome, you will allow me to shadow you here until I’ve made my decision.”
“And if I say no?” he growled.
She lifted her chin. “Then I guess we have nothing left to discuss.”
Meaning if he kept her out of his club… She would keep the property out of spite. Untenable.
Nor was he willing to let her toy with him on a string for a month and still not sell him the property at the end of the contract.
He crossed his arms. “I will agree to tolerate your presence until our contract is through if you put into writing that you will absolutely sell me the property at a to-be-determined price.”
“No deal,” she said and turned toward the door.
He grabbed her wrist and spun her to face him. “Damn it, woman.”
The shadowed look in her brown eyes was closer to sorrow than victory.
“One month,” she said softly. “I’ll put in writing that I will give you a final answer at the end of the month, but I cannot yet commit to what that answer will be.”
He dropped her arm in disgust and turned his back in her direction. “Be careful out there, Basil. Some unsavory character may rob you blind.”
Chapter 10
Max glared across his small dining room table at his sister.
“She does not sound like an interesting woman,” he corrected Frances firmly. “She sounds like a holy terror. A viper, waiting for her chance to strike. One part Medusa, one part siren.”
“Great voice, bad hair?” Frances asked innocently, clearly trying not to laugh. “Please clarify in what sense you mean the metaphor about turning hard as stone when you see her?”
“I meant in the ‘dangerous woman’ sense,” he growled, ignoring her ribald jest. “The sort of woman who drives men to their deaths. Ruins their lives.”
This time, Frances did laugh. “You have never met your match, much less a woman capable of besting you. Either you are exaggerating, dear brother, or she is exactly what you need.”
“She lied to me,” he said flatly.
“Lies are bad,” Frances agreed. “Would you have let her in to your club if she’d been completely honest from the start?”
Max snorted. “Of course not.”
“Well, there you go.” Frances spooned a lump of sugar into her tea.
He stared at her. “Your argument is that all deception is rendered immaterial if the owner of a gentleman’s club finds himself in the obvious predicament of not wanting to allow awomaninto hisgentleman’sclub?”
Frances lifted her tea to her lips. “Yes.”
“You are no help,” he told her. “You are worse than no help.”
