His eyes narrowed.“Why?”
I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to recall all the names and players from that time of my life.It wasn’t that long ago, but my life had veered hard in a different direction since then.“I can’t remember who it was exactly.But there was somebody running for reelection, and he’d made a deal with my boss that your application wouldn’t go through until after the election results were in.”
Nash’s eyes widened.“Who was it?”
“I can’t remember anymore.I’m sorry.But my point is, maybe there’s someone else behind all this.”
Nash smirked.“I can think of one guy for sure.But I don’t know why Sebastian Cross would give a shit about the Gideon project.”
I gulped.All of this had been about theGideon project?I felt like Zoey witnessing Cora Margulis up close for the first time.She’d been fangirling, clutching my forearm for a full twenty minutes after Cora walked in.I hadn’t realized that Zoey had been such a secret fan of Cora’s, but I was glad my connections could help Zoey meet a celebrity or two.
And now Nash, my staged boyfriend, was dropping phrases likethe Gideon projectoh-so-casually, because of course he would be involved with one of the most recognized hotel brands in the entire country.
“You’re developing a hotel for Gideon?”I practically squeaked.
“Yeah.At least Iwas.Now they’ll probably sue me and drop the contract.”He rubbed his face.“Maybe Archer is right.Maybe this is Sebastian Cross swinging his dick because he didn’t get the deal.”
“It could be.But you know what I always heard my boss talking about?”I tried hard to collect the fragments of memory from my time in the planning office.I’d been on the lower rungs, but I saw the most prestigious and powerful deals unfold.Including the barricades that prevented other deals.“Proving it.”
“Proving what?”
“Whatever it is the developers had an issue with,” I said.“I remember one project that came through.He made a huge ruckus about it because the developer was insistent on a clear paper trail for every last detail.Obviously that office has a paper trail built into the procedures, but this was way beyond that.The developer was even citing evidence that standards were being applied inconsistently.”
Nash nodded; I could see the gears working in his intense gaze.“Go on.”
“Maybe you could do something similar.When the office rejects a permit, they want a modification, right?But you’re saying even your modifications are being rejected.So you could start showing evidence of a similar project that was approved with the same environmental profile.It’ll be harder for them to justify the rejection if you’re proving up and down that it should be approved andhasbeen approved in the past.In fact, it would even look discriminatory.”
Nash’s eyes flashed.“I like the sound of that.Prove they’re treating us differently.”
“And then go after them with everything you’ve got,” I said with a grin.
Nash scooped my hand into his, holding my gaze as he pressed a slow, meaningful kiss to the back of it.“You might be my life saver.You saw the angle I was missing.And now I have a plan of attack.Thank you, Clara.”
The gratitude in his deep voice combined with the way he was looking at me like I'd just given him the last sandwich on Earth made something warm and seductive bloom in my chest.
“You’re welcome.It’s easier to shoulder things together; didn’t someone extremely wise say that one?”
“Yeah, roughly fifteen minutes ago,” Nash said, one of those heartbreaker grins coming out to play.I sighed contentedly.
“Your jawline,” I murmured, then I caught myself.My eyes went wide as I saw realization creep across his face.
“What?”
I tutted, looking away.“Nothing.”
“Come on, what about my jawline?”
I felt the heat creeping into my cheeks, which just made memoreembarrassed.I covered my face with my hands.“I didn’t mean to say anything.You just have a perfect jawline, okay?Sometimes when you smile at me like that, it’s hard to look at you.”
The genuine amusement on his face was so perfect I considered snapping a picture.But I didn’t want to dig myself an even deeper hole.
“You think I’m cute.”It was a fact, not a question.
“So?”I laughed into my hands.
“What’s the smile you like?”Nash started modeling different options.“Is it this one?Or maybe more like this.”
I clutched the sides of my face.“I feel like such a doofus.”
