I dropped the files and laptop I was holding in my hand and knocked the lamp onto the floor when I stumbled back.
“If you only knew how hard you just made me.” He leaned against me and I could feel his hard length through his slacks. When I tried to push him off me, he only smiled.
The knock on the door froze him in place and he slapped his hand over my mouth, his fingers biting into my skin and grinding on my lip. “Elly.” I heard Gray’s voice through the door and relief flooded me.
But how could he just walk out without listening? Harris made everything sound tawdry and gross, but he didn’t even give me a chance to explain.
In that second I imagine Harris being slowly dipped into a vat of acid at the same time the breakfast I ate at the ranch sours on my stomach. I turn on him. “How fucking dare you.” The question is low and my teeth are clenched as I stare at him.
His smooth manicured hand is holding his handkerchief over his nose like the pussy he is and his glare is heavy like the darkest of night. How did I ever think anything about him was attractive?
Narrowing his eyes, he stares at me. “You’re fucking him.”
For a split second, I want to fold in on myself, like I’ve done something wrong. But I refuse to be shamed, opening myself to Gray is not something to be ashamed of, I’ve felt more acceptance and affection from him in the past few days than I’ve felt in my life.
Lifting my chin, I square my shoulders. “What I do or don’t do is none of your fucking business. Now, get out of my hotel room.”
He rolls his eyes and pulls his phone from his pocket. “I’m calling Mr. Royce, he needs to know you’ve made it impossible to negotiate with them.”
Taking a step toward him, I point at him. “You make that call and I will end you.” I pause and watch his eyes slowly lift from his phone to me. “I’ll talk to my father myself.”
As he stretches his neck from side to side, his smile turns wicked. “You want to play games, princess?”
Narrowing my eyes, I say, “I’m not playing with you, Harris, been there, done that.” I’ve got nothing to lose.
His smile fades and the anger he’s been suppressing is written all over his face. “You’ve fucked up this whole deal, haven’t you? They’re never going to sign.”
I swallow the laugh that’s trying to bubble up. Instead, I scoff at him. “They were never going to sign anything, Harris! Those people care more about their home than any amount of money you can offer them. They. Don’t. Care.” My words are sharp as I punctuate each word I practically spit at him.
His upper lip curls up and shows his teeth like a dog getting ready to attack. “I don’t think you understand what is riding on this deal, it has to go through.”
This deal has been in the works for a long time and I know my dad and Harris have discussed it at length. I initially thought Harris pulled me in to discredit me, that I was just a pawn in his little game, but now I think there is more going on here that was not in the file.
“Why did you pull me into this, Harris? It wasn’t just for a fucking corner office, you’re trying to use me to shield yourself. What have you done?” My voice gets louder with each question. I realize that not only has Harris fucked up somehow, he’s also fucked me as well.
He has the nerve to look smug as he relaxes his shoulders and slides the hand that’s not holding his bloody handkerchief against his face in his pocket. If only I would have let Gray hit him again. “I haven’t done anything that anyone else wouldn’t have done.”
It takes everything in me not to stomp my foot and demand he come clean; I have to change tactics. “Fine, I’ll call dad and ask him what the hell is going on.” I move to step around him to find my phone, but he blocks my way.
“You can’t, your dad doesn’t know.” He says while looking over my head at the wall behind me, his face a mask of hate and weakness.
Clenching my teeth, I ask, “Know what, Harris?”
Taking a step away from me, he busies himself with pulling the handkerchief away from his face to see if he’s still bleeding. “There may have been a couple of things I missed while looking into the land ownership.”
My mind is sifting through the information I know, all of which comes from the file I received and my internet searches. The land has been in the family for generations, it was a cattle farm for a long time until the generation before Mr. Harlow switched it over to a horse ranch.
There were many title changes from one generation to the next, various requests for permits for horse boarding.Everything seemed transparent to me. My eyes meet his again and I shake my head, at a loss for what he could be talking about.
Rolling his eyes like I’m the stupid one, he sucks in a big breath and turns away from me. Slipping his hands in his pockets, he looks out the glass door to the balcony for a moment before he turns to face me. “The initial ownership of the land dates back to shortly after the end of the Civil War. The details are a little muddied by timelines, but somehow, someway, there is a stipulation that the land can’t be sold to anyone outside of the Cherokee Tribe without the tribe’s approval.”
I shake my head in confusion. “Tribal land is sold to individuals outside of the tribes all the time, its just a matter of getting approval. Sure, it takes time, but so what?”
He eyes me for a moment before he says, “The very thing that attracted our investors in the first place is locked down tight, no one outside of the tribe will ever see a dime of revenue from the natural springs. And even if we get permits and permissions to build and don’t use the springs, we can’t even use them as an advertising draw to get people in the door.” He takes a deep breath and his shoulders slump. “It would just be another spa because the statutory authority over any mineral rights on tribal land falls to the tribe and they won’t give that up.”
While I’m letting the information sink in, a laugh bubbles from my chest. Harris’ lips form a thin, tight line as he watches me. I put my fingers over my mouth to cover the smile and suppress my laughter. “You are so fucked.”
He doesn’t say anything, but his eyes narrow more with each second. He is fucked, and it feels good.
