“For the driveway of the property next door. Remember how Mayor Reed said it was too close to your land? Well, according to the drawing, it’sonyour land.” I pause, waiting to see if she’ll say anything. “I think forcing a driveway more on my side of the property will mean more intense construction. Grading the land, and possibly diverting the stream. If you let me put a driveway on part of your land, I think it will be easiest for everyone.”
She blinks. “Yourside of the property?”
Uh-oh.There is a sharp tone in her words.
“I just mean, more toward the middle of my property.”
She nods. “That sounds like ayouproblem.”
Okay, so this is not exactly going as I had hoped.
I hold my hands up in front of me, taking a step toward the grass outside the barn so the guys don’t have to hear what I’m very concerned is about to turn into a screaming match. Or at least, Eve screaming at me.
“It would take up a very small portion of your land. A couple feet along one side at the most. The grade of the land becomes really steep really quickly over there and it’s just not feasible to put in a two-lane driveway, which will be necessary with the number of units we’re planning. It can connect to your dirt road. I’ll even pave that for you, if you want. I can even suggest adding the maintenance as part of the HOA contracts.”
She holds one hand up to her forehead. “Ryder, you should know by now that I don’t give a fuck about the road outside my house. It’s afarm. Dirt roads happen. What Idocare about is neighbors who lie their way into my good graces so they can manipulate me into agreeing to things that I would otherwise never consider.” She shakes her head, turning on her heel and heading for the stairs. “I can’t believe I thought there might actually be a good person hidden somewhere behind that fake fucking flannel.”
“Whoa,” I say, taking a few quick steps to follow her. “I never lied to manipulate you.”
“Do not pull that ‘omission isn’t lying’ bullshit with me.” She slams the linens down on the stairs and whips around to point at me. Her signature angry face that I want to think is cute is now telling me I’ve just stepped into a ginormous pile of shit. “This whole time, you’ve been buttering me upexactly like I thought you were so that you could ask me for this goddamn easement. And I gave you the benefit of the doubt. I pushed aside every gut feeling in me that told me you wanted something from me. Ignored the fact that that drawing showed a driveway on my land because I thought I couldtrustyou.”
“I understand why you’re upset. You probably feel a little blindsided right now and I absolutely should have just told you from the start, but this doesn’t mean you can’ttrustme. We’ve become”—I resist the urge to say we’ve beenflirtatiousorclose—“friends. I’m not trying to screw you over.”
She shakes her head, giving me the fakest smile I’ve ever seen in my life. “Well, Ryder, thank you for your neighborlygift,” she says, the venom in her voice piercing me right in the heart. “I expect that the work I did not agree to will be done and paid forby youby sundown. And you can then go ahead and shove your easement right up your ass.”
And with that, she turns on her heel and stomps down the dirt road back to her house.
With a long sigh, I head back into the barn.
“Nope,” Steve says, spinning a small circle in the air with his finger as he steps off his ladder. “You turn right the hell back around and make it right with her.”
I wave him off. “She’ll get over it. She’ll be thankful when she realizes how much work I’m paying for.”
Steve crosses his arms over his chest, whistling at the two other men on ladders, who promptly step down and mirror his pose.
I give him a flat look. “Steve.”
“I know you’re not a dick. But you’re acting like one right now. You go make it right, and we’ll continue working in here.”
“I’m not being a dick. I’m doing somethingnicefor her.”
He only stares me down.
And fuck, if Steve is telling me I’m being a dick, then I’m probably being a dick.
I let out a long breath. “Fine.”
16
EVE
Istomp down the dirt road, painfully aware that I abandoned perfectly clean linens on the dirty steps leading up to the studio.
But I just couldn’t stand to look at Ryder’s stupid face any longer.
Iknewthat he was trying to get something from me and I ignored every single red flag because he has a nice smile and fills out a flannel like no other. I fell victim to his charms and his gifts and every devilish little smile he gave me because I’m just like my mother—charmed by a man who offers little but expects the world.
A few sweaters and some electrical work? Not worth giving up the rights to my land. I know how these contracts work, and the little sunflower farmer never comes out on top.
