James’s unimpressed gaze landed on the Keurig on a credenza on the other side of the room, before he shifted back toward the photo, his upper lip curling with distaste.
“Nothing for either of us,” I said, “but I was hoping you could tell me about Mr. Harlan’s clients.” I smiled. “We’re new to Little Rock, and this will be the first of multiple buildings we plan to develop. We’re trying to get a sense of the people Mr. Harlan typically works with.”
Her eyes brightened. “I assure you, Mrs. Beachum,” she said enthusiastically, “we’re used to working with higher-budget projects.”
“But what about lower-end projects?” I asked. “We plan to have a few of those as well. Will Mr. Harlan be open to working with those? Or does he only stick to seven-figure projects?”
“He’s worked with a wide range of clients,” she said confidently. “From rental properties, to small strip malls, to multi-story office buildings and warehouses. I’m sure he can handle any project you bring to him.”
He’d worked with warehouses. I took that as an encouraging sign.
“I hope he doesn’t take on too many clients,” I said with a frown. “We’ve worked with developers who were spread too thin or handed us off to incompetent people.”
“We do have another partner, Ryan Delaney, and he handles the smaller projects. But,” she quickly added, “if you decide to go with Mr. Harlan, I suspect he’d handle all of your projects himself.”
“That’s good to know,” I said, then glanced over at James, who had moved on to a new photo. “Isn’t it, Jeff?”
“I’m not sure why you’re wasting time talking to the receptionist,” he grumbled.
I had to stifle a snort. He was perfectly channeling arrogant, elitist condescension.
“Jeff,” I scolded, then turned back to her. “I’m sorry for his boorish behavior. He thinks this meeting is a waste of time. He wants to sign with the Delgottos and be done with it.”
We’d decided to toss out that firm’s name because of their previous shady dealings with J.R. Simmons—which I’d known nothing about—but also because they were considered big fish in the Little Rock developer pool.
“I actually do know quite a bit about Harlan Properties,” she said defensively as she eyed James. Then she turned back to me, her expression softening. “I’ve been here for eleven years, practically since Miles started the company. And he includes me in the loop on quite a few things.”
“Oh, good,” I said, sounding pleased. “Then you must know a lot about the history of Harlan Properties.”
She nodded, with a proud gleam in her eyes. “I certainly do. Miles has helped turn a small business with two clients into a multi-million-dollar corporation with many clients.”
“But not too many clients,” I reminded her. If he was making that much money, I had to wonder why he didn’t spend a few thousand to decorate his reception area. There was a good chance she was exaggerating. Or, if Knox provided a huge percentage of his business, he wouldn’t need to worry about making a good impression.
“I assure you, Mrs. Beachum, Miles will give you his undivided attention.”
“That is so good to hear.” I turned back to James. “Jeff, Franklin never promised us his undivided attention.”
“That’s because Franklin has a much larger, more prestigious corporation to run,” he sneered, sounding exactly like a snob born into old money.
“Don’t listen to him,” I said, waving my hand as I sat on a chair closer to the desk. Then I lowered my voice. “He’s always like that.”
“Oh.” She frowned, her gaze on him.
“But once we sign, I’ll be the one you and Mr. Harlan deal with. It’s Jeff’s money, so he makes a big fuss about signing, but once the ink on the contract is dry, it’s all on me.” I added a giggly laugh.
Her face brightened. “You seem like you’d be a delight to work with, Mrs. Beachum.”
I pressed a hand to my chest, pretending to be flattered. “Beth,” I gushed. “You are so sweet. I have such a good feeling about you and Mr. Harlan, and we haven’t even met him yet.”
James released a grunt from across the room.
I leaned in closer. “Since I feel so good about you, I feel comfortable bringing something up.” I paused. “Of course, I did some research into Mr. Harlan’s company. I’d be silly not to,” I leaned in even closer, lowering my voice. “I confess that part of the reason Jeff is apprehensive about taking this meeting is because we saw that Mr. Harlan had fraud charges brought against him about five years back.”
Her face paled. “Those charges were dropped within days,” she said in a rush. “I promise you, Mr. Harlan was never guilty of any wrongdoing.”
“Well,” I said, making a face. “Jeff likes to say that where there’s smoke, there’s fire. But I told him that sometimes, where there’s smoke, there’s just a BBQ.” I released a tiny laugh.
She gave a weak laugh too.
