I thought briefly about Hazel then shut that down. No more crazy art girls.
"You're already planning to propose? That's not the cautious, gun-shy Mace we all know and love!" Mike announced as he, Hunter, and Greg walked into Mace's office.
"I'll be so glad when you have your own offices in Harrogate," Mace grumbled as we went next door. "That conference center can't happen soon enough."
"You wound me, Mace," I called out. "You should be glad to have me around."
"Don't forget you're supposed to take Otis and Theo to the art camp," he warned me before shutting the door.
I flashed him a thumbs-up through the glass wall and flopped down on the beanbag chair I'd had delivered to the office.
"We need to discuss the strategy for winning the Mast Brothers' chocolate factory property," Greg said, opening up his notebook.
"Is Meg going to be at the presentation?" I asked aloud.
"It's a city property. She probably will," Mike said.
"Then should we really bring him?" I motioned to Hunter.
"Mayor Barry says I'm his favorite Svensson. He's the one who will ultimately be making the decision," Hunter said, back ramrod straight in his chair. "Besides, Archer is the one who needs to not go. Especially after that stunt he pulled with the phone prank."
"It wasn't that bad."
"It was terrible. Garrett isn't pleased."
"Fuck, I don't need Garrett on my case."
"You better be careful," Mike said. "He's still in a bad mood about the cell phone ban—said it ruined everything. He's out for blood."
"Hazel wasn't that upset. She flashed me instead of crying when I saw her this morning."
"She flashed you?" Mace yelled from next door.
"Stop eavesdropping," I yelled back.
Hunter scowled. "I thought you did a better job of keeping things in line in Manhattan," he said snidely to Greg. "And yet here's Archer, acting like a fool."
Greg seethed.
"Archer doesn't actually have to be there," Mike offered. "I own Greyson Hotel Group too."
"It was my idea," I exclaimed. "And you might think it's crazy, but when we make a lot of money, I'm going to say I told you so and rub it in your faces."
"Hunter will go, but if Meg is there," Greg warned, "don't even look at her."
"Don't tell me how to do my job," Hunter growled.
"I'll stop when you stop fucking up my business deals," Greg snapped.
"So," Mike said, trying to defuse the tension. "This is what I have for the presentation." He swiped at his tablet, and on the large TV on the wall was a picture of the nineteenth-century industrial complex of the Mast Brothers' chocolate factory. It was going to be mypièce de résistance. I couldn't help but grin.
Hunter was skeptical. "And we want this place why?"
"It's cool, in a word," I said. "It's authentic, and it's going to be a groundbreaking conference center."
"Carl just brought in a whole new set of investors," Greg said. "They are very interested in having their money capitalized. They like how innovative Frost Tower is. They're showing interest in a conference center, if we can make the numbers work."
"We have schematic floor plans and some renderings," Mike said, flicking through the presentation.
