Chapter Two
Cami
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After getting ready, I drove to Dad’s. There was no point in going separately, so I was picking him up. I had to carefully watch where I was stepping; I wasn”t really a stilettos girl, and Dad had cobblestones in front of his house. I knocked a few times, but he didn’t answer, so I simply opened the door. He, too, rarely locked up when he was home.
”Dad?” I asked.
”Oh, honey, hi,” he said, sounding completely surprised. I frowned. ”What time is it?”
”We need to be at the restaurant in ten minutes.”
”Damn it.” His voice came from the living room.
I hurried there, finding him lying on the couch with a bag of ice on his forehead. I smiled sympathetically. ”A migraine hit you?”
He nodded. ”Yes. Out of nowhere.” He’d had those since I was small.
”I”m sorry. Want me to make you a chamomile tea?”
”We don”t have time for that.”
”Dad,” I said firmly, ”you can”t go anywhere with a migraine. It”ll just get worse.”
He lowered the bag, pushing himself into a sitting position. Then he shook his head. ”No, you”re right. I”m in no shape for that dinner. Would you mind going for both of us?”
”Of course I’ll go. Don”t worry about anything, okay?”
Dad pointed at the coffee table. ”They actually sent me a sketch of what they hope to do if we sell them the land.”
My eyes bulged. ”That”s ballsy of them.”
He laughed. I had no filter around him. ”You can say that again.”
Almost unwittingly, I went closer to the laptop, lowering myself on my haunches. My nostrils flared. Dad had mentioned they’d cut down some trees, but as far as I could tell, they’d get rid of about 90 percent of them.
”Why even buy this land if you plan to level it all?” I asked in an exasperated tone.
”I know how much you love your trees, but not everyone values them as much.”
I took in a deep breath, then actually read Maddox Whitley’s email.
Samuel,
I’m looking forward to meeting you and your daughter. But before we meet, let me lead with a fact that might seem obvious. We are offering you more than a fair price, and we will not increase our offer under any circumstances. If that’s what your daughter is after, please make this clear to her.
I’d like to close this deal when we meet. Thanks for your consideration in advance.
Best,
Maddox
I saw red. ”Make this clear”? What an asshole.
“He thinks we want more money? He and his brother are the ones bugging us.”
“And they probably think we don’t want to sell because we can get more money from them.”
I set my jaw because I didn’t want to sell, and I wasn’t sure Dad really wanted to either.
”Promise me you”ll be civil and keep an open mind,” Dad said. ”There”s a lot you can do with the money from the sale. They”re offering a good amount, not trying to lowball us like Bill did.” Dad and I intensely disliked Bill, but we had to play nice where he was concerned because he was the mayor’s right hand. If I was honest, we”d both disliked him since I went on a date with him in high school, and he hit on another woman right in front of me. ”You”d have a nice nest egg.”
I shook my head. ”Dad, this is your business.”
I”d inherited Mom”s part after she passed, but I”d always considered it his.
”Nonsense. Half of the money from the sale would be yours.”
”I don”t care about any of that,” I said. Essex Adventures was my home, plain and simple. I”d never really thought about what I’d do if we didn’t have it.
I sighed. ”All right, I can”t linger. I need to go. Want me to drop by after dinner and tell you how it went?”
”No, you can tell me tomorrow. I”ll probably turn in really early.”
”I can bring you dinner.”
”I have some leftovers in the fridge.”
”Want me to warm them up for you?” I asked.
”You don”t have to coddle me, Cami.”
”I disagree. You”ve got a migraine.”
”You always spoil me.”
”Well, you”re my dad. Of course I do.” I checked the time. ”But I don”t want to be late. Call me if you need anything, okay?”
”I won”t. Now go on. Give Maddox a fair chance.”
”I will,” I said, and I intended to. Even though I truly couldn”t imagine selling.
***
I arrived at the Gris with two minutes to spare. I was nervous, I had to admit. I walked inside and straight to the restaurant, wondering if the reservation was under Whitley or Maddox or something else entirely. Had my dad made it? I should have asked him.
The place was busy, as it always was in the evening. I waited in the area near the bar and hostess stand. While they didn’t maintain an official hostess on payroll, usually someone from the waitstaff would lead diners to their table.
I tried to look for my dinner companion, but maybe he hadn”t arrived. I scanned the crowd. It was a mix of locals and tourists, as usual.
As I waited, I couldn’t help but overhear the conversations.
One in particular got my attention.
”Are you intending to move here? Do you like the area? I’m born and bred in Essex and can’t imagine living anywhere else,” Joel, the bartender, asked the guy perched on the seat nearest to me. He was definitely not a local. I’d never seen him in here before or I would have remembered. He was very handsome.
I could only see his profile, but it was nearly perfect. High cheekbones, straight nose, and what looked to be brown eyes—it was hard to tell for sure from this angle. His arms looked muscular, defined enough that I could tell through the shirt he was wearing.
”No, small towns aren”t my thing,” he said. ”It”s charming but dead boring. Essex... well, from what I can tell, it lacks life.” Well, that just dropped his hotness factor. ”But I”m here for business. I”m sure another hotel will do well here.”
I stilled, instinctively knowing this was Maddox even before the bartender said, ”Got it. I wish you the best of luck, Mr. Whitley. We always welcome new business in town—even if it is competition.”
I walked right up to him. I couldn”t help myself.
”Oh, Cami, you”re here. I didn”t see you earlier,” Joel said.
Maddox looked straight at me. ”Cami... Samuel’s daughter?”
”Yes. Dad couldn”t come. He”s down with a migraine, so it”s just me tonight.” Okay, maybe I was a little curt, but he”d slighted my hometown.
”Our table is ready,” he said. ”I was just waiting by the bar for you to arrive.”
He pointed at a table on the other side of the room.
I walked in front of him, carefully placing one foot in front of the other. The last thing I wanted was to lose my balance or make a fool of myself in front of Maddox.
He held my chair, which I appreciated, and I sat down. Extra points given for having manners. But still, that didn”t make up for his condescending attitude toward small towns.
He sat opposite me and said, ”Pity your dad couldn”t make it. But I”m glad to meet with you and get the ball rolling.”
I narrowed my eyes, not sure of his attitude. ”I just have one question. Why do you even want to open a hotel here if you think, and I quote, ”small towns are boring and lack life”?”
Maddox jerked back slightly. Clearly, he wasn”t used to being challenged. ”I didn”t realize you heard that.”
”Your voice carries. Anyway, you knew the bartender was a local. You realize you were clearly offending him, right?”
Maddox didn”t say anything for a few seconds, just kept his gaze on me. It was unnerving because he was extremely handsome, even more so than I”d thought at the bar. Now I could see his gorgeous eyes straight on, and they were a beautiful shade of brown.
”He asked if I liked it. I”m always truthful.”
”If you wanted to be truthful, you could just say that small towns aren”t your thing. Or that you prefer to live in a big city. Instead, you insulted his hometown.”
The waitress came by, bringing us a carafe of ice water. ”Do you already know what you”d like to order?”
”No,” Maddox said curtly.
The waitress blinked quickly, taking a small step back. She was young, maybe high-school age, and obviously not used to arrogant men.
”We”re going to need a few more minutes,” I said in as kind a tone as possible.
This guy had an abrasive attitude, and I didn’t like it. Or maybe I had a chip on my shoulder because I didn’t want to sell our land.
Either way, after she left, I turned to Maddox. ”Obviously your lack of manners is a natural thing.”
”Why did you come here tonight, Ms. Hughes? To challenge my vocabulary and everything I say?”
Good, I got to him.
Though I did promise Dad that I’d give him a chance.
I took in a deep breath. Dad didn”t know that this guy was clearly an asshole. I’d suspected that from his direct email, but now he was confirming it. Still, I was determined to do my best.
I crossed my hands over the table, schooling my features—this was business, after all. ”No. I came to hear what you”ve got to say,” I clarified.
”My brother and I want to buy your property,” he said without missing a beat, sitting up straight, which made him appear taller. His shoulders were almost rigid. But rigid worked on him. He looked, if possible, even hotter.
But that was beside the point.
”I know that,” I said. ”But why our land specifically? There are fields on the other side of the property you already acquired. Why not just buy those?”
”Those belong to the town council, and they”ve already planned to build greenhouses there. They”re not available.”
”Neither is our land.”
He leaned slightly over the table. ”In my experience, most things are for sale for the right price.”
I ignored his comment and asked again, ”But why buy our lot? Your plan is to change it to the point that it would be unrecognizable. Why go through all that expense when you could consider land elsewhere in town?”
”Your property is the right size and the right location, and it”ll fit our purposes.”
Although he was very matter-of-fact, it sounded so hollow. My heart ached at the thought of his team bulldozing everything I held dear. I uncrossed my legs under the table, drawing in a deep breath. Maddox was a handsome man, and if I’d met him under other circumstances, I would be very interested in him. But right now, I didn’t even want to be here.
”Why are you against the sale?” he asked.
”It”s been in my family for years,” I said. ”It means a lot to me and my father.”
He cocked a brow, shaking his head. ”You could do many things with the money from the sale. It’s quite a hefty and fair sum. You could buy whatever you wanted. Invest it in the stock market and supplement your income from dividends. The possibilities are endless. We”re offering you a lot of money, Ms. Hughes. And we won”t be offering one cent more.”
“I got that. Dad showed me your email.”
Hmmm, did that humble him a bit?The look on his face told me yes.
“I thought it was worth repeating.”
I fundamentally disagreed.
But why was he acting like I was out to get him in the first place? ”You think I want more money from you?”
He put his elbows on the table, looking down at it for a brief second, then back up. ”In my experience, that”s mostly why people refuse to sell.”
”Did it ever occur to you that maybe we just don”t want to sell at all?”
”You came here tonight, which makes me think you do want to sell.”
Oh my God!I couldn”t wait to tell my friend Miriam about this conversation. It was insane. ”Actually, I promised my dad I’d keep an open mind. But I think even he couldn”t fault me for our lack of progress.”
”It”s you who keeps insulting me.”
The corners of my mouth twitched. I couldn”t let this opportunity pass me by. ”I”m not insulting you. You asked me a question. I just responded honestly,” I parroted his own reply as closely as I could remember.
Maddox started laughing. ”You”re good. I”ll give you that.”
I crossed my legs again. On accident, I bumped his under the table. A current of heat ran through me. It was so unexpected that I barely bit down a gasp.
I cast a glance down to the table, exhaling sharply. Maddox was completely still as well, and a few seconds later, he leaned farther across the table and poured water into our tall glasses.
”Cami.”
I glanced up. Why is he suddenly using my first name? It felt too personal... and I liked it.
”We started on the wrong foot.”
I didn”t say anything, waiting to see where he was going with this. Oh, why did my body react to him like that?
”We can put our differences aside and discuss this like adults. There”s no reason we can”t have a pleasant dinner. I”m quite charming when I”m not being constantly attacked.”
”That wasn’t my intention, I assure you.” For some reason, this man brought out the primal side in me, and I wasn’t like that.
”I promise, by the end of the evening... you”ll like me.” He glanced at my lips.
Could he pick up on my inexplicable reaction to him? I took in another sharp breath and averted my gaze, playing with the fork on the table to give my hand something to do.
”Later, if you want, we can grab after-dinner drinks.” He flashed me a smile, winking. ”I’m very good at entertaining my guests. Maybe you’ll be more inclined to sell then.”
I frowned. ”Are you trying to flirt with me?” I clarified.
He’d definitely picked up on my reaction. But why on earth was he putting me on the spot? Even worse, was he trying to get me to sell by flirting? I didn’t like that at all.
He had a triumphant smile this time. ”Is it working?”
I pushed my chair back, rising to my feet. ”No, Mr. Whitley. It”s not. I think this conversation is going nowhere.”
”What?” He stood up from the table.
I tried to keep my voice calm and not make a scene because there were locals here, people I knew. ”Have a good evening,” I said before quickly exiting the restaurant.
There, Mr. Whitley. Negotiate that.