Chapter 18
Tanner
“H ave you thought about my business offer?” I asked Hannah as we were flying home. “Now that we’re starting over and leaving the past behind us, there’s really no reason for you to turn me down.”
She squirmed a little in the leather seat beside me, which wasn’t a good sign, but I’d decided I wasn’t taking no for an answer anymore.
Hannah had her own dreams, and those dreams weren’t going to happen without an initial influx of capital.
She’d helped me reach my goals under much tougher circumstances.
I’d be damned if I’d let her refuse to let me do the same for her.
She didn’t answer immediately, so I continued, “I think the best solution is to let me become your angel investor. No paying me back. Just a straight percentage of the business. You’ll need all of your profits, especially in the beginning.”
“That would be completely insane,” she insisted. “You wouldn’t get paid back unless I eventually sold out.”
I shrugged. “That’s the way it works. Hannah, I do angel investing all the time, and so do my brothers. If we see a startup that has potential, we roll the dice. If that business succeeds, we have a small ownership in a very lucrative company.”
“What if the business fails?” she asked, her voice slightly panicked.
“Angel investing isn’t about the money for me,” I explained. “Some businesses succeed, some don’t. But there are a lot of worthwhile ideas that need to get off the ground and have a chance at success. I’ve made a lot more money than I’ve lost with angel investing. And your business won’t fail. With your knowledge of the industry, and my help with some of the details, it will be successful. If I didn’t think that was true, I would try to dissuade you.”
Okay, that statement probably wasn’t completely accurate.
I’d dump an endless amount of money into whatever she wanted without a second thought if I thought it would make her happy, but I did think the success of her company was entirely likely.
Hannah was driven and savvy. She’d already made this type of business a success, and she’d wanted to push for more, but her business partners had held her back. I trusted her knowledge of the industry. I wanted her to reach for whatever she wanted with her own business.
The roads were still good in Montana, but winter was going to hit shortly.
She couldn’t keep traveling alone across the state in the shitty weather once the snow started to fly.
Just the thought of her driving the treacherous winter highways to get to a job made me crazy.
I’d already decided Hannah was going to be mine, so everything I had was going to be hers as well, eventually.
Was I completely sure that was going to happen?
Maybe not immediately, but it was going to happen.
I’d do everything in my power to regain her trust and take care of her the way I should have done years ago.
“What percentage are we talking about here?” she queried.
“Three percent for the capital you need to do the startup,” I tossed out.
She turned to me as her jaw dropped. “That’s not even rational,” she sputtered. “This business doesn’t even have an evaluation yet. Even if it did, that wouldn’t be a wise investment.”
I met her stubborn gaze with one of my own. “It’s the only offer I’m making. This isn’t about the goddamn money. We agreed to start over. You can accept the offer. The venture in Montana isn’t going to be that costly.”
She lifted a brow. “Maybe not to you. It’s a fortune to me. And if this ever goes national, I’ll probably need additional funding.”
“And I’ll be there to provide it,” I said smoothly. “We’ll figure that out when it happens. I own a property not far from Sweet Mornings. It’s the old offices of an accountant who relocated. I originally bought it for Lauren to use for her remote business, but she set up an office at home, and she prefers to work from her home office. Those offices are just sitting there empty. Using that office for your business will lower your overhead. It will also keep you close to your mom. You’ll be able to check in with her whenever you want. You’ll always have peace of mind knowing that she’s okay.”
She folded her arms over her gorgeous breasts as she inquired, “And I suppose you’re offering that office rent free?”
“Of course,” I said nonchalantly. “It’s an investment toward your future success.”
“You realize that you’re offering me everything I want right now with absolutely no downside to accepting that offer. The risk is all on you.”
Obviously, I knew that.
I wanted this to be an offer she couldn’t refuse.
It wasn’t a risk for me. While Hannah knew I was a billionaire, I didn’t think she had a good grasp on just how wealthy I was now.
Me funding her business was no different from her buying a cup of coffee at The Mug And Jug in the morning.
It was literally nothing to me.
It meant everything to her, and I’d dump my entire fortune to make her happy if necessary.
I could make more money, but there wasn’t another Hannah for me.
I grinned at her. “I didn’t get rich by not taking chances with a lot more money than it would cost to fund this new business venture of yours.”
“Twenty-five percent,” she said firmly.
“Not happening,” I answered as I folded my arms over my chest, too.
This was her business, and I wanted her to feel like it was hers.
“Twenty,” she said hopefully.
“Nope,” I replied as I sent her a look that would terrify anyone else I was negotiating with.
She let out an exasperated breath. “Don’t give me that look, Tanner Remington. I’m not one of your potential buyouts or your employee. I know you. There’s always room for negotiation.”
Fuck! I loved her boldness and her lack of fear in challenging me, but she was not going to win this particular argument.
I shook my head. “Not this time. That’s my final offer. Take it or leave it.”
Her body relaxed and her arms dropped to the armrests on the seat of the jet. “I think you know I want to accept. You’re offering my dream with very little risk. But it’s not fair to you.”
“It’s completely fair,” I replied. “Considering how much you supported me at one time, this is practically nothing from me in return. Is it really so hard for you to believe that I want to support your dreams without gaining an enormous profit?”
“Maybe it is sometimes,” she answered bluntly.
Okay, that hurt, but I knew I’d never given her a reason to believe that I cared about her ambitions before we’d broken up.
I’d been a selfish prick about what I’d wanted without giving a shit about what she wanted at one time.
While I hated the way I’d been years ago when it came to Hannah, there was nothing I could do about that behavior now.
All I could do was show her that I did care.
Someday she’d realize that her happiness meant everything to me now.
The tears of confusion that I saw forming in her eyes nearly gutted me.
“Hey,” I said in a gentler tone as I wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “I thought we agreed to start over as the two people we are now. This guy cares about you, Hannah. He wants to support you in any way possible. The amount of money you need means nothing to me. I know we struggled together for a long time, and you only got to see the beginning of KTD’s success. I’m a billionaire now with unlimited resources.”
Rationally, I knew she understood that, but having spent so many years with me when I was struggling, I wasn’t sure she’d totally internalized that fact yet.
She sighed. “I’m not sure that’s totally sunk in for me,” she admitted. “Everything changed so fast for us at the end of our relationship.”
Yeah, things had happened so fast that I’d never gotten the chance to make sure her needs were met before we’d separated.
I regretted that, and I planned on making that happen from now on.
“Accept it,” I advised. “I plan on spoiling you outrageously in the future.”
Hell, I wanted to make sure she never needed or wanted another man except…me.
I’d screwed up once.
I was a smart guy.
Maybe it had taken me a while to get my head back on straight again, but I knew what my priorities were now.
That wasn’t going to happen again.
I’d been living half a life without Hannah.
A big part of me had died when she’d left me.
I’d been going through the motions for years, but I hadn’t really been fully living my life.
Probably because I wasn’t capable of doing that without her .
When Hannah had sauntered back into my life, I’d remembered what it was like to be alive again, and I wasn’t fucking up a second chance.
“Money isn’t that important to me,” she said softly. “Don’t get me wrong, I want to make a good living. I got used to having the money to take care of myself, and I liked it. I also like being successful. But having more money than I know what to do with isn’t my priority. I just want to be happy doing something I love.”
I knew that, and it was one of the many things I’d loved about her. Hannah wanted to love and be loved, and I’d been that lucky bastard who had been a recipient of that love.
And, fuck me, I wanted that back again.
I’d probably never realized just how lucky I was until I wasn’t the center of her life anymore.
“Money can’t buy happiness,” I agreed gruffly. “But it doesn’t hurt.”
She let out a genuine laugh that made my gut ache.
“I supposed it doesn’t if that money doesn’t rule your life,” she answered, amused.
“It doesn’t,” I assured her. “Not anymore. But you can do good things with that money sometimes, too.”
“You and your brothers donate a lot of money,” she said approvingly. “I’ve read about some of your charities, and I know you give a lot to make Crystal Fork a better place to live.”
“There’s no point in being obscenely rich if you can’t better other people’s lives with that money somehow,” I answered.
“I really admire the fact that you feel that way,” she said as she shot me an adoring smile.
Hell, that smile did it for me.
I’d give away a lot more money if it meant she’d keep looking at me like she adored me for the rest of our lives.
“Somehow, we managed to get off the subject of you accepting my offer,” I reminded her. “I’m not going to leave this alone until I have the answer I want.”
I was determined to get that acceptance before we left my jet.
“I’d have to be an idiot to decline the offer,” she said, her tone serious now. “Besides the fact that it isn’t really fair to you, maybe I’m also a little nervous. One step at a time seems a little safer. I’ve never done this without partners, Tanner.”
“You’re perfectly capable of doing it without partners,” I assured her. “I get that hesitation. I’ve always had my brothers as partners. But in this case, you’ll have me, Hannah. Maybe it might be hard to believe, but I’ll be there for you this time.”
“Fifteen percent,” she ventured.
I had to force myself not to smile.
Fuck! I loved her persistence and stubbornness, even though it could be annoying when I wanted something.
This was part of the new Hannah, and it was intriguing because she’d never been this obstinate or business minded before.
Part of me wanted to just agree if it made her happy, but I had no desire to take away what should be hers.
“Four,” I rumbled.
She shot me an irritated look. “That’s not negotiating or meeting in the middle,” she complained.
“Sweetheart, I’m Tanner Remington. That is the way I negotiate, and I always get my way these days.”
She snorted. “Not with me, you won’t. That hard-ass attitude won’t fly with me. Twelve.”
Hell, if things went my way, we were going to own everything together someday.
Hannah was about to give me exactly what I wanted.
I didn’t want to press my luck.
“You’re at twelve. I’m at four. I’ll meet you in the middle. Eight. Final offer.”
She sent me a satisfied smile, like she’d gotten exactly what she’d wanted. “You’ve got a deal.”
She leaned over and kissed my cheek before she murmured, “Thank you.”
It took everything I had not to pull her gorgeous mouth to mine, but I gritted my teeth and stopped that instinct.
Patience!
I wasn’t going to get what I wanted from Hannah without some fucking patience.
I’d waited close to eight years.
My dick could wait longer.
I was glad she thought I’d compromised sufficiently in this battle.
She had no idea that I was actually the winner this time.
Hannah might not know it yet, but I’d just closed the most important deal of my life.