Chapter 25
Zach
“Stall them,” I say flatly.
Gary, my most loyal employee and global scout, sits across the desk, fingers steepled and worry lines blanketing his brow.
“Sir, I’ve been stalling for two weeks already. I’ll keep at it but no guarantees. If they have another interested buyer, it’ll get dicey.”
He is a real estate agent for Rothwell, traipsing all over the world looking at prospective properties for my first hotel. Back from St. Barts, he has good news, or at least promising news, about a property I had my eye on last year.
We missed out on the sale because of funds, and now it turns out it’s on the market again. Last year’s purchaser seems to have run into some financial problems and put it up for sale.
Lucky me.
Well, if I can get the funds together before it’s snapped up. It’s only a matter of time.
A short, quick knock at the door cuts through my thoughts and Karen peeks her head into the office. “Excuse me, Mr. Rothwell, Ms. Hayes is here.”
“Bring her in.” I have no qualms about Paige joining our conversation.
Normally, the woman I’m sleeping with wouldn’t be involved in my business affairs. But this is Paige. It’s different. She’s different. My reason for needing my trust fund is no secret and more importantly, I don’t want secrets between us.
“Hello.” I stand and walk around my desk to place a light kiss on her sweet mouth.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt.” She glances to Gary. “It’s just that I’ve only got thirty minutes.”
We’ve made lunch our thing since our spectacular reunion after my trip to Singapore. When we can, our noon hour rendezvous aren’t just about sustenance. We try to indulge in other things as well. Unfortunately, today there isn’t time for anything but food.
“You’re not interrupting. Gary Williams, this is Paige Hayes.” The two shake hands and she sits in the chair next to him.
“Your food will be here in about five minutes. Will Mr. Williams be joining you?” Karen asks.
“No thanks, Karen. I’m just about done.” Gary looks uncomfortable, not used to sharing information with anyone else.
My assistant closes the door and I lean on the desk, stretching my legs out to brush ankles with Paige. “Where were we?” I glance at Gary.
“Um.” He assesses both of us with an expression akin to a scared rabbit.
“You can speak freely in front of Paige.”
“Okay. I wasn’t…anyway, I’ll try to stall some more.”
“Find out if there are any other interested parties.” My lips press into a line and she arches a brow, imploring me to give more details. “There’s a property in St. Barts I want to buy so Gary’s keeping them warm for as long as we can.”
“And what if another party makes a bid?”
Gary laughs nervously, standing and looking to me for guidance. “Then we might need to let it go.”
“Unless.” She pauses, uncertain if she should continue in front of Gary.
“Unless I have my trust fund, and then we’re in the game,” I say.
“Well, sir, I’m going to leave you two to enjoy your lunch.” He shakes my hand and nods goodbye to Paige.
She stands, her back to me, watching him leave before facing me with a troubled expression. “Did he tell Donovan?”
I shake my head and clench my jaw. I’m dealing with Donovan later. “Let’s eat.”
“We can’t do this.”
“Do what? Have lunch?”
“Dupe your grandmother.” She frowns. “I happen to like her a lot and respect her. This isn’t right.”
I inwardly flinch but hide behind nonchalance. “Relax, it’ll be fine.”
“How can you say that? Is she even close to giving you your trust?”
Karen interrupts again and sets our lunch on the table. We stare at each other, neither moving nor saying a word, our conversation suspended until the door clicks shut behind my assistant.
“Nan and I haven’t talked about my trust in weeks.”
“Are you going to push her?” Her question is curious and sets me on edge.
“No, I won’t push her.” If I did, it would backfire. “She’ll make up her mind when she’s ready.”
“And is this,” she waves her hand between us, “even working?”
“Yes. We. Are. Working.” Somewhere along the way, when love came into play, I stopped questioning, strategizing, or caring about the success of our deal. “As for the business end of it, that doesn’t matter.” I hand her a sandwich and we sit side by side.
“What do you mean by that? Isn’t this why we’re together?”
“Is it?”
Pausing, she drops her food and her eyes fly wide open. “What’s going on? I’m completely confused.”
“Don’t be.” My finger rubs at the small crinkle forming between her eyebrows. “I asked you to separate the two after Montreal. I have and I hope you can, too. Just enjoy us. Enjoy this.”
With a kiss, I settle into my seat and eat.
She stares for a while but says nothing before diving into her own sandwich.
For the most part, lunch is easygoing and we talk about other things.
But once in a while, I catch her looking at me as if I’ve lost the plot, but she doesn’t push the conversation any further.
When we’re done, I toss the wrappers into the garbage and Paige grabs her purse, getting ready to leave. “I’m going to be late tonight.”
“Why?”
“I have the last site visit. We’ve got to make a decision on the new venue for the gala.” She tries to keep the tension out of her voice but fails.
Almost every night this week, she’s taken the gala committee on venue visits and they still haven’t found the one. Even though she pulled the options together, with Morgan’s help, she hasn’t been wild about any of them, but with the benefit under two weeks away, they are running out of time.
“Where are you going tonight?”
“The parking lot off Cherry Street I told you about.”
I keep my expression neutral although I highly doubt a parking lot is going to work, but I keep my thoughts to myself. I don’t want to discourage her. She’ll figure it out. “And what’s wrong with the other venues?”
“We’ve visited the other spots that are surprisingly available.
The pickings are slim at this late date but none of them are right.
Some are way over our budget and others clash horribly with the purpose of the benefit.
” She sighs and her shoulders deflate. “But at this point, I’m desperate and might just choose one of those if tonight doesn’t wow the committee. ”
“Ah, well, it depends on what you mean by wow. They’ll definitely be speechless.”
“You think I’m crazy, don’t you?”
“No. That’s not it. You know what you’re doing, and I trust your judgment. I know you didn’t ask, but my one piece of advice for you—you’re going to have to sell the parking lot to them like your life depends on it because none of them are going to get it.”
“Great.” She raises her arms and drops them in exasperation. “I’m just going to call it off. We’ll go with one of the other locations.”
“No, you aren’t calling anything off.” My hands land on her rigid shoulders, gently loosening the tight muscles. “Text me the details and I’ll join you.”
“Thank you but you don’t need to come. If managing the foundation is going to be my full-time job—”
I interrupt, “Have you made up your mind on that?” My grandmother is driving me crazy as each day ticks by and Paige still hasn’t committed to the foundation job offer.
“No, and now isn’t the time. My point is, I can handle the board.”
I smirk, glad to hear it, but then she continues, sounding on the verge of defeat. “Besides, no matter the location, whether it’s perfect or not, I can pretty much count on one person complaining the loudest and longest.”
Our gazes lock and she pauses for effect, the silence prolonged before I finally ask. “Who?”
“Reagan.”
The mention of Reagan Hussey doesn’t please me.
She’s an unforeseen wrench in things. If only her grandmother had stuck around this summer then Reagan might be off in Paris or some other glamorous locale.
Paige hasn’t said much about Reagan, but Morgan has kept me well informed about how difficult my ex has been.
“Knock, knock.” Donovan pushes my office door open, sauntering in as if he owns the place. “Hey, how was Singapore? Did you get some sweet Asian pussy?”
My teeth grind together, and I exhale harshly. I’ve been trying to speak to him for a couple of days now but he’s been dodging me. This invitation isn’t a request but an order.
“Donovan.” I stand as he goes to take a chair. “Don’t sit. This won’t take long.”
His brows shoot to his hairline and he stiffens. “What’s going on?”
“Stay away from Paige.” My voice is cold and hard as steel and he steps back.
“What? What did she say?”
“Nothing. I don’t want you near her and not that this is any of your business, but our relationship is real.” We’re now almost nose to nose, so close I see the beads of sweat forming on his upper lip. “Got it?”
“Fuck, Zach, I didn’t mean to piss you off. What you do is your business.”
“Then why’d you say it?” I cross my arms, stepping farther into his space. He takes another step back. “Your father may be the chairman of our board and a man I respect, but don’t think it gives you the right to run your mouth and insult Paige or anyone else for that matter.”
“Okay, okay. I got it.” He raises his hands. “I’ll keep my mouth shut. Just so you understand, I meant nothing by it.”
“Zachary,” Nan says, waltzing into the room. “Oh, hello, Donovan.”
“Mrs. Rothwell, lovely to see you.” He plasters on a tight smile and bends to lightly kiss her cheek. “I was just leaving.”
“Oh, I hope you’re not going on my account.”
Before he responds, I say, “No, Donovan and I are done.”