Page 6 of Taming the CEO

"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.”

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