“Anyway. If you’re still against turning this into an actual venue, I was hoping that I could rent the barrels at least. I’d pay whatever you want.”
“I don’t want your money.” He picked up a barrel and carried it into the barn.
She hurried behind him, and he noticed how she held her arms out to balance herself. “It wouldn’t be my money. It would be my client’s.”
He put the barrel down and rested his hand on top. “If you want to borrow the barrels then borrow the barrels. I couldn’t care less.”
“I can borrow them anytime for free?” she asked.
“Not like anyone else is using them.”
“Oh, before I forget.” She sidestepped him and went to her bag, pulling out what looked like a planner. She flipped it open and took out an envelope before handing it to him.
He didn’t take it. “What’s that?”
“Here, take it.” She waved the envelope at him until he finally took it. He peered inside since she hadn’t sealed it and shook his head at the dollar amount on the check. She was out of her damn mind.
“It’s the money for renting this place minus my commission, of course.”
He held the envelope out at her. “I don’t want this.”
“What do you mean? It’s eighty-five hundred dollars.”
“I can read.”
“Okay… then what’s the problem? Is it because I took too much? Fifteen percent is fair.”
“It’s more than fair.”
“I still don’t see the problem?”
“I don’t want it.”
“What kind of person doesn’t want money?”
“Look, I’m giving you use of a barn that has been sitting here for decades. I’ve had to do nothing to earn this money.”
“You cleared out all your equipment, you helped me clean it up, and not to mention that’s the point of a venue like this. You don’t have to do anything, but you rent out your property, and people pay you. It’s really not a hard concept to understand.”
“I still don’t want the money.”
She let out a loud, perturbed breath. “Then what the hell am I supposed to do with it?”
“Keep it.” He didn’t give two shits what she did with it.
“I absolutely cannot keep it. It’s yours.”
“And I’m telling you I don’t want it, so now it’s yours again.”
Her head looked like it might explode, and he was loving every second of it. She closed her eyes, and inhaled deeply. With a shake of his head, he walked away.
“Hey, get back here! We are not finished,” Raelyn’s voice reverberated through the old wood slats of the barn, but he kept walking. He didn’t want her money. He didn’t need it.
“That’s not how this works.” She stomped her sexy shoe into the dirt. “I can’t take your money.”
He ignored her, but Raelyn Shaw simply would not allow him to do that. She jumped in front of him and planted her feet firmly on the ground like it was her job to keep him from running the ball. The thought of her on a football field made him smirk. Raelyn seemed more like the type to be screaming her face off on the sidelines or in the stands.
“You find this funny?” she demanded.