Page 37 of The Charmer

She’d found a chink in his impenetrable armour and he didn’t like it. Business was one thing, caring about the opposition another, and unfortunately, he’d grown to like the fiery artist with the zany dress sense.

Enough to forfeit your dream?

Shaking his head and wishing for a clear-cut solution to this new problematic development in his quest for success, he left payment for the coffee along with a hefty tip and headed for the door.

He didn’t make it.

Ariel burst through the door and made a bee-line straight for him, and by her murderous expression it looked like her tears were a thing of the past and she’d rather skewer someone’s head.

His.

Chapter Twenty-Four

“Tell me more about that lease business you mentioned earlier,” Ariel said, resisting the urge to poke Cooper in the chest as she slid into the booth opposite the chair he’d just vacated. She preferred the soft, comfy vinyl to the hard backed chairs. Not that his choice surprised her: hard chair for a hard-ass.

“Would you like a drink?” He sat opposite her with obvious reluctance. “And how did you find me? Is stalking another of your hidden talents?”

Ariel toyed with the cutlery in front of her, particularly the knife, and contemplated all sorts of delightful ways she could use it on the infuriating man in front of her.

“Everyone in the street knows me and when I asked if they’d seen a tall, uptight guy in a fancy suit, the old man from the Nepalese shop pointed me straight here.” She smirked, as he frowned at her uptight dig. “And no thanks, I don’t want a drink, I want answers.”

To give him credit, Cooper’s sombre expression didn’t change. Most guys would’ve called her out for her outrageous behaviour—from sniffling tears to cocky demands in less than ten minutes—but he took it in his stride, leaning back in his chair and folding his arms, his blue-eyed gaze unwavering.

“All the answers are in the proposal you asked me to leave with you.”

“I’d rather hear about it from you. Besides, I don’t have time to read a lot of legalese that you’ve probably peppered through that doorstopper of a document you prepared.”

She sounded ruder by the second but she couldn’t help it. Nerves brought out her worst: defensive, obnoxious, and pushy. Having her home and livelihood potentially ripped away did that to a person.

His eyebrow arched at her snark. “You could’ve heard more if you hadn’t booted me out of the gallery.”

She ignored the challenging gleam in his eyes and the tiny thrill that here was a guy she could match wits with, who gave as good as he got.

She glared. “Could’ve, should’ve, would’ve, but didn’t. How about you tell me everything you know about that lease now?”

So she could run straight to the council offices and see if she had an easel to stand on.

He folded his arms, a casual gesture of a confident guy rather than a defence mechanism, and met her stare straight on.

“The council has had a ninety-nine year lease on the land twice. The original owners, when the land was pastoral, leased it to the council who later bought the lease once the owners offered it to them for a hefty price. As I told you before, your Barb signed a twenty-five year lease with the council, which was extremely generous, and that’s up for renewal. I’ve spoken to several people within council who are ready to negotiate a sale for the right price. If that happens, you get nothing, which is why it’s in your best interests to vacate now, take what’s on offer, and lease elsewhere. That about cover it?”

Ariel listened to every damning word, her heart sinking lower than Cooper’s lousy offer. Could he be right about the council selling or was he toying with her like he had from the start?

Only one way to find out. Push him.

“The council won’t sell.” Her eyes narrowed, trying to get a read on him and failing, damn his impenetrable facade. “You’re bluffing.”

He leaned forward and rested his forearms on the table, drawing her attention to his long fingers that she’d noticed when painting him. Long fingers she’d fantasised about, skimming her body, bringing her pleasure…

“I’m not bluffing and I’d hate for you to find that out the hard way.”

She wound a curl around her finger, meeting his unflinching stare while her insides quaked. He had to be wrong. She couldn’t contemplate any other option. She’d made a promise to Barb, had a legend to upkeep, to continue the work Barb had started in the local community, and she couldn’t let a guy like Cooper railroad her into making a decision out of fear.

“You’ve seen enough of this street to know the type of image the council wants to portray and the gallery is a vital part of the local colour,” she said, sounding surprisingly calm while dread churned her stomach. “Besides, we do a lot to foster local talent, not to mention helping the street kids in the area.”

“Street kids? What’s your involvement with them?”

If his upper class lip had curled in derision, she wouldn’t have been surprised. His incredulous tone said it all.

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