Page 50 of The Charmer

Was his dream more important than hers?

Did he care enough about her to turn his back on the primary motivating factor that dragged him into the office these days, the thought of leaving and never coming back once he sealed this deal?

If he cared about her, how much? And what was he going to do about it?

“Time isn’t going to help,” he muttered.

It would help either of them. He needed to get out of Vance Corporation, she needed to start a new gallery elsewhere with the money he was determined she would have. And once this pesky business was out of the way, they needed to recreate the fire that had consumed them last night, repeatedly.

“You don’t know that. There’s the National Trust, the Victorian Arts Council…” she trailed off, the truth finally dawning in her stricken eyes. “You’ve already made the offer, haven’t you?”

Cooper hesitated, knowing he couldn’t lie to the woman he loved yet aware the truth would potentially ruin what little chance they had for a future.

The woman he loved?

He slumped in his chair, the truth detonating.

He loved her…

No way.

He must’ve slipped up under the strain, substituting the L word for caring. Yeah, that sounded better. He cared for her. Much better.

Yet when he met her defeated stare, unshed tears glistening green, his heart made a mockery of his head.

For a guy who thrived on cool, hard facts, who used logic to sort through problems, an emotion he had little time for had snuck up and sabotaged him.

The longer Ariel stared at him, the worse his heart ached, until it took every ounce of willpower not to leap from his chair and cradle her in his arms.

“Tell me the truth.”

Cooper startled, shocked that she’d seen right through him in his moment of clarity, before realising she meant the truth about his offer to the council. Worse, that what he was about to say would rob him of any chance to express his newly discovered feelings to the woman who needed to hear him out.

Taking a deep breath, he selected his words carefully. “I have approached the council and had discussions about the sale of land, but nothing has been formalised.”

“But you’ve basically thrown more money at them than they know what to do with, right? So if I don’t accept your offer and sell before the lease is up, they’re going to jump at it straight away?”

He nodded, hating the dejected slump of her shoulders, the shaking hand that fiddled with a curl near her right ear, winding it furiously around and around.

“So what was the extra time about? Giving me another twenty-four hours to stew before I finally capitulate and make your day?”

Scorn dripped from every word and she straightened, anger replacing defeat in her eyes.

That’s my girl, he thought, admiring her fighting spirit yet wishing he wasn’t the one to instigate it.

“I want you to do this of your own accord, to make the decision yourself.”

She laughed, a harsh, hollow sound that had nothing to do with happiness. “That’s rich, coming from you.”

Tapping her temple, she looked heavenward as if deep in thought. “Let me see. I get to make my own decision as long as it’s by the end of today and it’s what you want. Thanks sooo much.”

The hatred in her eyes cleaved his heart in two. “We’re going round in circles here. That’s my final offer and as a smart businesswoman, I think you should take it.”

Though it wasn’t his final offer, not if he had any say. Once this mess got sorted and they could put business behind them, he had a host of other offers in mind, the main one being a relationship.

He didn’t have a lot of experience with love.

He’d loved his mum; she’d died when he was too young.

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