Page 45 of So Wrong It Must Be Right

He pushed out of his chair, still grinning. She thought of her first impression of him, all scowly and grumpy, the enemy. But there was so much under that rough and gruff exterior.

“Sit tight,” he murmured. He disappeared into the kitchen, and when he returned he had a pie. “You like cherry?”

“Yes. That looks store-bought, and here I thought you were Mister Local, twenty-four-seven.”

“They’re made and distributed by a baker in New Benton.”

“Where on earth is New Benton?”

“Far away from the city, Gallagher, but it still falls within the hundred-mile designation for local foods, so I maintain my twenty-four-seven reputation.”

She chuckled as he cut her a slice of pie, and that was when she noticed he also had a file folder under his arm.

“Dessertandbusiness? Those might be my two favorite things.”

“I hope to amend those two tops later tonight.”

She laughed and reached out her hands, making a grabby-fingers gesture. “Give me the folder.”

“Hold your horses.” He kept the folder firmly tucked under his arm as he sliced himself a piece of pie and slid it onto a plate. Taking his sweet time, he sat back down in the chair across from her and placed the folder firmly out of her reach.

“These notes aren’t for you, it’s just my chicken scratch so I don’t forget anything. Nothing formal. Just my terms. I talked to my sister, and there’s a lawyer she knows in California who is willing to look over any contract we negotiate.”

“Can you afford a lawyer?” She realized a little too late she’d offended him by asking that question. But he’d been the one to mention it the other day.

“I’ll handle what I can afford. You just make sure Gallagher’s is being fair.”

“All right. Tell me your terms.”

Carter went through the assurances he wanted and the things he could promise in a contract. Dinah asked questions and tried to analyze it from what she knew of menus and cost and supplies. She’d need to set up a meeting with Simone, Gallagher’s head chef, before they went to the board. She’d need to ensure that Simone was on board and that all the details were ironed out.

“And that concludes the business portion of this evening.” He flipped his folder shut and narrowed his eyes at her. “Don’t you dare argue with me.”

“As much as I love business, I suppose I could be encouraged to set it aside for the remainder of the evening. We can continue our conversation tomorrow after I’ve talked with our head chef.”

Something flickered across his expression, possibly uncertainty or something very close to it. She opened her mouth to promise him things would be great, and then she remembered he’d told her not to promise anymore. It was hard not to. Hard not to assure him she could take this on and she could win. Very few people put their faith in her, and shehadto live up to the promises—even if they were only promises in her head.

“Let’s go for a walk.”

“A walk? All I have are heels.”

“Just around the farm.”

He held out his hand and she took it, letting him pull her up from the chair. “Around the farm, huh?” Sincethe farmwas a yard, it seemed like an odd request, but she went along with it anyway.

“Sometimes it’s nice to walk around in the semi-fresh air and look at the stars and listen to the sounds of the night.”

“Sirens and car doors slamming and—”

“One of these days I’m going to take you to the country and see how well you like it, city girl.”

Dinah pretended to shudder at the idea of the country. “All that open space and lack of Starbucks?”

He rolled his eyes and shook his head, but he held her hand as they walked through the rows of plants. Even though the space was small, therewassomething nice and refreshing about walking around on a starry night, seeing all the things he grew. Leaves gilded moon-silver and fruits sparkling. It felt like magic.

Hefelt like magic. She couldn’t believe it was a magic she got to take part in.

He stopped their progress in a little corner at the side of the house. He reached out and brushed some hair out of her face. Something inside of her shivered in time with goose bumps popping up on her arms.

---