Page 32 of Dragged Home for Christmas

Two million dollars?

Ashley made a choking sound, and Mike jerked his head in her direction. She grabbed his notepad from thetable and scribbled on it.

“That’s a very generous offer, and—”

She tore off the top sheet and thrust it into Mike’s hand. He peered at it.

Tell him to fuck off. This place could be worth three times that much by the time we’re finished. Atleast.

He bit back a smile. “I’m still going to have to decline, Sharp.”

“Would you at least let me come back to you with a better offer at some point in the future?”

Mike shrugged. “You’re free to do that, of course. I still think you’d be wasting your time.” He walked to the door. “Thank you for your interest.”

“Yeah, and watch the door doesn’t ruin your suit when it smacks you in the ass,Benjamin,” Jim called out.

There was nothing Ben Sharp could do but leave.

He smoothed down his jacket. “I’m sure I’ll be seeing you again,” he murmured as he passed through the doorway onto the porch.

“I’m sure we will too,” Mike muttered as he closed the door behind him.

The explosion took place a second later.

“Of all the nerve.”

“Who the fuck does he think he is?”

“There’s a three-bedroom house right now on Commercial Street that’s asking for almost four million.”

“Find a house for under a million in this town and you’d be talking about a shed.”

Ashley snorted. “Did he really think you’d roll over and saythank you, here are the keys, it’s yours?”

Mike smiled. “I think if I’d said yes, Nick would’ve haunted me for the rest of my life.”

One thing Sharp had said had given him pause forthought, however.

A survey?

Maybe he needed to get one done, to provide an accurate picture of the house’s state. Right then, the most useful thing he could do was assess what was needed to get the hotel open again.

Someone touched his shoulder, and he turned to see who it was. Sam gazed at him. “Ready to see what state this place is in?”

Mike smiled. “You took the words right out of my mouth.”

It was time to roll up his sleeves and get to work.

Chapter 12

Saturday, November 2

It had been a long day, but a productive one. Mike felt as if that merited a small celebration, so he’d splurged and sent Jim to Provincetown House of Pizza, on Sam’s recommendation.

Pizza, I can afford.

It was everything else that was going to break the bank.

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