Page 28 of Stirring Up Love
“You’d love that, wouldn’t you?” Her golden eyes held all the warmth of a sarcophagus lid. “Grab on to my skirts and ride your way to the top?”
“The last place I want to be is anywhere near your skirts.” Not like he’d ever seen her in a skirt, and he’d certainly never imagined her in one—not the brush of fabric above her knees, or the way a dress mighthug her shapely thighs. Obviously he’d never imagined anything like that. Never. “And as for riding ...”
She rolled her eyes. “Classy as always.”
“I wish I could say the same.” The words scraped through his clenched teeth, but the next ones were even more difficult to grind out. “We. Need. To. Talk.”
Simone drew herself up to her full height. In high heels, she bested him by a hair, but he didn’t flinch. The studio-lot lights cast shadows down the rows of buildings, her face unreadable.
When she didn’t speak, he shoved his hands in his pockets and settled in. Patience was a skill he’d mastered long ago. Patience, even when waiting for a lost cause. Patience, even with the outcome a foregone conclusion. Patience and hope in the face of impossibility.
But staring Simone down left him feeling impulsive and impatient. Anxious to end this argument and break the spell her presence cast over his senses. She was a contradiction of hard lines and soft curls, bold and elusive, and his mind sought distance even as his body swayed toward her.
“We’re not partners.” She broke the silence with a lashing snarl. Night had cooled the amber depths of her eyes, banked the fire consuming her dragoness soul, but it simmered beneath the surface like a lava flow. He could hear her anger. Feel it sizzle and pop between them.
“Not partners? That’s not what you agreed to on set.” They’d offered her more than she’d come in for. A franchise. Was she so entitled she would refuse to put aside their differences despite the chance to open locations across the country? Unreal.
“Are you really thinking of backing out? Because if so, great. Let’s go in and make it official.” To sell the bluff, he spun on the heel of the ridiculous loafers Darius had talked him into wearing, and she grabbed his hand.
“Not so fast.” She let go as soon as he halted, but the heat of her fingertips lingered like the press of a tattoo needle, inscribing her touch into his skin.
“I’m not backing out. Yet. But we don’t need to talk about anything tonight,” she said. “And just to make it clear, once the deal is finalized—ifthe deal is finalized—you and I arenotpartners. We’re two separate entities doing business with each other for mutual profit.”
“So, partners.” He poked the grizzly before he could help himself.
“We’ve got a few days before we sign our souls away. Can you at least not go tossing around that word until the ink dries?”
His chest loosened at the opening she’d left, the pressure easing just enough for a full breath. “But you will sign it, right? This deal will be the best thing for both of us.”
Was it, though? Darius had pressed him to ask for an investment in his culinary-school dream. Told him the investors would jump at the chance to fund it. But all his life he’d been led on. What if they took his dream and tied it up in red tape? Delaying. Deferring.
Or worse, handing it to someone else. Someone they deemed more worthy.
After so many years of bitter disappointment, he couldn’t bear to let the one thing that truly belonged to him slip through his fingers.
Anyway, his plan to pitch his sauce had paid off. If Simone kept her word and took the deal, he had a shot at making his vision a reality. He couldn’t fathom walking away from $200,000 over a petty farmers’ market feud. “Are you really considering backing out?”
She sighed, deep and long. “I’m not sure, Finn.”
Nothing left to say, he nodded once. When he brushed past her, she was cool as marble. Somehow, he missed the scorching blaze.
CHAPTER 12
SIMONE
Alisha:
A franchise deal?? With farmers’ market Finn?? Was this twist planned all along and you kept us in the dark???
Meg:
I knew that rivalry stuff this summer was a front. But if Finn is your business partner, does that mean you two can’t date? Bc in that case you got a raw deal.
Simone:
1) Not planned. I was as blindsided as it looked like.
Simone:
