Page 10 of The Fake Fiance's Billionaire Adversary
A blanket of pink covered her cheeks. “Thank you.”
Not only could she cook, but she was adorable when she blushed. Alarm bells sounded in his head. If she agreed to his proposal, he’d have to take extra steps to keep her at a distance. Too many thoughts like that one, and he’d be in serious trouble.
He set down his fork, determined to keep the conversation professional. “This is flat-out the most delicious thing I’ve ever eaten. You’re really good at this.”
She tilted her head, a tiny smile playing on her lips. “You sound surprised.”
“Well, no, not really surprised, just…in awe of your talent.”
A small laugh bubbled out of her. Okay, not only was the food wow, but so was she. That laugh…and her snuggled next to him, watching the sunset… No, no, no. Business. This was business, nothing else.
She narrowed her eyes, but the smile stayed on her lips. “Don’t think that flattery will get me to sell.”
“I wouldn’t dare.” He grinned. Was he flirting with this woman? Have mercy, he was. How long had it been since he’d done that?
Silence, along with the elephant in the room, fell over them as they ate a few bites. Anxiety built in Hunter’s chest until he finally put down his fork and asked, “Okay, I need to know. What’s your answer?”
“Cut to the chase, huh?”
“Please? If you’re letting me down easy, I need to figure out what I’m going to tell my family.”
Taking a sip of her tea, she held his gaze as she peered over the rim of the glass. She set it back down and wiped her mouth with the napkin before dropping it back into her lap. “All right. If I’m going to do this, I have additions to the agreement.”
He almost said she wasn’t in a position to negotiate, but that wasn’t exactly true. Plus, if he said that, she’d probably get mad and kick him out. First, he wanted to finish the meal, and second, he didn’t want her to say no. If her additions were too outlandish, he’d simply counter with his own. “Okay, what are they?”
“On top of getting me current on the loan, I want a year’s worth of payments and enough money to do some of the upgrades I know it needs.”
Once again, the thought that she somehow knew about his money came roaring to his mind. Why did she think he had that kind of money? Granted, he did run a flipping business and he’d offered to buy her place. Not just offered, but said he’d beat out any other offer she’d received. For most people, that would make him sound like he either had money or access to it.
“Why not the loan payoff?” he asked.
She shrugged and lowered her eyes to the table. “I’m not looking for the easy way out.” She lifted her head and met his gaze. “I want to prove to myself that I can do it. Yes, I could still do that with the loan paid off, but I’d never really know it was me. It’s easy to run a business when there’s no pressure.”
Wow. If he didn’t respect her before, he did now. What an incredible woman. She was a dangerous combination of beautiful, charming, and intelligent. The type of woman he’d secretly wanted for a while now. The level of risk for him had rocketed in the span of a few sentences.
Then again, he also knew it would be difficult to lure tourists back when their last visit wasn’t so great. She was a fighter, but you could only keep it up for so long. If she invested the capital back into the place, it would only make it easier on him later on when he purchased it. He wasn’t being cruel, just pragmatic.
He held her gaze a second longer and said, “If I agree to your terms, you’ll pretend to be my fiancée?”
“Yes, but I’m still wondering why you picked me.”
“I…” What should he say? Yes, his mother knew all the women back in Caprock Canyon. Maybe there was even a possibility he could have asked one of his exes, but deep down, the truth was that he liked her. She was the type of woman he’d bring home to his mom.
“What?” Reagan asked.
“My mom knows everyone back home, and…”
“I was the nearest available?”
The hint of sadness in her voice made him pause. He ate a few more bites of his meal as he worked to form a response. She had to know she was incredible. Not only was she an amazing cook, but she was easy—and fun—to talk to. “No, well, yes, but that’s not the reason. You’re intelligent, witty, and beautiful. Even if I had choices, I’d have still asked you.”
“Well, I didn’t expect that answer, but…thank you.”
Had no one ever told her that? Shame. Hunter didn’t want a relationship, but he certainly wasn’t blind. “I find it very difficult to believe no one has ever said that before.”
She cleared her throat and nodded. “Okay. You said last time that your family is close.” It wasn’t lost on him that she’d changed the subject. One more thing to add to the list of things he liked about her.
“Yeah, we are.” He took a deep breath. “I’ll be upfront. This isn’t going to be easy to pull off.”
