“Marriage to what? Anything would be preferable than marrying you!” she hissed. She looked around him and eyed Travers as if by association he was on the low list. “You, Travers. I remember you. You were his shadow in college, right? I’m sorry life didn’t turn out better for you. Now if you will excuse me—”
Travers stepped forward. “Elissa, please. I’d like to have a few words with you, at your convenience, of course?” Travers asked.
“You know, Travers, you seem like a nice guy. That baffles me because you’re here with him. I don’t have time for more college pranks from grown men. Marriage, ha!”
Travers put his foot in the doorway and placed his hand on the door. “I’d just like a few moments.”
“Uh, Travers, you want to move your foot,” Liam said.
Travers looked at him as if he were crazy and then back at Elissa. Elissa’s head had cocked to the side, and she was looking at Travers’ foot as if it were the new enemy.
“I’m sure Elissa and I can talk this over,” Travers said in his firm I-can-handle-it voice. Liam stepped back.
“We certainly can. Can you wait here for one moment?” Elissa said with a sweetness that sent off warning bells in Liam.
“Of course.”
Elissa left Travers at the door, and Travers looked over his shoulder and gave Liam a wink. Less than a minute later, Elissa came back to the door with a 12 gauge shotgun. She used the butt of the gun to smash Travers’ foot. Travers hopped back. Liam barely moved out of the way in time, and Elissa turned the shotgun, so her finger hovered over the trigger.
“Travers, this is your warning. I was feeling very threatened by your foot being in my doorway, and I’ve taken some action against it. However, if you say the wrong thing, I may once again feel threatened and have to shoot a warning shot in your leg, do you understand?”
“Liam?!” Travers whispered slowly.
Elissa turned her gaze to Liam.
“Should I shoot him now and get it over with? It’s morning, so the nearby doctor might be in his office still, otherwise, he’ll have to go to the hospital. It’ll be a wait, but they’ll get to him.”
Travers held his hands up and called out. “Can we come up with a solution that doesn’t call for me being shot?”
“Is he yours?” she asked Liam.
Liam nodded.
“Then, you should teach him some manners about where to put his feet at a woman’s door.” She said as she cradled the shotgun in her right arm. “With those manners, he’ll get you and himself killed. I like your gran, so you should try not to upset her by dying.”
She turned her gaze to Travers, who was dusting off his shoes.
“Ms. Dane, I was rude, but we do need to talk to you about a proposal that might work for you both.”
“I don’t know the details, but Romeo here said marriage. I can’t imagine a time when marrying Liam would seem like a good idea. I have problems already.” She looked at Liam and shook her head. “Marriage? According to the paper, you can’t seem to get anyone to stay with you much less marry you, and I have to tell you that is a big warning sign when no one wants to marry a man with gobs of money.”
Before Liam could speak, Travers did.
“Ms. Dane, we understand that this wasn’t the best time or approach. We’d like to talk about the caterer position you applied for as well as a possible deal. There are some pressing time constraints. We’d appreciate it if you could pick a location where we could discuss this in full. ”
Liam had to give it to Elissa, she had managed to do what many a person in New York had tried to get Travers to do—make him retreat and negotiate. When they had gotten out of the car, Travers had said he would deal with Elissa. Even though Liam was doubtful, that was going to happen. True to form, Elissa stood her ground.
“I can see you’re a little slow, Mr. Warner,” she said as she took a look at the card he had given her. “My trigger finger is getting heavy, and I can’t think of a thing you could say that would be worth my time.”
Liam held up his hands and took a step towards her. “How about if this deal helped you out with Green Magic?”
He saw her grip tighten up on the shotgun and took a step back, hoping he hadn’t pushed her too far. At this distance, not even Elissa could miss. He hadn’t felt this engaged and alive in six months. It was a shame that it took him being bodily threatened by the only woman on the planet who hated his guts.
Chapter Four
He knew! Elissa had to lean against the door jamb as the shame of it all hit her. She clenched her teeth and straightened her spine. Dane’s didn’t bend. She needed to keep them away from Aunt Becky and definitely move them before the Johansen’s got here. It was all that man’s fault. He just messed up everything.
Just as she was contemplating getting a shot off in front of Liam’s foot, she saw a red ponytail swinging side to side attached to her best friend, Colleen Bowers. It was bound to happen that someone would notice Elissa standing in her front door with a shotgun. If it had to be someone, Colleen was the best choice. She was a beautiful six feet of lean curvaceous muscle. Her legs ate up the sidewalk, and she took what seemed like three steps to get to Elissa’s walkway.
It was hard not to notice Colleen. Today was no different. In a pink work out shirt that said, “Real girls can think all by themselves” and dark blue runner pants, she confused people on what to expect to come from her mouth. Elissa, on the other hand, knew and for once her anxiety was starting to drop,, and suddenly it seemed like it would be okay.
“Hello, everyone. Elissa, what’s going on?” Colleen asked. She didn’t even pause as she made her introductions to the men. “I’m Colleen Bowers, a concerned friend first and attorney if needed.” Elissa saw Colleen’s eyes go to the shotgun, then Colleen turned to face the men.
“I think you boys better start talking before I start calling the police on this obvious harassment going on.”
“Long time no see Colleen,” Liam said. Elissa looked at him as if he had lost his mind. If there were two people who didn’t get along, it was Colleen and Liam. The current situation wasn’t going to help anything at all.
“It hasn’t been long enough. Now, what are you two doing here besides harassing Elissa?”
“Ms. Bowers, I’m Travers Warner, COO of Butler hotels.” He said with his hand held out. When Colleen didn’t take it, he continued. “I’m sure you are aware there was a very unflattering story in the Chusada paper today. It seems that after looking at all of the facts and some unique crossovers that we wanted to present Ms. Dane with an opportunity that would be mutually beneficial.”
Colleen slowly clapped twice. “You said all of that with a straight face. Whatever he’s paying you ask for more because you’re good. To answer your question, yes, I did see him on the news today.” Colleen turned to Liam. “By the way, pink isn’t your color. Don’t be stressed; it’s a hard color to pull off. Try a deeper red, it’ll complement your hair or even something in the blue family to make your eyes pop,” she said to Liam.
“Thank you for the advice. The next time someone steals my clothes, and I have to make do. I’ll make sure to ask to see her whole collection before I escape,” Liam retorted.