After drying off, she padded into her bedroom and slipped on a pair of wide-legged capri yoga pants and a cami. Opting to keep her hair up, she walked out to the living room and took her phone out of her purse. She was hungry and it would take an hour for a pizza to get delivered, so the sooner she ordered, the better. When she swiped the screen, however, she noticed a text from Austin.
Austin: Hey! Are you at the café?
Peyton: No. Left early today. What’s up?
Austin: So you’re home?
This was a little weird, she thought.
Peyton: Yes. Why? What’s up?
Austin: Just wanted to apologize in advance
Oh, no…
Peyton: What did you do now?
Her phone dinged with an incoming text at the same time someone knocked on her door. With her phone in hand, she walked over to the door and looked through the peephole.
And immediately groaned.
“Seriously, Austin,” she muttered before typing out one last response to him.
Peyton: You better pray I don’t see you any time soon because if I do, I promise I WILL hurt you!
Austin: Don’t worry, Mia will hold me down so you can do it
Peyton: Thank her for me
Peyton: Oh, and you suck!
The doorbell rang, and she knew she couldn’t ignore it much longer. With a huff of irritation, she pulled the door open and glared at Ryder Ashford.
Ryder knew he was in trouble the moment Peyton opened the door.
It wasn’t the death glare she was giving him or the open hostility radiating off of her.
It was how she looked. She was beautiful–like heart-stopping, breathtakingly beautiful.
Swallowing hard, he forced himself to smile. “I was hoping to find you at home. May I come in?”
The look of utter annoyance almost made him reconsider, but he enjoyed a good challenge and Peyton Bishop was certainly lining up to be one.
“What do you want, Mr. Ashford?” she said coolly.
“That’s a bit formal, don’t you think?” he teased, and realized she wasn’t remotely amused. “Please, Peyton. I’d really like to talk to you.”
“And you thought coming to my home uninvited was the smart thing to do?” Shaking her head, she took a step back. “You’ve got five minutes.”
It was pointless to argue that with her, but he knew he wasn’t leaving that quickly. With a murmur of thanks, he stepped into her home and jumped at the sound of the slamming door.
He knew she wasn’t a fan of his, but he hoped after two weeks and numerous boxes of chocolate–which Austin assured him were her favorites–that she’d be slightly less hostile.
She walked past him and said, “I just spent the last hour relaxing and it’s the best I’ve felt in weeks, so proceed with caution.”
It didn’t seem possible that this woman was trying to intimidate him, and yet…she was.
And she did.
Ryder knew he was a master of negotiating and putting potential business allies at ease. He just needed to look at Peyton the same way.
And not as a woman who smelled like wildflowers wearing clingy clothes that showed some amazing curves.
Letting out a breath, he walked over to her sofa and sat down. “Your house is lovely, Peyton.”
“It’s a rental,” she told him, sitting in the oversized chair next to the sofa. “My brother rented it a few years ago before he got married and I sort of fell in love with it and the location.” With a shrug, she added, “Even though I’ve lived in Magnolia my whole life, I still haven’t grown tired of the view.”
“I can understand that. It’s one of the reasons I bought the house that Austin renovated.”
“You mean the one you haven’t lived in yet?”
Her lips twitched and he knew she was making fun, but he didn’t take offense. “Yeah, I’m hoping to be in there early next year. The house he and Mia are building is well underway, and I’m more than happy to wait for it to be done. It seemed crazy to make them move twice.”
“Most people wouldn’t be so gracious,” she said, and he had a feeling it hurt her to say something nice about him.
“Austin’s a good friend and I’m happy to help.” Which was now the perfect opening for him to say what he came here to say. He got a little more comfortable before meeting her gaze. “You may not want to believe this about me, but I genuinely do enjoy helping people, Peyton. And I would think you’d know that considering it’s not just Austin I’ve helped, but Garrett too. Buying the veterinary clinic wasn’t something I planned on, but when Emma shared her proposal with me, it was a no-brainer.”
The bored expression on her face told him he wasn’t winning any points with her by mentioning the ways he’d helped her family.
“I meant what I said to you that day in Austin’s office. I genuinely want to hire you as a consultant for the restaurant I’m putting in at the new resort. Everyone has been singing your praises about the way you turned things around for both Café Magnolia and The Mystic Magnolia.” Pausing, he chuckled. “Sorry, it’s still kind of funny to me how many businesses around here use the word ‘magnolia’ in them.”
“Are you planning on using it on any of the properties you’ve taken?”
He arched a brow at her choice of words and didn’t think he could let it simply slide.
Leaning forward, he told her, “You’re going to need to get over that mindset, Duchess. I have never taken anything. Ever,” he said with a little more heat than he intended. “I bought that house your cousin worked on for me and paid a lot of damn money for it. It was the same with the veterinary clinic. And that property that the resort is going to be built on? That one cost me a cool two million dollars.” Gently clearing his throat, Ryder sat up straight. “And the property you were interested in? I paid the full asking price for it. Not once–on any of those deals–did I try to haggle, negotiate, or take anything. Everything I have I came about honestly and I resent the implication to the contrary.”
Her eyes went wide and she visibly paled before looking away from him. “You’re right,” she said quietly. “I’m sorry. That was unfair of me to accuse you.” Then she looked him right in the eye and added, “But considering the only thing I personally know of you is how I lost the property I’d been saving for to you, you’ll understand why I feel the way I do.”
Damn, she was stubborn, he thought.
“It’s not the only thing you know of me,” he reminded her. “And we’ve already discussed it and I don’t plan on rehashing it considering my five minutes are almost up.”
All she did was give him a curt nod.
“You obviously know what you’re doing in the food business, Peyton, and everyone here in town adores you. I don’t want to bring in some restaurant that no one is going to have any interest in. I want someone who is going to help me make it a place the locals will want to come to and that visitors and tourists will find as appealing as the town itself. Does that make sense?”
She nodded.
“You’re very talented and you’ve certainly picked some fine chefs–particularly at the café, because the menu is extremely original. Is that what you looked for when you hired them? Creativity?”