Crossing his arms over his massive chest, he studied her for a minute and didn’t look the least bit put out by her little outburst. “I’d apologize, but I didn’t do anything wrong, Peyton. Granted, I had no idea you were interested in the land, but even if I did, it wouldn’t have changed anything. It’s business, not personal.”
Her mouth was moving–she knew it was–but she couldn’t seem to make herself say anything.
“There are plenty of buildings for lease around town. Maybe you can take on one of them and use it for whatever it was you were going to do with the property.”
“I don’t want a building for lease! I wanted the property so I could build exactly what I wanted! Someplace that had my stamp on it from the ground up!”
“Maybe there’s someplace down the coast–maybe in Laurel Bay–somewhere that’s better suited to your needs?”
She saw red and was about to lay into him again when he held up a hand to her.
“How about we go somewhere and talk? I’d love to hire you as a consultant for the restaurants I’m planning.”
Beside them, Austin groaned.
Loudly.
So many responses were on the tip of her tongue, but she was too much of a lady to say any of them out loud. Instead, she picked up her purse, squared her shoulders, and faced him. “You can take your flowers, your property, and your job offer and go straight to hell, Ryder Ashford.” Stepping around him, she strode to the door. She glanced over her shoulder one last time and figured, what the hell before adding, “And you can go frack yourself.”
“I can go frack myself?” Ryder asked once she was gone. He looked over at Austin in confusion. “What the hell was that all about?”
Sighing wearily, Austin scrubbed a hand over his face as he sat back down. “Anyone ever tell you you have lousy timing?”
That made him laugh. “Never. If anything, I’ve been told my timing is perfect. I know when to buy, sell, invest…you name it.” He sat down and shook his head. “You have to know I had no idea your cousin was interested in the property.”
Austin met his gaze. “Not that it would have mattered, right?”
He groaned. “Austin, come on. You know what I was saying.”
All his friend did was hold up his hands in surrender.
It took a lot to surprise Ryder and somehow Peyton Bishop managed to do that twice in one week. Raking a hand through his hair, he let out a long breath. “Okay, do I need to do something about this situation with your cousin? Should I order a month’s worth of food from the café? Send her some kind of gourmet chocolate? Jewelry? There’s got to be something she likes since flowers clearly aren’t her thing.”
Shaking his head, Austin let out a low laugh. “Would you consider backing out of the deal on the property?”
“No.”
“Then there’s nothing you can do. Trust me.” He paused before adding, “It’s just a crappy situation.”
“Well, she’s young, she’ll get over it,” he murmured.
And hoped he was right.
He’d meant what he said to her–it was only business–but the look of utter devastation on her face was going to haunt him for a while. Ryder wasn’t stupid. In order for him to win a deal usually meant someone had to lose. He’d just never been there to see the look on their faces when it happened. Maybe he was getting old–something he was feeling a lot more these last few days–or maybe he was getting soft, but the thought of hurting someone like that didn’t sit right with him.
Especially since he’d planned on going to the café today to ask her to dinner.
Blew that one, didn’t I?
His mind immediately began to work through ways they could both get what they wanted. Obviously dating her was off the table for now, but maybe he could work with her and prove to her that he wasn’t such a bad guy.
Leaning forward, Ryder braced his elbows on his knees. “I can mentor her. I can totally help her find a way to channel her business skills into finding something else–another location–and how to do it without getting so emotional over it. Do you think she’d go for it?”
“I believe she told you–not five minutes ago–what you can do with your job offer.”
“That was different. This isn’t me giving her a token job or a pat on the head. I’m talking about legit teaching her about the business world so she can double her business at the café or open another one and make it even more successful. Come on…I feel bad.”
Austin laughed out loud. “You? Seriously?”
“I know! You know I never feel bad about anything, but this…” Straightening, he shrugged. “I have to do something.”
“I really wish you wouldn’t,” Austin said carefully. “Peyton is…well…she’s struggled to come into her own. This was going to be her big stand–something she did completely on her own. You unknowingly took that from her. She’s angry and she’s hurt, and you are pretty much always going to be the guy who killed her dream.”
“Oh, come on! No one really thinks like that!” he countered. “I get that she’s young, but she has to be smart enough to know that we don’t always get our way in the real world! Like I said, it’s just business, not personal.”
“I know my cousin and believe me, she’d disagree.”
Standing, Ryder huffed with frustration. “Then she needs to grow up, Austin!”
Pushing back from his desk, Austin leaned back with a mirthless laugh. “What’s going on with you?”
“What do you mean?”
“Why all the comments about Peyton’s age and needing to grow up? It’s not like you to fixate on something like that.”
“Yeah, well…” Shit, how did he even explain it? “Let’s just say that I met her the other day at her café and she didn’t strike me as being old enough to be the owner.”
“Oh, God. You didn’t say that to her, did you?”
He nodded.
“You know, for such a brilliant businessman, you’re kind of clueless. Why would you say that to her?”
“I don’t know! It just sort of came out and then she acted a little bratty about delivering my order and it just made her seem even more immature.” He shrugged.
“Ryder…” Austin groaned.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah…I was a jerk. Got it.” Pausing, he walked over to the large window and looked out. The view was of a small courtyard–nothing special–but it was better than looking at the disappointment on his friend’s face. “The thing is…later that night I sort of tried looking her up on social media and it made me feel like…you know…a creepy old dude.”
“If you’re stalking anyone online, you are a creepy old dude.”
Ryder’s head fell forward. This was getting them nowhere.
Next thing he knew, Austin was standing beside him. “Let me ask you something–why were you looking her up on social media?”
Turning his head, he frowned. “What?”
“You heard me,” Austin said, his voice low with just a hint of hostility. “Why go checking her out online when you could have just called me with any questions?”