My eye twitched as I regarded him. I held my breath, shoring up my defenses. I would not fall into his trap. I would not let him manipulate me. Nope. He could take his flirtation and his “I would do anything for you” and shove it right up his thick lumberjack ass.
I did not owe him shit. Least of all an explanation.
“You want to know what I think?” He pressed his palms against my desk, looming over me in a way that many might find intimidating. Me, though? Not a chance. This was Gus. The gentle giant, the kind lumberjack with a heart of gold.
Or at least that’s what I’d once thought.
It shouldn’t be so easy to forget that he had abandoned me when I was at my most vulnerable. That he’d broken my heart and sent me away without a second thought.
I couldn’t let those broad shoulders and his deliciously manly smell distract me from the truth. He was not the good guy. No matter how good his acting ability was.
“You’ve been in the timber industry for a long time, but on the investor side. You buy and sell and strategize. And, according to the internet, you’re fucking great at it.”
I had to suppress a smile. Those words from him were the biggest ego boost I’d experienced in a long, long time. Yes, I was smart and I worked hard, and I’d earned everything I’d achieved. If only the men in my own family could see it.
“You’ve bounced around. Mostly on the West Coast. You live in Seattle, where you own a luxury condo in a historic building in the Queen Anne neighborhood.”
I sucked in a breath, and my heart took off once more.
“In your role as a partner at Strategic Timber, you’ve traveled all over the globe and made a lot of money for institutional investors in Eastern Europe, specifically Romania, which has some of the best hardwoods on the planet.”
Aw, fuck. He’d done his homework.
He raised one eyebrow. “I’m smarter than I look.” Lowering himself until he was so close I couldn’t help but inhale his strong masculine scent, he said, “So why are you here? This company is small, this town even smaller.”
“Investment opportunity,” I choked out.
“You bought my family’s company, came back to run it, and bought a damn mansion in my hometown. So you can sit there and snap at me all you want, but we both know this isn’t just an investment to you.”
His proximity brought me back to a different world, a different life.
Those callused hands were still strong, and his deep blue gaze still burned me as hotly as it always had.
I squeezed my eyes shut and dug deep, searching for the anger that had festered inside me for decades. But dammit, he had a point. Why was I here? That was the problem with Gus—he was too smart for his own damn good.
If I had to put my finger on what was making me so uncomfortable, I’d say it was his honesty. He was an open book, making his interest clear and relishing every moment the two of us sparred.
It was so very Gus, and so very infuriating.
I’d worked with tons of men, and very few had ever shown interest in sleeping with me.
I wasn’t the desirable woman men lusted after.
I was the scary one.
No one had ever mistaken me for the sweetheart every man fell in love with or the gal that guys were comfortable flirting with in professional spaces.
No, I was the ball-buster.
They made jokes about Commando Chloe and having to wear a cup to meetings.
But maybe honesty was the only way forward here. The thought made my heart sink, but what other choice did I have?
“I need your help,” I admitted, as much as it felt like defeat. “I took a big risk when I bought Hebert Timber, and I want to do right by it.”
He straightened, then dropped into the chair opposite me, his expression open and full of interest.
“And while I know you don’t care whether I lose money, if we can’t make this work, it’s not just my ass on the line.”
“My employees,” he said.
I nodded. “And the town. This company is important to a lot of people. I won’t play games with you. The crime and the drugs and the assault and the thefts? That’s all just icing on the shit cake right now. So I am going to ask. Humbly. Can you help me? Give me all the background, walk me through the last few years. I’ve got the court documents, but that’s just a small snapshot.”
“I’ll clear my weekend.” He stood and headed for the door. Halfway there, he turned to look at me, his eyes softening. “And after we talk shop, you can tell me why you’re really here.”
I scoffed. That would absolutely not be happening. I needed his help, but I was determined to keep all our interactions business related.
He bit his lower lip. “I think you feel this just as much as I do. I think you came back because you missed me.”
“Really?” I gripped the edge of my desk and laughed. “I missed you? After twenty years?”
“Nineteen years, four months, and eleven days,” he said softly, never breaking eye contact. “And for the record, I missed you too, Dragonfly.”
Chapter 6Gus
The sun was shining, and a light breeze carried the smell of blooming flowers through the woods. In the trees above, chickadees flitted from branch to branch. Summer in Maine was its own special kind of magic.
