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"And if I say no?"

"Then we both waste time and money in a legal battle that will push everything back at least a year or more. I live here, that doesn't complicate a damn thing for me, with you it does. Alsothe McKenzies might have signed some initial papers with you but I have proof of a prior verbal agreement. That matters here."

"With the right judge in your pocket I'm sure it does," I said dryly.

"With any judge. It's not about corruption, beautiful. It's about how things work in the business world."

I was quiet, considering my options while also being acutely aware of him checking me out. The chemistry between us was obvious, but shit, he was trying to manipulate me. That chemistry also complicated things in ways I hadn't planned for because my body was rooting for this partnership.

"I need to think about it."

"I assumed you would. I'm free for dinner tonight if you want to continue the discussion."

"Moving pretty fast, aren't you?"

"I like efficiency." His eyes moved slowly over me before he offered a sexy smile. “And I like your company. The visual is definitely a bonus.”

My pussy screamed, say yes, girl. I was seconds away from agreeing when I remembered I already had plans. Erogenous.

"Sorry, tonight won’t work. I already have plans."

"Tomorrow, then?"

I stood and noticed his eyes lingering on my ass longer than considered professionally appropriate before they moved to my face. "My assistant will call yours with my decision about whether another conversation is even necessary."

He stood too, stepped around the table and moved close enough that I was blessed with a hint of his cologne again. Damn, this man smelled so good. The height difference between us was also perfect. He was tall enough that I didn't have to break my neck to meet his eyes and also tall enough that I could feel safe and secure in his arms.

Shit, why am I going there? Oh hell, I'm in trouble.

"Looking forward to it." He held out his hand. I took it and kept my grip firm and confident but his thumb moved across my skin in a way that had my stomach tensing with awareness.

This is business…

"Thanks for the drink, Christian."

"My pleasure."

I could feel his eyes on me as I walked out of the bar. Once I was free of this man's pull, I took a deep breath to clear my head. Christian wasn't what I expected. I was expecting a cocky man with a big ego or a trust fund kid living off his daddy's name, but Christian was a sexy, assured man who placed demands and expected everyone to fall in line, which made this deal more complicated becauseIwanted to fall in line.

On my way to the elevators I pulled out my phone and called my assistant.

"Hey, Scot, what do you need?"

"Find everything you can on Christian Devereaux's connections and also look deeper into his past projects to see if he's ever blocked any local business ventures."

If I was going to even consider the partnership offer, I needed to know exactly what he was after and why. One thing was crystal clear about Christian, he wasn't just chasing real estate, or he wouldn't have gone the partnership route. He could block me for sure and didn’t have to give me a heads up.

Christian was chasing me…

Several hours later I was back in my suite. I kicked off my heels the second I was inside and walked barefoot to the living room where I left my laptop earlier that morning to check a few emails. Just as he had been since pulling up on me thismorning, Christian shifted back to the forefront of my mind. He was damn sure the type of man I needed to steer clear of—smart, demanding, arrogant, and sexy as hell.

And almost ten years younger.

I grabbed a sparkling water and flopped onto the sofa, going over the meeting I just left, in my head. Thanks to Alex I had just about everything I needed on Christian—powerful, connected and sometimes ruthless—but none of the background information had captured that commanding presence or the intensity in his eyes or how damn good he smelled.

...or the way he adjusted the very visible impression in his pants when he checked me out.

I was not naive. I had dealt with plenty of negotiations where a man's attraction to me became part of the deal on his part but there was something straightforward about Christian's interest. He thought I was sexy, didn’t hide his attraction but also didn't lean into that or use it to dismiss what I brought to the table. He did, however, make it very clear he was interested based on the way he was constantly letting his gaze move over every inch of my body.