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"O'Connell."
I almost jumped out of my skin, spinning around to face an amused-looking Mr Tell.
"Jesus, you scared the crap out of me!" I put my hand on my chest where my heart was trying to bust its way out.
"Are you alright?" His voice was rich with amusement. I scowled at him, annoyance overtaking any fear I might have had about being tricked into coming to a secluded spot by a man I barely knew. The rational part of me was telling me to get the hell out of there, but my feet seemed to have grown roots and sunken into the earth.
"Yes, I'm fine," I snapped. "What're you doing here? Where's Riley?" He didn't answer me. Instead, he just gave me a small smile, not looking at all guilty, but immensely pleased with himself.
"Oh, you sly bastard." I was such an idiot. He pushed his hands into the pockets of his deep grey suit and I could see him once again trying not to smile.
"You look different today. Do you consider that appropriate attire for a business meeting?" I followed his gaze down to my casual clothing. Next to him, I looked ridiculous.
"Probably not, but I'm not exactly an appropriate person."
He eyed me for another moment. It was the same look he'd given me yesterday, as if I was an alien. I crossed my arms in front of me and stared right back at him.
"So, what do you think?" He gestured at the sparse plot but didn't take his gaze off me.
What do I think?I thought he was an underhanded cad for tricking me into meeting him again but I also thought I wasn’tgoing to give him the satisfaction of seeing how easily he could rile me. So, I smoothed out my face and refocused on the reason I’d come here in the first place.
I turned away from him and began to pace the space. I could feel him watching me as I took it all in. Apprehension weighed heavy in my chest. Opportunities like these were like gold dust, and gold dust could be blown away by the slightest of breezes.
I turned back to him. He hadn't moved, hands in his pockets, steel-grey eyes fixed on me.
"All of it? You really want to give me all of it?"
"All of it," he confirmed, "and I wasn't lying about Riley. He really will oversee this and you will be paid. Beyond this moment right now and beyond approving the final design, I won't interfere in this project at all. It'll be completely yours. If you'll agree to do it." He was serious, or at least he seemed it, though I imagined that Mr Tell was an excellent liar.
"I'll do it. But only on the condition that you don't pay me for the work. I'm not qualified and just this opportunity is payment enough."
"You don’t want money?” He looked confused. I expected him to fight me on that but once again, he surprised me. “Fine. If that's what it takes."
I felt a thrill of triumph. I'd gotten him to concede something to me! But it only took a moment for me to realise that he might have conceded a point, but he'd won the game. He'd wanted me here, alone, and here I was. He'd wanted me tied and indebted to him and I'd just done it.
With the deal done, an entirely different air came over him. He gazed at me intently, as if he was trying to figure me out. I took a breath, and his eyes flashed at the hitch in my throat, noticing my vulnerability. He looked like a lion that had just realised its prey had a lame leg.
Memories of his mouth hovering over mine in that stairwell poured through my mind. I took a step back and pulled my eyes away again, forcing my wayward thoughts back to the reason I’d come here tonight.
"Is there a spec for this space already?" I asked, my voice sounding shaky even to my own ears.
"Yes, Riley had one but he's happy to throw it out. I assume you have ideas." He cocked his head as he gazed at me, as if he was trying to get inside my head to steal those ideas for himself.
"Yes, I have ideas."
I crouched and dug my hand into the ground, pulling out a clump of soil and playing with it. Ever since I was a little girl, I'd loved the feel of earth; its damp warmth, the smell of it that seemed to root my very soul to nature.
I allowed the dirt to trickle through my fingers, and when I looked up I found him staring at me with such intensity that my breath caught in my throat.
"Thank you for this. You truly have no idea what this means to me." I barely got the words out. I didn't want him to see me wanting something from him so much. I got the feeling he would use that kind of vulnerability against me.
He, of course, said nothing.
I stood and brushed the dirt from my hands.
"I have to ask you though, why are you doing this for me? There are thousands of people with the same passion as me who are far more skilled than I am."
"Because I saw you on the rooftop when you looked out at the landscape. You lit up, and I wanted to see that light again."