The Grumpy Boss Cowboy Billionaire

Chapter 4

Victor

My jaw tightened, and I could feel the heat rising to my cheeks. I'd grown up around men like this. Men who believed nothing was beyond their grasp if they threw their name and a few dollar signs into the mix.

"As I'm sure you know, Mr. Hastings..." I forced a thin smile. "The park is no longer on the market."

"Dawww, come on Vic, can I call you Vic? We both know this park is a lost cause. It's been a dusty rust-bucket that's worth far less than the land it's on. Honestly, when I heard you were renovating it, I knew you must not have had a chance to see it yet. Now that you have, I'm willing to save you from a very bad investment. I'll give you fifteen percent more than whatever you paid for it out the door."

I caught Emma’s eye, and her barely concealed look of disgust almost made me laugh. Despite the fact that we'd just met, I could easily guess her opinion of the man standing in my office.

"Why are you so interested in the park if not in renovating it?" I asked. "You hoping to bulldoze it and put another shopping mall up?"

Hastings laughed, a horse, unpleasant sound, and sighed. "You're not too far off. Not a mall though." He reached into the inner pocket of his jacket and withdrew a business card. “I specialize in high-end luxury condo communities.”

I glanced down at the card in my hand. On the back was microscopic print, in neat rows listing the cities where he had staked his claim. Four columns of conquered cities. I glanced up at him. “How does it work exactly?”

He grinned excitedly, mistaking my question for interest in his proposition. “I’m glad you asked. What I do initially is purchase an anchor property in a dying community, such as the Frontier Park.” He made a demonstrative gesture and I nodded along, playing into his pantomime, ignoring the burning stare at the side of my head coming from Emma.

Finally, I glanced over. “Is something bothering you, Miss Pierce?”

Her lower jaw jutted forward, and her deep brown eyes blazed. “You can’t really be entertaining this idea.”

I shrugged nonchalantly.

“No harm in hearing the sales pitch.” I glanced over at Fred, who nodded encouragingly.

"She's new to the game." I winked at Fred.

She glowered at me, and never had I been so tempted to kiss anyone in my life. Hastings gave a fake laugh, so practiced, it bordered on creepy.

“In her defense, she is young.”

I could feel the heat radiating off of her as she stewed. Trying my best to ignore her, I gestured for him to continue.

He obliged. “Once the anchor property is established, we procure the rest of the township property, one piece at a time—adequately compensating the previous ownership for their valuable commodities, of course.”

“Of course,” I echoed, the pit of my stomach feeling hollow.

“After that, it’s a matter of getting the correct permits for zoning so construction can begin. Our properties have had an overwhelmingly positive impact on the surrounding communities. Property values have trippled, and economic growth is booming.”

He beamed at us, clearly pleased with himself and his speech.

“Everything’s solved with a golf course and a new high-rise apartment complex, isn’t it?” I murmured, cold rage pooling in my chest.

"Now you get it." Fred Hastings III was the spitting image of my father and his paradigm.

My father would have been proud to call someone like Fred his son. Nothing held any value in this world, save for the monetary gain it provided. There was no room in their world for anything nostalgic, or sentimental unless a dollar amount could be stuck on it.

“Tell you what..." Hastings rubbed his chin. "I like you kid. You remind me of myself. I'll give you double what you paid for Frontier Park.” Hastings gave me what he must think was a winning smile. “Triple it. Whatever you ask, I’ll pay it.”

“That’s a very generous offer, Mr. Hastings.” I turned slowly to face Emma, who had gone unreadable, though it resembled something very close to tears. “But, no." I shook my head, holding a hand up. "Thank you for your interest, but I'm not selling. And in the future, if you'd like to speak to me, please make an appointment with Lucy. It was a pleasure meeting you, though, Now if you'll excuse us."

Hastings stared at me, and his lip curled. "I appreciate that you're so direct, Vic... But I don't think you're grasping the opportunity I'm providing you right now."

“I am not selling Frontier Park. I won’t let you turn Cactus Creek into dime-a-dozen boxes. This place has a history, and I intend to remind this community of that.”

Fred’s face was getting redder by the minute, and unease welled up in my gut. I’m sure this offer was exactly the kind my father was dreaming I would get; saving his wayward son from himself and making smart financial decisions, regardless of the morality involved. I studied the real-estate mogul carefully—expensively cut hair, clean shaven, expensive suit—everything about him screamed money. After an awkward moment, I continued.

“Thank you for your time, Mr. Hastings. Cactus Creek Frontier Park is not for sale. Not to you, not now, and not ever.” I tipped my head towards the door. “You may see yourself out.”

The veins in his face bulged and he hissed and spit like an angry cat, at a loss for words. Part of me was mildly concerned about the state of his arteries, but that thought quickly passed as he stormed to the door.

“Mark my words, Vic. You'll regret this.” He disappeared out the door, his departure from the building denoted by the audible crack of the door in its frame.

I glanced down at Emma. “You hungry? I’m starved.”

For a second, I thought she was about to slap me, but instead she leaned up and touched a kiss to my cheek.

"What was that for?" I touched the warm spot, left behind from her lips.

"For telling that jackass to shove it." She glared at me. "Though, I didn't appreciate you treating me like a plebian."

"Plebian..." I chuckled. "Are we in a Shakespearean tragedy or something? Besides. If I hadn't addressed you glaring daggers at the side of my head, he wouldn't have taken me seriously and likely wouldn't have felt comfortable spilling his plans all over the place. He needed to think he was dealing with someone like him. Now that he knows better, we'll need to watch out for him."

I turned my head, eyes grazing over her face, landing on her lips, and I could smell the tang of her tangerine lotion. She licked her lips and stepped back. "So what's for lunch?"

Back at the mansion, Emma laughed hard, nearly dropping her chopsticks as she tried and failed to contain her amusement.

“But I mean, the absolute arrogance of that guy, could you believe it?”

I shrugged, taking a sip from my beer. “You have to remember I grew up around those kinds of people…To me, Fred is just another guy.”

She sipped on her own beer, and I envied her bottle momentarily, before reminding myself about professional courtesy. She shook her head. “I guess I wasn't that surprised, seeing you buddy up with him.” I felt a little stung and made a face.

“I wasn’t finished!” She held out her hands to stop me. “But I was surprised with how you sent him packing. Now that I know you a little better, I'm seeing you in a different light.”

“Oh?” I teased. “In what light would that be?”

She hooked her finger in the cuff of my dress shirt and pushed it back, revealing the geometric inked onto my skin. “And you have indigenous designs tattooed on your forearms.”

I cracked a grin and reached for my top button. I unbuttoned the rest down and slid my shirt down off my arms, allowing her to get the full view. She made a small sound as she studied the black lines tracing along my arms and shoulders.

“May I?” She asked in a quiet voice, and I nodded.

Her fingers found the edges of the drawings and brushed along them, causing me to shiver. She gave a small laugh. “Sorry.”

I shook my head, offering a smile. “I don’t mind. Just tickles.”

She followed the line of the horizon with her fingertips, studying each of the scenes inked there. “Wounded Knee…Custer’s last stand…the Alamo?”

I cracked a smile and nodded, feeling my cheeks heat up. “I majored in history and philosophy. The Old West has always intrigued me.”

"Billionaire playboy..." She giggled quietly. “Secretly a cowboy.”

She had walked all the way around me, and stood in front of me, her breasts level with my eyes where I was seated. My core tightened and I shifted in my seat, trying to conceal my arousal. She stared me in the face, contemplating me. Finally, she straightened and blinked.

“Well, that was an exhausting first day." She cleared her throat. "I think I’m going to head up to my room. Have a good night, Victor.” She touched a kiss to her fingers and brushed them over my cheek, before turning and walking away from me, out of the dining room.

I desperately tried not to enjoy the view as she departed, adjusting my hardness after she rounded the corner, my skin tingling where she’d touched my face. That girl was trouble if I ever saw it, and it would take every ounce of good sense I possessed to keep that fact in the front of my mind.