The fire in his eyes and the way color rose in his cheeks said how much this meant to him. She’d learned in Maine exactly how passionate he could be. “I’m sensing the hotel is more than another piece of your real estate portfolio.”
He turned to her, scanning her face. It was much more difficult to stay trained on the task at hand when they were alone like this. Another time or in another set of circumstances, it wouldn’t take much to convince her to kiss him, to see how much of his fire he might be willing to unleash on her.
But she was stuck with the here and now. Her lips and his were never to meet again.
“The Grand Legacy is my baby. I’ve been in love with this hotel since I was a kid. It’s a tie to my true family history, not the version of it my dad wishes were true.”
The Locke family tree was starting to come together now. “Is that why your great-grandfather left it to you? Instead of keeping it as part of Locke Hotels?” Kendall pulled out a notepad, wanting to take notes. As soon as she got back to the office, she was going to pen her first press release and start setting up the key interviews.
Sawyer shrugged. “Care to sit for a minute?”
“Oh, sure.” They slid into the closest booth.
He reached across the table and took the construction helmet off her head. It was such a simple gesture, but it all happened in slow motion as it brought back a memory from the wedding. “I think you can lose this. You’re safe.”
She smoothed her hair, wishing she had a mirror and a moment to collect herself. She saw him in the elevator at the wedding, the moment he’d brushed the side of her face with the back of his hand, telling her she was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. It had probably been a line. She’d suspected it at the time. But part of her wanted so desperately to believe it, even now, when she wasn’t supposed to be thinking about him like this. That was how good Sawyer was at getting what he wanted. He made her want to give him everything.
“Can I ask you a question?” she asked, steadying her voice. “Do you think your dad could be behind the story in the paper?”
Sawyer didn’t say a thing, he merely melted her resolve with his warm brown eyes. They were so soulful, so deep, so sad. “I don’t have proof, but yes, there’s more than a chance. Is it that obvious?” His voice was low and rough.
Kendall felt no sense of victory from having made this deduction. “Things all seemed to point to him. Is he really that vindictive? You’d think he would be happy you have this project. It means so much to you. He doesn’t even like the hotel, so why not just let you have it? Why would he want to hurt you like that?” She was surprised at the way her voice cracked, the way her emotions had bubbled to the surface. She was normally much more even-keeled, but her heart went out to Sawyer. She and her mom had butted heads over the years, but it was only ever out of love. They had both wanted the best for the other person. That did not appear to be the case for Sawyer.
He nodded and sat back, draping his arms across the back of the booth. “As far as he’s concerned, I’m guilty of far more than inheriting the hotel. I’m guilty of defying him. He does not like it when he doesn’t get what he wants.” Everything in his tone was dead serious. The problems between Sawyer and his dad were much more than family squabbles.
“I see.”
“Which is precisely why he’s not going to stop me.”
And that made Kendall want to give Sawyer every last thing she could.
* * *
Sawyer hated having to admit to Kendall that his father was his biggest problem. She might not be his to impress, but he didn’t want her to see him as vulnerable. He didn’t play that game. Not being able to stop or control his dad made him feel powerless, and he despised that more than anything. He knew, deep down, that it wasn’t true weakness—he merely wasn’t willing to stoop to his dad’s level. Sawyer fought with fists up, out in the open. His dad not only wasn’t afraid to deliver a sucker punch, it was his specialty.
“I’m so sorry, Sawyer. That’s terrible.” She reached across the table, her eyes brimming with sympathy.
At first, he took it as a sweet gesture, until he saw the ring on her finger and the air was sucked out of the room. “Pretty sad, isn’t it? All of this money on the line and I’m fighting my own dad? And it’s not just the newspaper story. There have been countless problems with the construction. Problems that all point to him.”
“Can’t you call a truce? Reason with him?”
Sawyer laughed quietly. She had this edge of hopefulness that was so appealing. Damn the guy who had to go and put that rock on her finger. If it wasn’t there, he could at least take her out for a drink and apologize for not calling her. He could feel like less of an ass. “It’s impossible to reason with someone when they won’t own up to doing anything wrong.”
She gnawed on her lip, seeming deep in thought. “Do you want to do something about that? Go on the offensive?”
“I’m not sure I know what you mean.”
“The PR campaign. We can put a new twist on it. Show your dad not only that you won’t be stopped, but maybe thumb your nose at him a little. I mean, if you’re up for that.”
“I don’t want to get sneaky. It’s not my style.”
“Oh, this won’t be sneaky. At all. There will be no doubt what we’re up to.”
Sawyer had been really turned on yesterday by Kendall’s talk of the slow burn, but this was taking things to a whole new level. A woman with a plan to get back at his dad? If she wasn’t engaged, the temptation to cross every professional boundary between them would be too much. “Please. Go on.”
“Let’s flaunt the history of this hotel that you love, everything your great-grandfather wasn’t ashamed of, but your dad hates.”
Sawyer was dying to know where she was going with this. “How, exactly?”
“We’ll still show the care and time you’ve put into restoration. We’ll show off the Grand Legacy’s beauty and luxury, just as we planned, but we talk about it in the context of the scandalous things that went on. We sell the Grand Legacy as the most notorious hotel in the city.”
The words rang in his head. The most notorious hotel in the city.
“You know how people are.” Kendall furiously scribbled notes as her voice became even more animated. “They love things that are naughty. Wrap that up in a sexy, beautiful package? It’s irresistible.”
Sawyer had to stem the tide of blood flowing in his body right now...the sexy, beautiful woman in front of him was too much to take. Every inch of him grew taut. If he could have done anything at that moment, it would’ve been to kiss her, and take her—right there in that booth. He couldn’t have been more attracted to her if he tried. “I love it. It’s fantastic. Absolutely incredible.” You’re incredible. And I’m an idiot.
She wrote down a few more things, then flipped her notebook closed and tucked it inside her purse. “Great. Well, I think this has been very productive. I should head into the office. I want to finish fleshing out my publicity plan, start setting up interviews. We’ll start right away. Jillian is going to want an update and I know you’re busy.”
“I can show you more the next time you’re here. The restaurant is close to completion and we’re opening a second bar.”
“Sure. Next time.”
He was going to have to fight his anticipation of next time. “Let me call a car for you.”
“You don’t have to do that. I’ll hop in a cab.”
He was still struggling with the distance she was so determined to keep between them. Sure, this was just business, but they did have a rapport. There was a spark between them—and frankly, it wasn’t