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Last night, I’d heard him say my name. I half-convinced myself I’d heard wrong, since I hadn’t actually introduced myself, but now I knew he’d spoken it aloud. He said it right after I emailed him a curt response to his ridiculous updated development application.
Had he known who I was the whole time?
His green eyes were sharp as they flicked from my shoes back up to meet my own. He’d shaved. That sharp jaw showed no hint of the stubble that had shadowed it the night before. The suit made him look broader and more imposing, and I hated that my stomach quailed.
I realized I was clenching my teeth when an inelegant growl slipped through my lips.
Amusement sparkled in his gaze. “This is a surprise. Minnie, was it? That’s truly shocking but also delightful. Minnie,” he repeated, then guffawed. My shoulders eased slightly. He hadn’t known who I was last night. But then I tensed right back up when he added, “Get us a coffee, sweetheart. Strong, with a dash of cream. My neighbor kept me up last night. The floors are so thin sometimes I wonder if they’re there at all. Need the caffeine.”
While I stood there, stunned, he gave me his best devilish grin—and winked.
Winked.
A black, murderous rage blanketed my senses. Both fists clenched so hard my nails bit my palm in one hand and the leather portfolio in the other.
I would claw his innards out and feed them to him, the arrogant, self-serving, condescending, dick-swinging ass.
Then, as if that wasn’t enough, the bastard turned his back to me, dismissing me, and added, “Say, Regis, when is Charlie getting here? Bad form, being late to his own meeting. He doesn’t show up soon, I’ll take it as a personal insult.”
The howling in my head went abruptly silent. I sucked in a slow, deep breath.
To his credit, the mayor looked vaguely panicked. Minnie let out a low chuckle beside me, like she knew the man had signed his own death warrant with those words.
Which he had.
That’s when the pen in my hand snapped, bleeding red ink all over my leather folder and my favorite silk blouse.
Damn this man, his applications, and his stupid gigantic penis. Er—ego. You know what? Damn his penis and his ego. One had probably caused the other, because he was a useless lump of a man who had absolutely no reason to be as cocky and condescending as he was. He was a boil on this town, and I would be the one to excise him.
I stared at the red in my palm, then lifted my gaze just in time to see Sebastian turn to face me, a hint of confusion beginning to enter his expression.
Regis cleared his throat. “Um. Hah. That’s the thing about our Charlie, Sebastian. He’s a she. That is, she’s always been a she. Charlie—Charlotte, that is, you see. You’re not the first to be confused, so don’t feel bad about it. Ha—she’s?—”
“Oh for crying out loud, how did you win that election? A donkey would be more qualified to run this town than you are,” Minnie snapped at Regis, whose face turned purple. Minnie ignored the mayor and gave Sebastian a smile full of teeth. “The thing about Charlie, honey, is that you’re looking at her.”
Sebastian’s brows drew together so suddenly it almost made me laugh. A deranged, manic sort of laugh, but a laugh nonetheless. He stared at Minnie, baffled. “You’re Charlie?”
Minnie paused long enough that Sebastian’s eyes narrowed. She grinned evilly at him and shook her head. “No, not me. Try again, Big Brain. I’m sure you can figure it out.”
FIVE
SEBASTIAN
“You’re Charlie Washington Reeves…Esquire?”
“The one and only.” Charlie’s lips stretched in a tight-lipped smile.
She wasn’t a crotchety old dinosaur who needed to enter the twenty-first century with the rest of us. She was a beautiful, vicious, short-tempered woman…who needed to enter the twenty-first century with the rest of us.
This was the person who was standing in the way of me becoming a very rich man. She was the one who was threatening all my plans.
Thoughts I’d entertained about visiting my upstairs neighbor for a bit of fun while I was in town dissipated in a puff of smoke. I couldn’t get close to this woman, even if all we did was get horizontal. I couldn’t give her an inch.
I needed to take her down.
Giving myself an imaginary slap in the face, I quickly regained my composure and readied myself for battle. She already thought I was an asshole.
Good. I wasn’t here to be her friend. The less she thought she could win me over to her side, the better.
