He sucked in a deep breath and exhaled. Okay. Here it goes.
“I’m sorry for yesterday.” He forced his gaze to meet hers. “I’d like to start over—”
“I’m glad to hear you say that.” She smiled, easing his tense muscles. “Guess I didn’t need to come bearing gifts after all.”
He waved the chocolate bar in front of her. “Already changing your mind about parting with this?”
“Nope.” She sent him an ornery grin, reached inside her small black purse, and pulled out another candy bar. “I got myself one, too. So you’re safe to eat yours.”
He couldn’t help but chuckle. The tension in his shoulders eased. He felt lighter than he had in months.
“Now that you’re smiling,” she dropped the chocolate back into her purse, “how about we talk a little business?”
Though he’d meant his apology, questions continued to poke and prod him. He’d learned to trust his instincts when he was young, and they had rarely let him down. Right now, they were sounding off loud and clear. He didn’t trust Lexi, no matter how inviting her smile might be.
“Even though you’ve traded in your suit for something more…casual, you’re still the diligent businesswoman at heart. Before we talk business, I have a couple of questions. Like, why fly all the way across the country to build a bunch of five-and-ten-acre ranches?” The way she glanced away, refusing to meet his gaze, reinforced his suspicion of her. “Or is there more to this deal than you’ve let on?”
Her forehead creased as though she were giving her answer considerable thought. Why would an honest response take so much effort? With each passing moment of silence, his gut tightened.
“I need to be straight with you.” Lexi’s steady gaze met his. “I’m hoping you’ll be able to listen with an open mind.”
An open mind? His insides churned. Wherever she was leading him, he didn’t want to go. He was just beginning to appreciate the thought that a ranching community would try to maintain as much of the natural landscape as
possible. But suddenly he got the feeling that wasn’t what she intended to do with the land.
The tip of her tongue moistened her lips. “The truth is…in order for me to be able to make you a formal offer on the land, I need something from you.”
“Stop with the theatrics and spit it out. What do you want?”
“Haggerty.”
The word exploded in his mind, scattering his thoughts in a million directions. She wanted his town—his heritage. She’d had this one goal all along—to buy the ghost town. His initial reaction was to tell her she didn’t have an icicle’s chance in hell of getting it, but logic kept him quiet.
He remembered Mr. Forbes assuring him that the error on the sales listing had been worked out, but clearly that wasn’t the case. Whether Cord liked it or not, she was his only chance to save this ranch. This time he needed to handle things differently from yesterday.
She stood unmoving, waiting for his response. The confidence in her stance—her unflinching eyes—said she thought she had him cornered. Not a good place to be. The one thing she must not have taken into consideration, though, was when an animal was cornered, was when they were the most dangerous. They had nothing to lose.
Cord crossed his arms and rocked back on the heels of his boots. “I was right about you. All of this friendliness was just a ploy. You wanted to sweet-talk me into a deal.”
Lexi’s face lit up with color. “Do you honestly think I’m so desperate to finalize this sale that I’d lead you on? Sure, we may have laughed a little, but it was all innocent and went both ways. It isn’t like we’ve started negotiations—”
“You let me go on believing that you wanted the two hundred acres for a small ranching community. You made it sound like all I had to do was sign on the dotted line. You never even hinted that your offer came with strings attached.”
Her mouth gaped open, but she snapped it shut.
“How long are you going to wait to tell me your real intentions for the land?”
“I’m not required to tell you.” Her fine brows drew together as she frowned at him. “HSG waits for the ideal moment before revealing our plans for any land we acquire.”
He pointed an accusing finger at her. “You admit it. You and your company are deceptive.”
She shook her head, brushing her short blond hair over her shoulders. “No, we’re not. I’m not. I would have explained everything yesterday, but you started throwing around accusations. You weren’t in any frame of mind to take a proposal seriously.”
His jaw tightened. She was right. He had let his temper get the best of him, but he wouldn’t make that same mistake today. There had to be a way to get her to agree to buy the two hundred acres without the ghost town.
Giving up Haggerty wouldn’t just be about losing a huge part of his heritage—he’d also lose a lot of valuable grazing land. His ranch would shrink considerably—his only source of income. A vise-like grip tightened around his rib cage. And then a thought came to mind—maybe he could work out something with her so he could retain grazing rights.
“I’m listening,” he said, straining to keep his voice neutral, hoping they could reach some sort of compromise. “Tell me what you have in mind for Haggerty.”