‘No, but I do for Dubai.’
‘Why me?’ she asked bluntly. ‘You must have a hundred other women who’d jump at the chance. And why do you need a date anyway?’
I was conscious all of a sudden that I didn’t want to give her the details of my plan to dupe Delaney. She was very...blunt. And there was an honesty to her that made me certain she wouldn’t approve.
Then again, I had no idea why her approval mattered to me. ‘Okay, here’s the situation,’ I said, deciding on the full truth and to hell with my ridiculous qualms. ‘I have a luxury hotel chain that I want to get off the ground and I’m angling for a couple of islands in the Caribbean that would make for a perfect resort site. Unfortunately, the man I want to buy them from is getting cold feet about selling them to me. He wants someone more “family-minded” to have them.’
Ellie’s gaze sharpened. ‘And you’re not...family-minded.’
It wasn’t a question.
‘No,’ I agreed. ‘But I want those islands. Which means I need to convince this man that I’m as family-minded as he hopes I am.’
Her silky brows drew together. ‘How?’
I opened my mouth to tell her, but she’d already worked it out.
‘Oh, wait,’ she went on. ‘You want to use me, don’t you?’
She was quick, I’d give her that.
‘I promised Delaney I’d bring my “serious girlfriend” to the next club event,’ I said. ‘And that’s Dubai.’
‘So just to be clear—I’m your “serious girlfriend”, right?’
I leaned back against the couch, meeting the challenging look in her eyes with one of my own. ‘You have a problem with that?’
‘With essentially lying to someone to get your hands on their property? Kind of.’
Her disapproval was palpable and it irritated me, no matter that I’d already prepared myself for it. ‘It’s business, Miss Little, and people lie all the time in business. It’s not a big deal.’
She kept frowning at me. ‘But why not find some islands you don’t need to jump through so many hoops for?’
/> Damn. I didn’t want her asking questions, not when the answers involved Dumont. Because there was no way I was going to talk about him and how he’d not only broken my trust, but my mother’s too.
You had a hand in it, too, don’t forget.
Yes. And didn’t I know it?
‘Those specific islands are the best sites,’ I replied dismissively, glancing around at the dim bar. ‘Where the hell has that Scotch got to?’
But I should have known she wouldn’t be distracted.
‘There must be other good ones,’ she insisted. ‘It’s the Caribbean. Aren’t there hundreds of islands just lying around waiting to be bought by billionaires?’
Persistent little thing, wasn’t she?
My smile started to slip, the leash on my temper starting to fray. ‘I don’t want any other islands. I want those ones.’
‘But why?’ she asked, relentless.
‘Because I want them. That’s why.’
‘That’s not a good enough reason.’
‘That’s all the reason you’re going to get,’ I snapped, losing my temper. ‘Will you do it or not?’
‘No,’ she snapped back. ‘And don’t get shirty with me. It sounds dodgy and I’m not doing anything dodgy.’