Surprise made her take a step forward before she quickly reassembled her face into a bland mask. ‘Are you doing this out of guilt?’
He wanted to admit the truth: that he hated having to gut her dream at the expense of his. But she wouldn’t consider the offer if she thought for one moment he was doing this to assuage his conscience or that he’d called in a personal favour to have them accept an offer from her, considering they’d already earmarked a family friend as a co-owner.
‘I’ve got nothing to feel guilty about. You know how important my youth housing project is because you’ve seen it for yourself.’ She blanched a little at his jibe but he wouldn’t be deterred. ‘And I’ll let nothing stand in my way of giving homeless kids a roof over their heads, so when you scuttled my plans to acquire your agency I had to explore other options.’ He shrugged. ‘I know how keen you were to buy your grandfather’s agency so when this opportunity came up to own another agency, I thought of you. Simple as that.’
He watched myriad emotions pass across her face: hope, resentment, excitement, doubt. Jem had been right; she wouldn’t give in easily. She’d need time to absorb his offer.
As for the rest … he’d tell her when the time was right.
‘I need to think about it,’ she finally said, begrudgingly grateful.
‘I’d expect nothing less. You have my number.’
He turned away and she called out, ‘You drove three hours to tell me this?’
He paused and swivelled back to face her. ‘I didn’t like how we left things between us, so I wanted to do this face to face.’
Some of the tension holding her rigid drained away and her shoulders slumped slightly. ‘I came to Melbourne to tell you about Leo’s loan offer and me buying the agency, but there wasn’t a good time.’ She held out her hands and shrugged. ‘I’m sorry.’
‘I accept your apology, but for what it’s worth, I don’t accept your excuse. Yes, I freaked out after meeting with my dad, but there were plenty of opportunities later at my place to tell me the truth.’
She nodded, gnawing on her bottom lip, suitably chastised. ‘I know, but I was enjoying myself too much and I didn’t want to ruin it.’
Surprised by her admission, he said, ‘For what it’s worth, I liked having you around too.’
‘Maybe if I end up in Melbourne …’ She trailed off and gave a shake of her head, and he wished she’d finish that sentence.
Then again, did he want to hear the rest? Because he knew once she learned the truth about the agency she was considering buying, she’d hate him anew.
‘Think about the offer,’ he said, raising his hand in farewell. ‘And have fun on your date.’
A hint of colour flushed her cheeks. ‘You’re not driving back to Melbourne immediately, are you?’
‘No. Jem graciously offered me the granny flat for tonight and I’ll leave early tomorrow morning.’
She opened her mouth to say something else before shutting it again and giving a nod. ‘Okay. Thanks for coming by and referring me for the Melbourne agency buy-in. I’ll let you know about that offer soon.’
‘You do that.’
This time when he started walking away she let him, but damned if he didn’t want to rush back and beg her not to go on her date.
CHAPTER
47
When Summer had told her to get dressed up for the dinner party tonight, Karly had gone all out. Otherwise, she would’ve been tempted to make an excuse not to go, stay home in her trackie dacks and furry slippers, and eat chocolate ice-cream out of a tub while watching a rom com featuring the unicorn of men: the perfect guy. No such thing.
She’d been glad she’d gone to so much trouble when Hudson unexpectedly lobbed on her doorstep. The look on his face when she’d opened the door, and when she’d implied she had a date … priceless. And she hadn’t lied exactly; she wasn’t hanging out with just the girls—Rayne, Leo and Heidi were at this dinner party too.
His offer had surprised her. It had to be out of guilt, despite his denial, but whatever his rationale it had come at a good time. She’d been gutted when Pop told her about the Inverloch agency expansion and what that would mean for them, and Hudson’s offer gave her renewed hope. The guy may have scuttled her dream but he knew real estate and if he thought this was a good opportunity she’d be a fool not to explore it.
Working alongside another woman in a family-run business appealed too. Female co-owners taking on a predominantly male field. A challenge she could definitely embrace.
‘You’re looking awfully pensive,’ Nev said, offering her a platter covered in sushi.
‘Lots to think about.’ Karly plucked a tuna California roll off the platter and popped it into her mouth.
‘We need another girls’ night, just the three of us, so you can tell us everything.’