“What?” Megan asked.
“Y’all.” He cut his gaze toward her. “You’re cute.”
“I know I am.” Megan forced herself not to smile. It was borderline flirting, but she wasn’t going to entertain it. Better to keep everything business. “Know what else is cute?”
“Your ass?”
She stared at him. Okay, that was way past borderline flirting.
“Sorry.” Nico frowned. “Shit. Please don’t report me for sexual harassment.”
“You guarantee that you are never that forward with any of the younger women on the farm, and I’ll let it slide.”
“Any of the younger…” His eyes went wide. “Are you joking? Never. Fuck, my dad would skin me alive if I was inappropriate with any of the employees.”
“Telling me my ass is cute isn’t inappropriate?”
“I don’t think of you as an employee, okay?” He was adorably flustered. “You’re Toni’s friend and… I don’t know. You do your own thing at the winery. Half the time, I feel like I’m working for you and not the other way round.”
Megan approved of that feeling. “Good. Then you’ll be agreeable to the payment structure for our work on finding the Poulsard grapes.”
He muttered something under his breath that she didn’t quite catch.
“I don’t want to work for you,” Megan said. “Meaning that I do not want my event-planning services to be solely for Dusi Heritage Winery. I’d like my own independent firm.”
“We’re not keeping you busy enough?”
“Honestly? No.” She pursed her lips. “I have to think ahead. I like working for myself. Plus my two younger kids are going to be out of the house in a couple of years and I have to think about college. I had my own firm in Atlanta. In fact, a good portion of my income now is from the sale of that business.”
“Rodney’s not paying alimony?”
She rolled her eyes. “Please. Child support and alimony in this state is a joke if you have a tricky lawyer. He was cheating on me, but no one cares about that here. Rodney’s good at hiding income, and plus he claims the kids are with him fifty percent of the time. Which they aren’t, but I’d have to go back to court to prove otherwise at this point, and he knows I don’t have the extra cash. I got that ridiculous house in the divorce, but that place isn’t a moneymaker. I need cash flow, and for that I need clients of my own and I need people working for me, expanding the business.”
Nico nodded. “Okay, I get all that.”
“So instead of paying me cash to find your vines, you’re going to be my silent partner.”
Nico blinked. “Excuse me?”
“I don’t need a big influx of cash right now. I have start-up money; what I need is a line of credit—so to speak—so I can plan ahead and hire some people. Get an office. Things like that.”
“And you can’t go to a bank?”
“With what? Banks only give money to people who already have it. I want you to be my line of credit.”
“Why me?” He narrowed his eyes. “Is it because Toni—”
“I know you.” She put her fingers up as she counted. “I trust you, which is saying a lot. I want your connections and your insight on clients. I fully plan on giving any Dusi enterprise the family discount for my services, but I do expect to trade on your name.”
Nico stopped the truck and put his arm across the back of the seat, angling himself toward her. “So you want me to give you a line of credit, recommend you to everyone I know—”
“You know I’m good at what I do. It’s not a hardship.”
“—and in exchange, I get you and your friends finding my vines. And that’s it?”
She considered what else he was after. Hmmmmm.
Nico leaned toward her. “I’m gonna want more than your psychic detective services, Megan.”
Oh God, he smelled really good.
Down, Sugar.
“Do we need to have another conversation about inappropriate behavior, Mr. Dusi?”
The corner of his mouth turned up. “I’m talking about a percentage.”
“Of my business?”
“If I’m going to invest in this business, I expect a return. A percentage.”
Think, Megan. Don’t focus on the man’s cologne. He was bargaining, and dammit, it was sexy as hell.
“Five percent,” she said. “After all, you are getting my psychic detective services. You can’t hire just anyone for that.”
“Silent partner is acceptable, but five percent is ridiculous. Twenty.”
“Oh sugar, if you think you’re getting twenty percent, the cheese has gone and slid off your cracker. I’ll give you seven.” She angled her shoulders toward him and stretched her arm along the back, inches from his.
Nico’s eyes were dancing. “How am I going to recommend a business I have so little investment in? You want my name and my money, but you don’t want to give me a percentage?”
“Seven is a good number.”
“Fifteen is better.”
She leaned closer. “But eight is round.”
“Hate round numbers,” Nico said.
“Why’s that?”
“Too easy to divide. Thirteen.”
“Nine, and I’m not going any higher.” She’d go higher. They both knew where they were headed, and Megan was just waiting for him to lead her there.
“Single digits? Ridiculous. Eleven.” He was close enough that she could feel his breath on her lips.
“You want double digits and my psychic prowess?” Megan shook her head. “Your roof ain’t nailed tight, Nico.”
“If you’re gonna be stubborn about it—”
“You’re calling me stubborn? I’m not the one—”
“Ten.” He closed the inches between them and pressed his lips firmly against hers.
Dammit. They were as warm and firm and full as they looked. The kiss was over before she could really enjoy it, and the truck shook a little bit around them.
Nico pulled away and raised an eyebrow. “That was interesting.”
Was it? Megan decided to ignore that uncontrolled burst of her telekinesis. “Ten.” She cleared her throat. “I can live with ten.”
His mouth was still hovering over hers. “Good to know, partner.”
Sugar was screaming at Megan to hook her arm around Nico’s neck and pull him in to finish what he’d started.
“Right.” She took a deep breath and sat up straight. “Sun’s about to go down. I need to get home.”
His crooked smile told her his mind was exactly in line with Sugar’s, but he was playing it cool. “Sounds good. Call me when you’ve talked to Katherine about the vines and drawn up the paperwork for the business.”
“I will. Partner.”
His tongue flicked out and tasted his bottom lip. “This is gonna be fun.”
Toni was FaceTiming in as Katherine and Megan talked on her back deck.
“So you and my cousin are partners now?”
Was she blushing? Possibly. She was glad the light was dim. “Yes. Partners. In the event business.”