For a moment, Ryder was too stunned to speak. Here he was thinking that he was going to mentor Peyton and teach her about business, and yet she’d clearly hit on something his entire team of researchers hadn’t.
Or maybe they had, and he just wasn’t listening.
His mind was spinning with all the ways she was wrong and how he could still make things work, but…
“Look, all I’m saying is that maybe tone down the exclusivity of the resort or maybe do a little market research around town to see if this sort of thing is wanted or needed,” Peyton said patiently, as if sensing his inner turmoil. “Maybe I’m way off-base here, but other than my parents and some of their friends, you’ll find a bigger crowd at places like The Sand Bar than you will at the country club.”
“I understand that, but maybe a more upscale clientele would help the town’s image,” he reasoned. “Perhaps they’ll find a certain…charm to Magnolia and won’t mind its lack of commercial appeal or lack of some of the creature comforts you’d find in a bigger, more established beach town.”
She looked ready to spit nails but didn’t respond right away. But when she did…
“Or maybe you can just throw some cash to all the businesses at that end of town and make them do more beautification to match your snobby-snobberson guests!”
Pinching the bridge of his nose, Ryder silently counted to ten, because this was getting them nowhere.
“Who elected you the person to come in and change the town?” she demanded, her voice rising with every word. “If you think so little of Magnolia, why are you even considering building here? Why do you keep buying things here?”
“Peyton…”
Jumping to her feet, she stepped in and leaned closer to where he was sitting. “Part of the charm of this town is how it’s not a tourist trap! The people who live here have lived here their entire lives! They’re the same people who own the businesses and support one another and if you ask me, what you’re looking to do will destroy everything that makes Magnolia special!”
He was done. Getting to his feet, Ryder took pleasure in the fact that he towered over her and caused her to take a step back. He wasn’t opposed to the debate on the pros and cons of his plan. What he was opposed to was the fact that Peyton was getting emotional rather than sitting and having a rational conversation.
“That’s enough!” he shouted and immediately regretted it. Her eyes went wide and he had to remind himself that he was in her home. Raking a hand through his hair, he let out a weary breath. “I had really hoped to have a calm and level-headed discussion with you, but that’s proving to be impossible. This isn’t personal, Peyton; it’s business. Surely you can differentiate between the two!”
“Anything that happens in this town is personal! My family built this town, Ryder. Don’t you get that? You think you can just come in here and tweak it and turn it into something that will only benefit you! Don’t you have enough? Can’t you find some other town to play God with? Why don’t you move things over to Laurel Bay, huh?”
“I don’t see making improvement as playing God and I think it’s childish for you to be carrying on like this. Honestly, you haven’t let me get through even one-tenth of the presentation before you passed judgement on the project and me!” His hand went through his hair again because he was on the verge of physically shaking some sense into her. “Ten minutes ago, you apologized for your behavior and yet here we are dealing with it again!”
“And you promised not to be so condescending and yet,” she said snidely, throwing his words back to him. “Here we are.” A small growl came next before she looked at him with utter disdain. She crossed her arms over her chest and instead of looking intimidating–which he was fairly certain was what she was going for–he found she looked…sexy.
Uh-oh…
She was a little breathless, her cheeks were flushed, and…yeah. Sexy.
Ryder took one step back and then another because he needed to put the space between them.
A lot of space.
“What’s the matter? Is it possible the great Ryder Ashford has nothing to say?” she provoked as she advanced on him. “Or are you just pissed off because I wasn’t all wowed by something you’re looking to do? You seem the type who surrounds himself with a bunch of yes-men who just ooh and ahh over everything you propose.”
It was wrong how much she fascinated him, or the way he found her whole demeanor so arousing. And she wasn’t wrong. He did surround himself with people who typically agreed with everything he did or said. Having someone challenge him wasn’t exactly new, but it was never quite like this.
“Tell me I’m wrong,” she went on. “Tell me I don’t know what I’m talking about.” With each word, she got closer, and Ryder was pretty sure he must look like a deer caught in the headlights. When she was toe-to-toe with him, she looked up at him with a confident smile. “Aren’t you going to say anything?”
It took all of three seconds for his response to come to him, and it wasn’t something he was prepared to think about.
And it certainly wasn’t something he’d ever done in a meeting before.
He reached out and hauled Peyton into his arms and silenced her with a kiss.
It wasn’t a sweet or slow getting-to-know-you kind of kiss either; it was purely about want and need and heat and desire. Her palms flattened against his chest as his own hand anchored the back of her head before tugging the clip holding her hair back and tossing it across the room. Long, silky tresses covered his hand as he heard Peyton’s soft gasp.
Then she was kissing him with equal abandon and it was hard to tell who was in control, but…dammit, Ryder wanted it to be him–needed it to be him.
Banding his arm around her waist, he pressed her even closer as his tongue teased hers. She fit perfectly against him and kissed like a damn dream. When her hands smoothed up over his chest and shoulders and then up his neck and into his hair, he thought it was the most erotic thing he’d felt in a long time.
Too long.
His own hands twitched with the need to touch her more–to explore her–but it suddenly hit him how wrong this was. He had come here to talk business with her–to offer to mentor her–and instead he was manhandling her in the middle of her living room. With a mental curse for his lack of control, Ryder broke the kiss and took a step back, swallowing hard.
“Peyton, I’m…I’m sorry. That was incredibly unprofessional of me and I’d completely understand if you didn’t want to move forward with our working relationship.” He paused and tried to gauge her reaction, but she was simply watching him while her fingers gently rested on her lips.
Lucky fingers…
“You have to know that…this…I mean…it had nothing to do with business and in no way was I implying that it would be,” he rambled on. “So please forgive me and…I think I should go.” And in a very un-Ryder-like fashion, he practically tripped over his own two feet in his haste to get to the door. Yanking it open, he turned and looked at her one more time and noticed she hadn’t moved. “I’m sorry. Have a good evening.”
And like a coward, he walked out.