November Harlequin Presents 2(14)

‘But surely he needs you more than you need him? There are plenty of other builders out there.’

‘True, but I don’t want them. I want Rogerson. I trust him. He may be conservative, but he’s unscrupulously honest, and in this business that’s worth more than gold. Plus he builds to quality, not to a price, so there’ll be no risk of him cost cutting in an attempt to improve his margin. And that’s the kind of partner we need. Royalty Cove is going to be the Gold Coast’s sovereign building development of the decade. It has to be done properly.’

He steered the car off the main road into a side street lined with medium-sized office buildings, pulling into a car park behind one bearing the signage of Rogerson Developments.

‘Very modest,’ she said, climbing from the car, noting the difference between this industrial estate and the glittering high rise that made up the centre of the Gold Coast business precinct.

‘That’s Phil Rogerson for you. You’d never know he was a multi-millionaire in his own right.’

And she wouldn’t have picked it either, when a few minutes later she was led into a boardroom headed by a wiry grey-haired man wearing a battered blue cardigan that had seen better days. His high leathery brow was criss-crossed with a deep pattern that bore witness to years of frowning on building sites under the hot Queensland sun, and his broad nose and bushy eyebrows screamed character. It was only the piercing blue eyes that suggested this man wasn’t as old or as past it as he first seemed. And there was something else that perplexed her, a familiarity with his features, something that immediately had her mind searching for answers even though she was almost certain she’d never met him before.

He wrapped her hand in his own large, callused version and welcomed her to the meeting, his beaming smile deepening the grooves arcing from his nose to the corners of his mouth and beyond.

‘Delighted to meet you at last,’ he told her. ‘Maverick seems to have you permanently chained to that office. Though now I can see why. I’m glad we gave him the opportunity to set you free at last.’

When the older man smiled, his weathered face dropped about ten years, and he looked more like a young granddad than the sun-dried successful builder he was. She couldn’t help but smile back, and not only because he’d just put her mind at rest over whether Morgan had ever met him. Though it didn’t go anywhere near solving the mystery of why he should look somewhat familiar.

The lawyers arrived along with Maverick’s team of finance people, and in the next few minutes the various teams were introduced and settled around the long board-table, jugs of water and a tray of glasses jostling for space between the stacks of papers.

Tegan found herself seated alongside Maverick at one end of the table with Phil Rogerson at the other, but even with a dozen or so others present it was like being trapped in the car with him all over again. It was his aura that surrounded her, it was his heat that turned her own thermostat on to a slow burn. And his legs seemed to be everywhere under the table, impossibly long, impossibly restless, several times brushing against hers, until the only way she could avoid contact was to jam her legs tightly around the chair leg farthest from him.

The lawyers opened the meeting, talking for some length about the situation—detailing and spelling out the legal implications that, since the Zeppabanca deal hadn’t been completed by the prescribed date, any and all understandings between the parties were no longer binding. The parties were now legally free agents.

It was then Maverick’s turn to speak. After highlighting the major points of the project, and the benefits that would flow to each of the three partners, he concluded, ‘Royalty Cove has to go ahead.’ He slammed a fist into his hand. ‘This is the premier property development for the Gold Coast for the next decade and beyond. We have an opportunity to undertake the most prestigious and yet environmentally low-impact development ever, and show the rest of Australia and indeed the world how it’s done in the process.

‘The only way we can achieve that is if we start with the best team in the business—because Royalty Cove deserves the best. Royalty Cove demands the best. Which is why we need Rogerson Developments on board. Quite simply, nobody builds better properties of the kind we’re talking about. But we have to be prepared to move as soon as Zeppabanca is back in business. And we need to be prepared to commit now.’

There was something about his voice, Tegan realised, a confidence in those low tones that pulled you along with him, and that made you listen and believe what he was saying must be right. Even now several others around the table were nodding their agreement. It was no wonder he’d reached the dizzy heights he had in business. But he wasn’t getting it all his own way. At the other end of the table she could see Phil Rogerson was still wavering as he peered down the table over his steepled fingers.