Second-Chance Seduction(11)

                Now Maggie was back home and the only family she had left in Point Cairn was her grandpa Angus.

                Connor made a decision. “I’ll pay for that medication.”

                “We don’t need charity, Connor.”

                Her words annoyed him at the same time as he admired her for saying them. “I’m not talking about charity, Maggie. Call it payback. Angus was always good to us.”

                “I know,” she said softly. “But he’s almost eighty years old. There’ll be lots more medication in the future, along with a hundred other unexpected expenses. I need cash going forward to get my brewery up and running. That way, I’ll be able to generate enough funds of my own to pay for Grandpa’s health care needs.” She started walking, pacing the confines of his office as if she couldn’t bear to stand still any longer. “I’ll also be able to hire some workers for both me and Grandpa and maybe make a few improvements to the farm. I’m looking to arrange a business deal, Connor. A fair trade, not a handout. And I need to do it right away.”

                “What happened at the bank?”

                “I expected them to come through, but they turned me down. They explained that with the economy and all…” She gave a dispirited shrug.

                Connor had been watching her carefully. He had a feeling there was something she wasn’t telling him. Why wouldn’t the bank loan her the money? Even though she was divorced, she must have received a hefty settlement. Her beers and ales were kicking ass all over the state, so she had to be considered a good risk. Was she hoarding the settlement money away for some reason?

                And another thing. She and her grandfather owned at least a hundred acres of prime Marin farmland that would make excellent collateral for any bank loan.

                She might not be lying to him at the moment, but she was holding back some information. Connor would pry it out of her eventually, but in the meantime, a plan had been forming in his mind as they talked. If he wasn’t mistaken, and he rarely was, it would be the answer to all their problems. She would get her money and he would get something he wanted.

                Call it restitution.

                “I’ll give you the money,” he said.

                She blinked. “You will?”

                “Yeah.” He hadn’t realized until Maggie showed up today that he still harbored so many ambivalent feelings for her. Part of him wanted to kick her to the curb, while another more rowdy part of him wanted to shove everything off his desk and have his way with her right then and there.

                He thought she had a lot of nerve showing up here asking for money. And yet he also thought she showed guts. It was driving him nuts just listening to her breathe, so why shouldn’t he pull her chain a little? Just to settle the score.

                “What’s the catch?” she said warily.

                He chuckled. Once again, she’d thrown him off base. She should’ve been doing cartwheels, knowing she’d get the money, but instead she continued to peer suspiciously at him.

                “The catch,” he explained, “is that it won’t be a loan. I want something in return.”

                “Of course,” she said, brightening. “I’ve already promised you the Taylor James formulas.”

                “Yeah, I’ll take those formulas,” he said, “but there’s something else I want from you.”