Playing Dirty

Twenty One

Despite his instinctive dislike of James Caine, Ryan had to reluctantly admit the pretty boy Prince Charming had a good head for business.

The man listened to his proposal with rapt attention, interrupting only to ask shrewd and sensible questions, a few were unexpected, and threw him for a second, but fortunately, Ryan had been able to answer each question, mentally revising flaws in the proposal.

He glanced at Sam, who sat across from him, also listening attentively though her gaze remained fixed on Prince Charming and a weird tightness, the same feeling he'd experienced back at the museum stabbed at his chest at the admiration he saw clearly written on her face.

His train of thought stumbled. To hide it, he coughed and reached for the glass of water sitting on the table, taking a long sip while he recollected his thoughts, berating himself for letting personal feelings get in the way of something so important.

Sam was right; getting James' approval was the key to convincing Caine Senior to give Silvercorp a second chance. He needed to stop acting less like a spoilt brat who'd had his favorite lollipop snatched from him and more like a businessman.

He needed to put aside the jumble of emotions that plagued him when it came to her for the time being before he let it consume him the way he'd let Nicky's betrayal overwhelm him to the point he'd lost a billion dollar contract due to sheer stupidity and negligence.

Swallowing the cool liquid, he set down the glass, resolve hardening his features and he continued talking. Sam now had her head down as she busied herself with typing something on the tablet in her grasp; face still slightly flushed from the incident minutes ago. She stiffened as though she could feel his gaze, but resolutely kept her eyes lowered.

The corners of his mouth turned up in the beginnings of a smile. The way she’d looked at him just then, eyes glazed, mouth parted slightly in the expectations of a kiss, a dreamy expression as if caught up in a fantasy with him being the main protagonist had damn near brought him to his knees. It had certainly done a riser on his ego…and other, more sensitive parts of his body as well.

For one brief second, Ryan had been tempted to fulfil her wish there and then; to lean over the table and kiss her senseless, present company be damned.

That need still raged within, tightly held down in its cage.

He forced his attention back to Prince Charming.

“I’m aware Caine Group is currently open to new bids on the resort and in no way does Silvercorp expect to be given preferential treatment. I only ask that our proposal be given the same consideration as any other competitor.”

James leaned back against the chair, the fingers of one hand drumming a silent rhythm against the table as he appeared deep in thought. Then he sighed and leaned forward, elbows resting on the table, fingers clasped.

“It’s a good proposal,” he said, sincerity ringing in the words. “And will be beneficial to us in the long run and I like your idea to section off parts of the beach for VIP guests only. However, we’ve sunk in so much money into this project already and got less than satisfactory results from Silvercorp.”

His gaze seemed to pierce through Ryan. “What guarantee do we have that history will not repeat itself?”

Prepared for this question, Ryan readily answered. “Silvercorp will make up ten percent of whatever amount is finalized in the contract.”