“At least I have a soul.”
He shifted his stance. “Last time I checked, a soul wasn’t a requirement for a business license in the state of New York.”
“She will not marry you.”
“Did she explain the deal?”
Yes, Katie had explained the deal. Alex wanted their company. But he’d spent thousands of dollars over the last two years improving his image, and he was afraid of negative publicity from preying on two newly bereaved sisters.
Oh, he still wanted to prey on them. He just didn’t want anybody to know about it. Hence the cover of marriage and all the joyous goodwill that would go with it.
“She told me,” said Emma tightly.
“Then you know you’ll keep half the company.” His impassive expression turned to a scowl. “And I’m crazy for offering you that much.”
“You actually expect to buy a bride.”
“At that price. Yeah.”
Emma honestly didn’t know what to say.
“Are we done?” he asked.
Were they done? What did she do now? Make a hollow threat? Storm out the door? Swear he’d never get his hands on her precious inns when they both knew that’s exactly what he would do?
He seemed to sense her hesitation. “Nobody gets hurt,” he said. “The publicity will help us both. The press will go nuts over the merging of two great hotel families. We’ll feed the story to female reporters, who’ll get all misty-eyed at-”
She raked her bangs back from her forehead. “Are you listening to yourself?”
He blinked. “What do you mean?”
“You don’t find that plan just a little cold-blooded?”
“Like I said, nobody gets hurt.”
“What about Katie? What about David?”
“Who’s David?”
“Her boyfriend. The sweet, gentle caring young man she’s been dating for six months. He’ll be heartbroken and humiliated.”
Alex paused. For a second she thought she saw an actual emotion pass through his eyes. But then it was gone, replaced by hard gloss slate once again. “David will get over it. He can marry her later, when she’s worth a lot more money.”
Emma opened her mouth, but no sound came out.
“What about you?” Alex asked into the silence.
“I’m pretty upset,” she answered, in the understatement of the century.
He rolled his eyes. “Your emotional state is irrelevant. Do you have a steady boyfriend?”
“No.” And what did that have to do with anything?
“Problem solved.”
“Huh?”
“You marry me.”
Emma reached out to grip the back of a leather chair, afraid she might lose it right there. “What?”
Alex stood there, looking for all the world like a rational person, while tossing out the most outrageous proposal she’d heard in her life. Marry him? Marry him?
“It doesn’t really matter which sister,” he continued without a thread of emotion in his voice. “I only picked Katie because she’s-”
“The pretty one,” Emma finished, straightening away from the chair and squaring her shoulders. For some reason it killed her to have him of all people say it out loud. Not that everybody didn’t think it. It was just that Alex cut to the heart of the issue with such dispassionate accuracy, that it hurt more than usual.
“That’s not-”
“I am not marrying you, and Katie is not marrying you.”
Alex’s voice took on a soft warning note. “Option three is calling your loan. Then you get nothing.”
Emma tightened her arm on her shoulder bag. “Option three is me working out the finances first thing tomorrow morning.”
His mouth crooked in another half smile. “In that case, I’ll leave my offer open for twenty-four hours.”
She turned and stalked toward a side door. Her exit was all bluff and bravado, and they both knew it. For that alone, she’d never forgive him.
“No need, Mr. Garrison,” she said tightly.
“Under the circumstances,” he rumbled behind her, as she reached for the handle and twisted.
“You might want to call me Alex…Emma.”
She didn’t turn back, but her name on his lips sent a shiver up her spine.
Two hours later, the office door closed behind the Rockwell brothers, and Ryan Hayes turned his stare on Alex. “I assume you nailed down the details with her?”
Alex closed the top manila folder, carefully straightening the pile on the polished tabletop in front of him. “Not quite.”
Ryan narrowed his gaze. “What do you mean not quite?”
Alex sighed and leaned back in his chair, rubbing a fingertip across his temple. Gunter’s plan was looking more ridiculous by the minute. “I mean, the details aren’t nailed down yet.”
“But you are getting married.”
“I’m trying,” Alex snapped.
Ryan shook an admonishing finger. “You are not touching McKinley Inns without a bona fide McKinley bride on your arm. Jeez, Alex, they’ll crucify us in the press.”
Alex gritted his teeth. He’d turned this thing over in his mind a thousand different ways. If it was up to him, he’d call the loan right now and take over the damn company. This was business, not a day care for dilettantes.
But Ryan and Gunter were both major shareholders in Garrison Hotels. And they were both convinced that Alex’s reputation as a hard-ass was hurting business. They even thought some recent, decisive takeover bids had harmed employee morale and impacted on convention business.
As a result, they were forcing him to behave like a boy scout in public. He wasn’t allowed to argue, wasn’t even allowed to scowl. Soon they’d have him kissing babies and helping little old ladies across the street.
“Why don’t you marry her?” he asked Ryan.
“Because I’m not the one with the image problem,” Ryan countered. “Besides, I’m not the CEO, and I’m not the public face of Garrison Hotels. Profits were up fifteen percent for the quarter.”
Alex glanced at his watch. “That could’ve been anything.” He wasn’t ready to accept that the kinder, gentler Alex was responsible for such an enormous turnaround.
“So what are the details?” asked Ryan.
Alex looked up. “Huh?”
“What’s left to sort out with Katie.”
“Nothing. It’s not Katie. It’s Emma now. And she’s still making up her mind.” Alex couldn’t believe he’d proposed to two different women in the space of forty-eight hours.
Ryan cocked his head. “I thought you proposed to the pretty one.”
“The pretty one said no. So I proposed to Emma instead. She doesn’t have a boyfriend.”
“I guess not,” Ryan scoffed.
Alex’s spine stiffened. Sure, Emma wasn’t a knockout like Katie, but there was no need to get insulting. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means she’s tough and scary.”
Alex stood up. “Wimp.”
Emma wasn’t tough and scary. She was frustrated and panicking. Which worked in his favor, actually.
Ryan stood with him. “One sister or the other. You make this work or bail on the project.”
Bail on the project? Alex didn’t think so. McKinley had prime beachfront property on Kayven Island. Prime beachfront property whose value was about to go through the roof when the cruise ship facility was finally announced.
He might have to sweeten the deal or find another vulnerability to exploit. But he wasn’t walking away from this one.
“What are we going to do?” Katie’s face was pale as she leaned across the table at the Chateau Moulin restaurant off the lobby of the McKinley Inn Fifth Avenue. The flickering hurricane lamp emphasized her worry, reflecting in a window that was blackened by the park beyond.
“I don’t know,” Emma answered honestly with a shake of her head. “I’ll have to call the bank in the morning.”
“And tell them what?” Katie’s voice rose to high C, matching the note of a grand piano tinkling in the corner.