The Ivy House - By Drea Stein Page 0,14
was elegant in a bland sort of way, with reproduction antiques and a rug that did nothing for the place except hide the dirt. The effect was a sort of cheap imitation of what elegance should be. It could be so much more.
She was more intent on checking her bag, making sure she had remembered her pencils, her sketchbook, and her laptop, than in noticing her surroundings, which is why she was so startled when she connected with a wall.
“Ouch,” she said and then looked up. It wasn’t a wall at all, which made sense, since she had been quite sure she’d been walking in the middle of the lobby. Now the contents of her bag, including her sketchbook, were scattered across the floor.
“You,” she said. It was Chase. “Chase Sanders,” she corrected herself. He was standing there, looming above her.
“You weren’t looking where you were going,” he said, but she could see that he was more amused than angry. No, she decided quickly. He wasn’t just amused. He was openly laughing at her. Not surprising, since she was so startled that she had popped back about three feet upon coming in contact with him. He was a lot more solid than he looked and a definite lurker.
“Do you always stand in the middle of hotel lobbies?” Phoebe snapped back, knowing that it wasn’t much of a comeback. She had to look up at him and wished she were wearing higher heels. The Chase of jeans and a windbreaker were gone. This Chase had on tailored slacks, a white button-down, and a dark blue sweater. The expensive sunglasses hung in the v of his sweater and she wondered if he ever went anywhere without them.
He shrugged, the laughter gone, but the amusement still in his eyes. The preppy outfit couldn’t hide the broad shoulders and well-developed biceps, even more apparent because he was standing with his arms crossed.
“Here, let me help you with that.” And before she could tell him to leave her alone, he was on the floor, casually gathering her things up.
It was too much. She had told herself that she would be calm about the whole thing, but, really, this was too much.
“I don’t know who you think you are,” she said, finally, as he stood with her sketchpad and some pencils in his hand.
“And what sort of scheme you’re trying to run.” She felt emboldened and crossed the distance between them. Her finger found his chest and she jabbed it into him, hoping to make her point perfectly clear. “You must be up to something. And just to make it clear, Ivy House is not for sale.”
A puzzled look crossed his face. “Is that what you think the offer was? Some sort of scheme?” He stepped back a little from her poking finger. Phoebe noticed that the guy behind the desk—blond, with a stubby little ponytail and one small gold earring—was paying close attention to them, while pretending to do anything but.
“Yes, that’s what I think it is exactly.” Phoebe felt herself beginning to get worked up. Why else would he have offered so much money for a decrepit house? He was trying to bribe her. That had to be it. Get her to sell and move out and leave Ivy House to the fate of the wrecking ball.
“I don’t think when one is set out to scheme against someone, they make such a generous offer,” Chase said, his voice mild even as he stopped her pointing finger from stabbing him in the chest again. He held her hand for what seemed like a minute too long, and Phoebe was distracted by the thought of how nice and big it felt wrapped around her own. And then she realized she was close enough to smell him and that he smelled good. Fresh soap and some sort of spicy aftershave.
She swallowed. There had been a point somewhere in there. Ah, yes, Chase Sanders was a conniving bastard with a too-sexy-for-words smile. Phoebe drew herself up to her full height. She had fallen for the sexy smile once too often, but this time she was forewarned. If he thought he could try and sneak Ivy House away from her, then he was surely mistaken.
“I don’t know if you think you can steal Ivy House away from me, or what you’re planning on doing with it, but I’m no fool. I’ve done my research. I know what it’s worth and trying to sneak in and steal it from under