Know Your Heart: A New Zealand - Tracey Alvarez Page 0,1
want to stay here.”
“I see. Unfortunately, there’s a problem with what you want. I’m legally your tenant.”
“Legally?” Oh, hell. What had Nate agreed to? “What are you, a lawyer?”
He quirked an eyebrow. “Yes, as a matter of fact.”
It figured. Just as she figured most female clients would simper at his pretty baby blues and sexily tousled brown hair and concede to whatever up-tight lawyerly demands he’d have in the courtroom…or in the bedroom.
“I drew up a fixed-term tenancy agreement with Nate before I moved in a week ago,” he said.
Spots of rain peppered her head, splattered the deck around her. Sav inched a step toward the door then froze at the nearness of Glen’s bulk. She crossed her arms over her breasts, her nipples tightening to tiny dart points as the spots turned into cold drips.
“You did what?”
Nate hadn’t mentioned that on the phone. Or maybe he had, and Sav hadn’t paid attention…
“Nate thought it was a practical thing to do, as he was acting on your behalf.”
All very thoughtful of her cousin, but what did it mean in the scheme of getting Glen out of her house? “And this agreement states what?”
“That I am leasing your house for six weeks. According to the law, both parties must agree if they wish to terminate the contract. I don’t agree; therefore, you have a problem.”
Sav uncrossed her arms and fisted her hands on her hips. The man was turning out to be a giant pain in the backside. “You’re refusing to leave?”
“I’m refusing to leave before the date specified on the contract.”
He uncoiled from the casual lean and braced both hands high on either side of the doorframe, all refined power in strong, toned limbs. Sav backed up a step, heels clicking hollowly on the deck. Then she stiffened her spine. No man would make her cower again.
“I want you out of my house.”
“Not happening. I’ll leave on October eighteenth and not a day before. If you want to check the contract, Nate has a copy.”
Blood surged up her neck in a scalding tide, the now-steady patter of rain dribbling through her hair, soaking through her thin shirt and doing nothing to cool her down. “I’m calling my lawyer.”
“Try the front of the deck; it’s the only place to get cell coverage.”
When she clenched her jaw and fought not to snarl, his stubble-surrounded mouth peeled back in a grin full of straight white teeth.
Breathe. Focus. Switch tactics.
Sav donned her patented Savannah Payne smile again, complete with two cute-as-a-button dimples. “Maybe we got off on the wrong foot.”
“Maybe we did.” He slid the glasses off his nose, folded the arms in carefully and hooked them over the Henley’s pocket.
There—his tone sounded a lot more reasonable. She smoothed her damp shirt over her hips, and his hooded gaze tracked her movements. Like a big, blue-eyed cat about to pounce on an unsuspecting mouse. Hah. She was no timid mousy.
“Can’t we work out a reasonable solution? You’re paying rent, of course.”
“Four hundred a week, plus two weeks in advance.”
A bargain. Nate had nearly sold the property to a developer who’d planned to turn the house overlooking Bounty Bay into a celebrity resort. If that had happened, they probably would’ve charged at least four hundred a night to stay there. Then Nate had fallen in love with Lauren Taylor who owned the land next door. Nate had decided to sell the house to Savannah and keep the love of his life.
“I’ll refund everything you’ve paid. I can transfer the money right now.” Sav tossed her hair over her shoulder. It hit the back of her shirt with a wet slap. She swiped at her face again, and her fingers came away with black smears. Non-waterproof mascara—bane of her existence. So much for deciding she wouldn’t need the waterproof kind, thinking her tears, after slinking back to New Zealand, were all over.
“You’ll transfer the money, and I’ll just pack my bag and vacate the premises?”
“Most guys travel light.”
“True. I’ve barely unpacked.”
“Wonderful. I’ll pay for you to stay at the Sea Mist Resort in Bounty Bay tonight—with dinner at Kai Moana thrown in.”
He dropped his hands from the doorframe and stepped forward. Skin prickling, boots glued to the decking, Sav tilted up her chin to counteract the height difference.
“Sea Mist Resort, you say? Fancy.”
“Four stars.” The scent of him—warm male with the slightest hint of some spicy, exotic cologne—drifted into her nose. “Being still off season, I’m sure it won’t be busy.”