Silver Sparks (33 page)

Zoe seemed to be the only one who found him condescending and arrogant. His feelings for her weren’t any warmer.

They both knew she’d be a better manager than David. Buck Flemming, the original owner of the Alpine Sky, preferred keeping women where he insisted they belonged—beneath men—so David had skated by while she did all the work. Then Buck had died. Ruth Ann took a couple minutes to play the grieving widow before freeing up her social calendar by making her son, Matt, the new general manager. Zoe hadn’t met him, but David had. He didn’t give her the details of the meeting, but his irritation made it obvious—finally, someone else had not been charmed by David Brand.

Matt had given her the golf course deal without even meeting her. She and David both knew her success might result in a shake-up in management.

Gloves off, game on. David wanted nothing more than for her to fail. Hearing him gloat had zero appeal, so she tried to sneak past the front desk. He looked up and caught her eye with a cool smile. “Excuse me, Victoria,” he told the starry-eyed clerk. “I need to talk to Zoe, but I’m confident you can handle things on your own. You’re doing beautifully.” She beamed, but he didn’t see it as he intercepted Zoe at the back hallway.

“I’m just here to pick up my laptop,” she told him.

His smile almost looked sincere. “Let’s take a minute to chat in my office, shall we?”

She tried not to roll her eyes. Let’s chat meant, Let me find something to criticize about the way you handled things so I can enjoy how bad you’ll look when Mrs. Flemming hears about it. It killed her that she was about to make his day.

He closed his office door and sat behind the desk before giving her an expectant look. “I heard your car was at the Rusty Wire.”

Crap, he had snitches. “I stopped by to meet the owner.”

“Oh, let’s not be coy. We both know why you were there. So how good are you at high level negotiations? Did he go for two point five?”

She felt her whole body tighten, and told herself he’d find out soon, anyway, being her supervisor. “No.”

“That’s too bad.” He clicked his tongue in mock disappointment. “It would have looked good if you could have brought this deal in at two-five. But I suppose Ruth Ann and Matt won’t be too disappointed with three.”

She clenched her teeth and made herself say it. “He didn’t go for three, either.”

“Really?” He savored it, a smile playing at the side of his mouth as he tried to look concerned. “How disappointing for you. How much does he want?”

“He says he won’t sell at any price.” David nearly lit up, and she rushed to squash his hopes. “I haven’t given up. I’ll get to him, I just haven’t found his weak spot yet.”

David’s smile was serene. “Maybe he doesn’t have one. It would be awful to disappoint the Flemmings, though. I heard Ruth Ann put Matt in charge of the whole expansion project, and I’ve heard how she is about her baby boy. He’s not the person you want to piss off.” He looked positively thrilled that she might.

“He won’t be disappointed.”

He punched the air like a cheerleader. “That’s the spirit.”

She looked around, wondering if there was anything she could accidentally bash his teeth in with. Her gaze fell on a large box in the corner. Beneath packing labels and tape, the box bore the distinctive double-E logo of Everton Equipment.

She frowned. As far as she knew, Everton didn’t make ski equipment. But they did make an exclusive line of clothing and equipment for golf. She gave David a puzzled look. “Are we already ordering for a golf line? They don’t even know if the project is a go.”

“More pressure on you, huh?” He enjoyed it for a moment before nodding at the box. “Those are sample shirts direct from the factory. Naturally, if the Alpine Sky builds the golf course, we’ll only carry the best brand in our pro shop. I imagine Everton heard rumors and decided to do some early lobbying for their brand.”

Really early; she was surprised they even knew about it. That meant Ruth Ann and Matt must be operating on the assumption that buying the Rusty Wire was a done deal. Zoe had to convince Jase Garrett to sell fast.

David went to the box and lifted the flaps. “Here, take one.” He pulled out a polo shirt and tossed it at her. “Wear it to the Rusty Wire, maybe it’ll help.” For some reason that made him grin.

She’d had enough of David’s encouragement. Clutching the shirt, she stood. “I’m not giving up, you know. I’ll find a way to convince him to sell.”

He smirked. “Good luck.”

She wasn’t stupid enough to count on luck.