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Cooper suddenly reached over and took my hand “The problem is, we don’t knohat Devlin is really capable of He’s shady Ruthless If he becoht around, at the very least our lives will be more stressful”
“Surely George won’t sell to hi worried
Vaughn straightened fro to Canada perhest bidder”
Bailey e isn’t just a businessman, Tremaine He’s a Hartwell man He won’t sell to Devlin”
His ansas to grunt in disbelief
“Worst-case scenario” Cooper said “He ht”
“Well, you’ve got a ton of hn “You buy it”
“I am a businessman I’o after what I don’t need”
“What about going after what you want?” she huffed
Those steely eyes of his suddenly narrowed on her and his tone turned low, sexy, and erous “Oh, Miss Hartwell, you don’t ever wantafter what I want”
My eyes bugged out at the insinuation and I tried to peek at Bailey surreptitiously For once he’d completely silenced her Her lips were parted in shock and I could tell she was trying to work out what the hell he meant by that comment
I looked at Cooper, as looking down at the bar, wearing an aht rinned
“Uhn a bewildered look—“is that we need to do so to stop this Ideas?”
“And that’s hn said
“Of course,” Bailey bit out “Of course you’d leave”
“I just caer”
“Well, er of doom suits you Good job,” she said sarcastically
He rolled his eyes toward Cooper and gave hiuered look
Cooper struggled not to laugh “Thanks for the heads-up”
Vaughn nodded before turning to ton”
“You know you can call me Jessica,” I said
I heard Bailey squeak in indignation behind me
He heard it, too, and saze to Dahlia “Miss McGuire” And without looking at her, Vaughn began walking away and called over his shoulder, “Good night, Miss Hartwell”
“Trerowled under her breath
It took everything within
“Well, hell,” Old Archie suddenly called fro us all out of the s But I still remember you said next round on the house, Coop”
“You would, Archie,” Cooper drawled as he headed over to serve him
As soon as Archie spoke, I i Archie didn’t seeuessed her results weren’t back yet
“Hey, Archie” Dahlia slid onto the stool beside Bailey “How’s Anita?”
“Oh, she isn’t feeling so good The doctor is doing soave a tired smile “You know Anita That woman is made of steel She’s with me, isn’t she?”
Dahlia s for her”
He nodded and took the draft Cooper shoved toward him
“Okay, ignoring for a second the dra aggravated, “proper introductions are in order”
Sitting between us, she touched my arm and looked at Dahlia “Dahlia, meet Jessica” She looked at me and touched Dahlia’s arm “Jessica, meet Dahlia”
I grinned and reached past Bailey to shake Dahlia’s hand “It’s nice to finally meet you”
She grinned at me “Same to you Looks like you’ve sparked some excitement around here”
Dahlia McGuire, I soon noted as we all began to chat, was an intriguing mix of an adorable personality and beautiful features For the oofiness about her erated faces whether she was laughing or pretending to be horrified or surprised—but when she was still and serious she was beautiful Her hair was the stuff of envy It was thick and black and fell down her back in luscious waves Thick bangs (adding to the cuteness) frae crystal-blue eyes She had a delicate nose and lusheyes re Dahlia and Bailey shared a similar peaches-and-cream complexion—except Dahlia didn’t have cute freckles over her nose like Bailey did
What added to Dahlia’s cuteness was her height She was a couple of inches shorter than ht stretched out ht seeht summer dress that captured her sensuality I wondered if there was a man alive who didn’t drool when Dahlia McGuire walked by
“Jess has been wanting to get into your store since she got here I told her about your jewelry”
“You’re welcome anytime,” Dahlia said r suddenly reached over and took my hand “The problem is, we don’t knohat Devlin is really capable of He’s shady Ruthless If he becoht around, at the very least our lives will be more stressful”