Zana Bell - Tempting the Negotiator

Fortunately, it was only a few minutes later that the van drew up in front of a cottage painted a jaunty yellow with blue trim. The garden was a tumble of flowers and the overall effect was charming, except Sass wasn’t prepared to concede anything at this stage.

“We’re here,” Jake announced unnecessarily.

He ushered her through the front door and into a tiny office immediately off the hall. A man rose to greet them.

“It’s great to meet you,” he said, and actually seemed to mean it. “I’m Rob Finlayson.”

Rob was also tall, with straight hair and a kinder expression than his brother. He met her eyes and smiled warmly, but she still knew she was being appraised. His handshake was firm and Sass realized that he, like his brother, was not to be underestimated. Instinctively, she liked him.

Unfortunately. She didn’t want to like anyone. This resolve was further tested when Moana came in with a wide smile of welcome. Her skin was cinnamon-brown, her hair black and luxuriant, reaching right down her back. M ori, Sass guessed, having done her homework about New Zealand and its indigenous people. Beautiful and exotic, Moana looked as if she’d stepped out of some Hawaiian musical.

“Hi, welcome to New Zealand. Can I get you some coffee? I’ve also baked some muffins.”

The aroma of freshly ground beans had struck Sass the minute she’d walked through the door. “Black coffee and a muffin would be wonderful, thank you.”

Not risking the indignity of a growling stomach was even better.

“Two minutes,” Moana promised as she slipped away.

Sass avoided Jake’s eyes as she took the chair he proffered, and said, “Shall we get straight to business?”

As she set her briefcase on her knee and clicked open the locks she saw the guys exchange glances. Mistake! She’d forgotten time might not mean money here. You might have to put your watch forward seventeen hours upon reaching New Zealand, but it seemed you also had to dial back some years.

“Of course,” said Rob. “Would you like to put your briefcase here?” He pushed papers aside to make space for her.

“Thanks.” She drew her chair to the desk, then wished she hadn’t. It brought her closer to the brothers, and their combined height and, well, maleness made her uncomfortable. She glanced up in relief when Moana returned with a steaming mug and a plate with the muffin.

“Now, I don’t want you ganging up on our visitor. Jake, you come with me. I’ve a new painting that needs hanging and Rob has been less than no help these past two days.”

“I’ve always said you chose the wrong brother,” Jake pointed out. “Rob’s the lazy one.” Suddenly Sass saw a completely different man—one relaxed with laid-back good humor, and a wicked glint of mischief in his eye.

“She chose the best-looking one,” his brother retorted. “Besides, I did try to hang the damned thing but gave up after she changed her mind half a dozen times.” He ducked as his wife took a swipe at his head.

“Excuses, excuses, ay.” Moana exchanged a woman-to-woman look with Sass. “That’s all men really excel in.”

Sass couldn’t help smiling back, but felt off balance. This wasn’t like the business meetings she was used to.

“Right,” she said, trying to take control once more by lifting a sheaf of papers from the briefcase and passing them to Rob. “I’ve some data here that might interest you.”

“Good luck,” said Jake, though it wasn’t clear who he was speaking to. She could almost feel his body heat as he passed behind her chair and disappeared out of the room after Moana. Sass was glad to see his back. With him gone, she’d be able to concentrate.

Rob bent over the projected incomes Paradise resorts expected from their Aroha enterprise, a report that Kurt had prepared.

“You’ll see it will bring considerable amounts of money into your community,” she pointed out.

He shook his head. “These numbers seem pitched a bit high to me. Not that I’m fully conversant with the resort business, of course.”

Sass had also thought they were optimistic, but The Boys had okayed them.

“We have every faith that your beautiful country will attract huge numbers of visitors, given the right advertising. Your weak dollar will also make it affordable for families on modest incomes.”

“We try to keep a handle on tourist numbers here in New Zealand. Don’t want to spoil our clean green image with hordes tramping over the countryside.”

He smiled and she smiled back. The first clash of swords.

“Speaking of which,” he continued, “we haven’t received full information about the massive infrastructures of roads, water, sewerage, etc., you’ll need to install for a resort this size.”

“That’s all in the pipeline,” she said confidently, crossing her fingers. Kurt had been maddeningly vague. “I’ll get them to you soon.”

“Our biggest concern, however, is the fairy tern.”

“The bird. Yeah, right. I understand there are only seven birds nesting on the spit.”

“Seven is a considerable number when the bird is listed as severely endangered.” Rob’s voice had acquired an edge.

“Please believe me my company has no desire whatsoever to hasten this bird’s demise.” Sass was at her most sincere. “We’ve looked into options to save it and already have several we’d like to put to you.”

“We need Jake for that. He’s the expert on the fairy tern. He’s writing a book about them.”

“Really?” It was hard to think of Action Man reading a book, let alone writing one. She really didn’t like the way the guy kept knocking her off-kilter. “Well, as he’s not here, let’s get back to the resort development.” She handed Rob another piece of paper. “You will see here we’ll be generating a lot of jobs for the community.”

And so the meeting continued for another twenty minutes, with Sass and Rob circling each other as only civilized people locked in legal combat can. By the end, each had developed a healthy respect for the other, but Rob surprised her when he pushed all the papers aside and leaned forward, hands clasped and looked into her eyes. “Sass, would you do one thing for us?”

“I’ll try,” she said, instantly wary.

“You say you’ve come to listen, not to steamroll over us. That’s a relief and we’d appreciate it if you’d take time to become acquainted with the community and Aroha Bay. Will you do that? We have so much riding on it all.”

Me, too, buddy, she thought. Me, too.

Her professional smile remained bright. “Sure, I’ll be happy to. In fact, I was going to ask, do you have any books about the area? I’d be interested to learn more about the layout of the land and even some of its history. It all helps to get a better picture.”

Rob beamed, clearly delighted by her interest. “Yeah, I’ve got a couple of excellent ones that I’d be delighted to lend you, as a matter of fact.”

“Great. I also want to meet with the—” Sass broke off as she flipped through some papers “—the Aroha Bay Organization for Resort Development, the ABORD Committee. I believe they are all for the resort.”

Rob grimaced.

“Yeah, well, I’m here to listen to all sides,” she continued, “before I make my recommendations. My report to the company will of course be confidential, because in the end the final decision rests with them. Whatever conclusions I come to, they’ll be made with due consideration and in everyone’s best interests.”

As those words slipped out, she experienced a small twinge of conscience. The bottom line was she’d been sent to get these guys to not only accept the resort, but in the end to be glad about it, thus saving her company time and money in court.