Hot SEAL, April's Fool by Becca Jameson (smart books to read .txt) 📗

She glanced down at the blueprints between them and realized the man hadn’t contacted her about the sale of a property or even a few properties. The blueprint was for the two city blocks he was trying to convert into a strip mall. The exact location where he was slowly buying all the businesses, including Cole’s dad’s shop.

Chamberlain tapped the page with his pointer. “I’m sure you’re aware of my latest project, Ms. McKay.”

“Yes, sir.” Everyone in a fifty-mile radius was aware. The only reason no one had managed to stop it from going forward was because he owned or controlled nearly every aspect of the local government. No one had the balls to go against him.

The idea of replacing all those businesses made April’s stomach roil. It had for the past year since he started buying everything up. The fact that Landry’s was among the sought-after businesses in the zone hadn’t escaped her notice either.

Landry’s wasn’t one of the last holdouts by any stretch of the imagination. Chamberlain had only managed to get about half of the businesses to part with their land and buildings. He still needed several more, and she had no doubt he was working all of them at once. How many of them had he stooped to acquiring through less than stellar means?

The rumors about the strip mall would make anyone leery. Some of the original business owners would still be able to use the space, but instead of owning, they would now be renters, and it was already common knowledge that the rent would be astronomically high, out of most people’s reach. In addition, local businesses were going to have to compete with national chains in between them. It made her sad to think that The Bean Stop would soon have to compete with an international coffee chain.

April couldn’t imagine what she was doing here. She didn’t have a commercial real estate license and had never considered getting one. She was barely even good at her job in residential real estate. She was friendly enough, but her heart wasn’t in this business so she didn’t have as many clients as she would need to stay above water. She averaged about one sale every two to three months, just enough to pay her bills.

“You might have known that Kay Alderson was working to acquire several of these properties for me, but she recently took a job out of the area and moved away. I need someone to step in and fill her shoes.”

April narrowed her gaze at him. “I don’t have a commercial real estate license, sir. I’m not sure how I could be of assistance.” She knew he had a hidden agenda, and she suspected it had to do with Cole, but she wondered what lie he would tell her.

She also knew that Kay Alderson had moved out of the area, and the gossip among real estate agents was that the woman fled to avoid getting deeper involved with Chamberlain. He’d literally chased her out of town.

He stood tall, grinning again, and shrugged. “I don’t need you to finalize the deals. I can get someone to do the heavy work. I just need someone to do the legwork. Talk to the business owners. Warm them up to the idea.”

“Why me?” April had to force herself not to glare at the man.

“Violet told me about you. I dug around and found that you’ve struggled to get a foot in the door in this town. Figured I could help you out. If you can broker some of these deals for me, it will help you make a name for yourself.”

That was twice now that he’d mentioned Violet’s participation in this farce. April wondered if Violet truly had gone to her father to recommend April. It seemed unlikely. The two of them had never been friends. They’d only nodded at each other in passing in the last decade. April wouldn’t say they’d ever been enemies exactly—though you could call them rivals over Cole, but that was way back in high school. She couldn’t imagine why Violet would even think of her name, let alone recommend her to her father for a job.

“What do you say?” Chamberlain asked.

April swallowed. “I’m going to need more information, sir.” I’m not at all qualified to take on this job.

A noise at the entrance to the library made April turn her gaze to see the butler shuffling into the room. He stopped just inside. “Sir, Maxine has lunch ready in the dining room.”

“Thank you, Jeffery. We’ll be right there.”

Chamberlain rose and motioned toward the door. “Let’s eat. I’ll fill you in on more of the specifics of what I’m interested in after lunch.”

April drew in a slow breath as she stood, unease creeping deeper into her system with every passing moment. Obviously, there was no way in hell she would do anything for this man for any reason, but she also wasn’t going to tell him to fuck himself just yet either. She wanted more information.

She followed Chamberlain to the dining room and tried not to react to the opulence. The long ornately carved wood table that extended down the center of the room would seat twenty people. Currently, it was set for two, which made April’s skin crawl.

Adding to the insanity was the fact that this luncheon apparently would be served in several courses. The woman she assumed was Maxine served salads and then left the room as quickly as she’d entered. She looked like someone out of a movie set in the South at least fifty years ago. She wore a full maid’s uniform and had her hair in a bun. April figured her to be about forty.

April forced herself to eat the salad while Chamberlain asked her a string of questions about her family and her current clients. She nearly groaned when Maxine served a second course—soup. This was going to take a while and she had no