Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven

" W hat's that on your head?"

Not exactly what Cooper had in mind as a stunning opening to his pitch but he couldn't talk sense to a woman wearing a Christmas wreath on her head, even if she wore it with the aplomb of a queen sporting a priceless tiara.

Ariel frowned and patted her head, the frown disappearing when she touched the weird crown. "This is my lucky garland. I often paint in it."

"It looks like a Christmas tree gone wrong."

Rather than taking it off in embarrassment as he expected, she adjusted the angle until it sat like a cheeky halo perched at odds with her crazy curls.

"I made it years ago during my first Christmas with Aunt Barb."

The smirk that had been playing around her mouth vanished and Cooper wished he hadn't seen the vulnerability behind her eyes.

He was here on business, to present a clear plan to benefit them both. He didn't want to hear about this woman Barb who Ariel held in such high esteem or feel the slightest twinge of guilt that in following his dreams he'd probably have to tear hers down.

She was young. She'd get over it. She could take the money, and start a new gallery somewhere else.

"Your five minutes started about thirty-seconds ago so whatever you have to say, make it snappy." Ariel's expression hardened, her green eyes flinty, her mouth compressed in a thin line.

Squaring his shoulders, confident a softer approach would work rather than railroading her like he usually did with the rest of his clients, Cooper met her cool gaze head on.

"Firstly, I'd like to apologise for not telling you the truth earlier. You were right, I had plenty of opportunity and could've let you in on my identity sooner."

"Why didn't you?"

"Honestly? You intrigued me. I had my spiel all worked out when I first walked in here but before I knew what was happening, you'd bustled me out the back and told me to take off my clothes. I guess the Neanderthal in me took over and I kind of liked it." He shrugged, feeling like an idiot for admitting the truth but hoping she valued his honesty. "Stupid, I know, but the whole situation was extraordinary and once we started talking, I couldn't leave."

By her dubious expression, his honesty hadn't worked.

Her eyes narrowed as she pinned him with an assessing stare. "I think you didn't want to leave because you thought you could weasel inside info out of me before honing in for the kill."

"That too." He winced at her brutal but accurate assessment. "Pretty despicable, but I was going to tell you the truth even if that girl hadn't outed me. You probably won't believe this but the whole thing was a bit of an ego trip—"

"That I believe." She rolled her eyes before tapping her watch. "Three minutes left."

He held up his hands like he had nothing to hide. "Okay, my idea is this. I have a business proposal to present to you. It will probably take a few hours all up to do it justice and I was hoping you'd give me the time."

"No."

Short and sharp, without the slightest hint of thawing, and he pushed on, hoping she understood how things worked in the business world and wouldn't be offended by his next offer.

"I'll pay you for your time."

"What?"

If her eyebrows shot any higher, they'd tangle in that crazy wreath perched on her wayward curls.

"In the world I come from, everyone charges by the hour, from lawyers to architects. I see your time as being no different and I'm willing to compensate you for the few hours it takes to deliver my pitch."

"You're willing to compensate me…how generous ."

If her strange, high-pitched fake voice and the clenched hands twisting the cuffs of her crushed velvet shorts weren't a dead giveaway of what she thought of his offer, her sarcasm clued him in.

"The point I'm trying to make is, this place is your business, so your time is just as valuable as everyone else's and I want to recognise that."

Better, much better, and by the softening of her ramrod straight posture, she thought so too.

"I don't want your money."

"But you'll still listen to my pitch?"

He held his breath, wishing this bohemian beauty didn't hold his future in the palm of her paint-stained hand. She had to listen to his pitch and she had to go for it. He couldn't contemplate any other outcome.

Forging ahead with plans for his own company after a lengthy legal battle to escape the contract would drive an irreversible wedge between him and his father, when he was hoping some much needed time apart might actually make his dad's heart grow fonder.

Yeah, and Santa would be asking him to renovate and develop the North Pole any day now.

But he had to try. He loved his dad too much to give up on him.

To Cooper's surprise,Ariel's face cleared. Her brow smoothed, her lips tilted up at the corners, and her green eyes sparkled with excitement.

Uh-oh. This couldn't be good.

He'd seen that same look when she'd all but pushed him into her studio the first night and told him to get his gear off.

"I won't accept your money but how about we do a fair trade for time?"

"Sounds feasible," he said, not liking her smug smirk.

He liked the tense, uncertain Ariel a lot more than her cheeky counterpart who made him want to drop his business ideals at the door and get creative with this sprite-like woman in a variety of imaginative ways.

"What did you have in mind?"

To his surprise, Ariel slid off her stool and walked around the counter between them to place a finger under his chin and tilt his head this way and that. Before he could compute her touching him, she lowered her hand and stepped back, continuing to study him like a prized masterpiece.

"This is perfect." She clapped her hands and smiled at him, the type of mega smile that could melt a guy's hardened heart if he wasn't careful. "You pose for me until I finish the portrait and I'll listen to your boring proposal. How's that for fair trade? A few hours modelling for a few hours of hearing you ramble about a business proposition I have zero interest in?"

Cooper stared at her, unwillingly admiring her glowing eyes, her wide confident smile. He bit back his first gut response of ‘no way,' knowing that a smart businessman would take every opportunity that came his way and turn it into something big.

In this case, it may be the only chance he got. She'd let him in the door, she'd heard him out, and she'd agreed to listen to his plans for this place.

Posing almost naked, albeit on a hard stool for a few hours, would be nothing if he pulled this deal off.

"You've got a deal."

He held out his hand, managing a genuine smile when she placed her tiny hand in his despite the jolt physical contact brought. By the slight widening of her eyes, she felt it too but pulled away before he could analyse it further.

Not that he wanted to. She wasn't his type. He preferred cool, aloof women who were happy with the occasional date and had no expectations.

A warm, vibrant, creative woman like Ariel would be nothing but trouble for a level-headed guy like him and he'd make sure he concentrated on business around her.

He didn't have room in his life for anything else.