Heather held the hug, gently moving her body on mine and sighing. Oh, dear Lord. This'll be tougher than I thought. Why does she have to be so gorgeous?

Surrendering to natural urges, I cupped the back of her head, easing her cheek to my shoulder and caressing her thick hair. And why does she have to be a redhead? And so brilliant and quick-thinking? And so amorous? Maybe I can use sex as a path. No, I'd become even more entranced by her. Distracted from my purpose. "I should let you attack the parking crisis, Heather."

"Ummm." She sighed a moan, lifted her head from my shoulder and tilted it up, licking her lips. "A kiss to hold us until we have time for more."

Oh, dear Lord. How suggestive. "A light one. We don't have time for lumpy trousers and where that leads. You have parking to resolve, and I have a meeting at 13:45."

After too much exploring, I pulled away and removed my hand from her skirt front and hers from my goods, grinning. "We're acting like first-time adolescents, and we both have more pressing matters to attend."

She breathed quiet, panting sighs while rearranging her blouse. "You here for dinner? We can do dessert after."

"I'd love to, but I have dinner plans elsewhere."

She tilted her head. "Another woman?"

I pursed my lips and nodded. Then, after pausing to enjoy her reaction, I added, "My weekly dinner with Mum."

She tapped my chest in a mock punch and grinned. "Naughty to tease. Go, we both have things to do."

My mind spun the entire five-block walk to my office, images of Heather's delightfully lighthearted aggressiveness frequently interrupting my attempts to rework the plan. Does she suspect my motives? She recognised my infatuation a week or more ago, so with her sharp perception, possibly.

Then, is her amorousness a ruse? An attempt to sway me from my mission? If so, I have no long-term chance with her. 

What? Where did that come from? 

From weeks of watching her gracefulness and easy manner, stirred by admiring her drop-dead gorgeousness. Beyond the physical, though. Her decisiveness and unflappability exude confidence. The superb handling of the lease termination. With her sharpness, she'll likely devise a better parking arrangement at a lower cost. The additional valets will enhance the restaurant's upscale positioning and bolster her determination to keep the house. Dad won't be pleased.

It was his plan, so he can't blame me – but he will. Will. I chuckled at his threat to disinherit me if I failed again. Stupid of me to tell him the Courts would dismiss it. Now, he's come up with a real threat. What ...

My thoughts were interrupted by my Executive Assistant's voice, "Your next clients are in the boardroom, Sinclair. The Flattery Wilson purchase. Here's the file."

"Hunh? Oh! Thank you, Anika." Realising I had arrived, I took the thick dossier and continued along the hallway, clearing my mind for the meeting.

After two more conveyance meetings, I returned to my office to see a message from Dad blinking on my screen. See me when you're done. I checked my calendar, disappointed I had no more appointments. Damn!

Two minutes later, as I entered the lion's den, he said, "I spoke with Miss Clayburn, and she still refuses to sell. You cucked up. We now have an empty lot too small to develop and with no tennant. Reinstate the lease."

"I can try, but now aware of the no-notice termination, she's unlikely to sign unless it's amended. Compensating her clients and the towing company will cost thousands, and she won't want a repeat."

"Change it to seven days to keep the pressure on."

I nodded, knowing it was unwise to suggest thirty days. Even less wise to tell him about the valet service. "Yes, the pressure."

"I've ordered demolition of the Parkview block. They'll begin on Thursday with the bare minimum to meet City dust and noise abatement guidelines. This should force her to close the sidewalk tables and the rear garden patio."

I nodded again, knowing she closed them last week with the arrival of October's rains and coolness. "Yes, maintain the pressure."

"After redoing the lease, your next task is to find her ex and convince him to appeal the divorce settlement. The property was deeded to her a year and a half before the divorce, yet the title search shows he has no share of it. And while you're at it, dig up all the nasties we can use against her."

Nodding, I pointed to the wall clock. "I'll begin those in the morning. I'm meeting Mum for dinner in half an hour."

Dad contorted his face, as I knew he would. "Wish the bitch my worst."

Half an hour later, after a quick shower, a change of clothes and a short walk, I took the elevator to Mum's Coal Harbour penthouse. As we greeted, I said, "Dad sends his usual."

She shrugged. "He'll never change." Then, pointing toward the wall of floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking Stanley Park, she continued, "I've ordered sashimi and sushi omakasi from Tojo, and I thought it better there than in the dining room. Appears we'll have a fine sunset this evening."

As we settled into the couch, she nodded toward the low table. "Open the Champagne, Sinclair. Tell me about your week."

I took the bottle of Clicquot from the ice bucket, removed the foil and cage, and eased the cork out while saying, "I think I'm in love."

"Infatuated again."

"No, this is different."

She chuckled. "You always say that. How is this one different?"

"Because ... because I want to protect her." Then, pouring the bubbly, I shrugged and added, "I hadn't realised this until now. But that's the difference."

"Protect her from what?"

"Dad."

"Oh, God! Is he stalking again?"

"Not in that way. At least, not that I'm aware of. No, this is his continuing callous disregard for property owners. His sleazy, manipulative tactics."

"How are you involved? I thought he agreed to stop using you as one of his heavies."

"I stupidly told him the Courts wouldn't uphold his attempt to disinherit me." I winced. "So, he threatened to fire me if I didn't help him with this one."

Mum looked up from her glass. "Why didn't you quit? Save him the pleasure of firing you."

"I thought it better to remain there, trying to ease his disruption. He's dragging Grandfather's legacy through the mud by using the family fortune as a sledgehammer to manipulate City Hall and bully property owners. Someone has to stop him."

"But confronting him might be too emotionally challenging for you."

"I'm looking at making a game of it – verbally agree and then ignore to do what I think is best."

"Dishonesty doesn't suit you, Sinclair."

"I see it as tit-for-tat – simply playing by his rules."

Mum sighed. "So, rather than quit, you chose to remain and do his dirty work."

"Someone has to keep him in check. Besides, this one sounded benign."

"What was it?"

"Use my ... my panty-dropper handsomeness, as he called it."

She winced. "He's such a crude beast." Then, tilting her head, she continued, "Use it for what?"

"To coerce a young divorcee into selling.""

"And you want to protect her."

"I do." I breathed a sigh and nodded. "Yeah, I do."

"Sounds more like chivalry than love."

"Not with the sexual appetite we share."

"Oh, my! Pour more Champagne and tell me about her."

Chapter words – 1211
Story words – 2520