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and tell someone who hated you that you’re working on the project that will destroy his family’s legacy. Still, Candace was conflicted between James’s chiseled features and his iffy personality. Maybe the issue was more on Luke’s end. He had been known to irritate people into challenging him. She had certainly experienced that firsthand.
    “I didn’t pick the locations,” James continued. “I also wanted you to know that. I’m only the plans man. And the construction man. Well, basically I’m responsible for everything after the location is chosen.”
    This guy had his hands in a whole hell of a lot of the things she and Luke were sitting at the bar planning to attack. Maybe someone like James wouldn’t be so bad to speak with a little more.
    “So you don’t have any plans drawn up, then?” Luke asked.
    “Of course I do.”
    “How many sets?”
    James cleared his throat but didn’t answer.
    “I thought so.” Luke stared hard at his foe.
    A sinking feeling took her entire body down a notch.
    “Very well.” James faced her again. “Nice to meet you, Ms. …”
    “Candace.” She feigned a smile. She didn’t feel like bringing her last name into the conversation. She did, however, feel like giving James enough flirty eye contact before he left to show interest. There was no need to give him an icy shoulder—especially when his knowledge might come in handy.
    His eyes twinkled back at her. “Candace,” he said her name carefully. James didn’t so much as glance at Luke before walking away.
The man has swagger.
Candace tried not to be obvious about admiring the view.
    “So, what did all that mean?” She turned back to Luke in time to see him finish off his beer.
    His glass hit the dark wood bar hard and she jumped. He poured himself another. She might not know Luke’s hopes and dreams, but an idiot could see he wasn’t very happy with James.
    “You two deserve each other.”
    “Excuse me?” Candace sat up a little straighter.
    “It figures you’d have the hots for a man like that. And I’m using the term
man
loosely because he’s no gentleman. He’s the sleep-with-your-girlfriend-behind-your-back type.”
    “I see.”
What a tough blow. Guess this one’s on James.
Luke might be irritating, but he was loyal.
    “I’m sure you two will get along just fine, and I won’t be surprised when one of you sells the other out.”
    Luke clearly couldn’t be reasoned with over James and she didn’t care who Luke thought she saw as attractive. Right now, all she cared about was her shop and the six others at risk. “How about we get back to business? That cryptic conversation, what did it mean?”
    “It means that the council only hired his firm to draw up one plan and not multiple plans for different locations. The build would change per location. And they were so sure of their chosen location, they didn’t wait until after the final vote. In other words, we’re screwed.”
    Luke steamed. His jaw jumped and his cheekbones seemed more defined. It was almost adorable.
    “What do you do for fun?” She knew she should focus and talk about what had just transpired, but right now she really wanted to know what he did to relax.
    “What?” Luke’s eyebrows almost touched in the middle.
    “Fun. What do you do?” The alcohol was taking over her thoughts and her words.
    “What in the world?”
    She shrugged. “Just wondering.”
    “Can you focus, please?” He downed most of his new beer.
    This
was
her focusing. Spending too much time on one topic hindered her creative juices. Luke was the new topic she wanted to discuss. Maybe the timing sucked—but did he read, go to movies, cook, garden, feng shui?
    “Right. Yes. So. James Brand. Screwing us over,” she summarized.
    “Exactly. Rat bast—”
    “What’s the deal with him, anyway?”
    “Doesn’t matter. Back to what we were talking about.” He looked to the ceiling of the bar. “Where were we?”
    “Media.”
    She lied and they