Page 29 of Blame it on the Bet
“Again, Hennessy, I invite you to make a wager on that with me.” I repeat my offer, more serious this time.
She shrugs. “What did you have in mind, Bryan?”
“Oh, I don’t know. How about…if I stay in Mayhem for the next week, you’ll sell me the pub.”
She scoffs at this.
“Please. You’re dreaming.”
“Okay,” I begin thoughtfully. “How about this, then—I’ll stay here in Mayhem either until you raise the money to buy out the loan…or until the day before the loan comes due.”
She leans across the table, intrigued.
“Okay, so what are the stakes if you make it…or don’t?”
“If you don’t raise the money by the day before it’s due, you sell to me.”
“But what the hell do you get out of that? You can wait and buy it if it goes to foreclosure, probably for less.”
“Oh, definitely for less,” I agree. “But part of the deal is that you can’t sell to anyone but me. And you sell it to me for market value.”
“Wait, what happened to twenty-five percent above market?” she asks, blonde brows drawing in over her blue eyes.
“Oh, that deal is still available—if you sell to me right now. But if I have to wait more than five weeks here in the Arctic Circle, then I get it at market value—which is still very fair to you, I might add. And I’m spared the expense of the fees and commissions that come out of my end if I have to get it in foreclosure, so it’s fair to me, too.”
She seems to consider this.
“Okay…so you’re getting the property at a lower price if you make it the entire time. What if you don’t? What if you pack it up and run home to the palm trees and sandy beaches after a few days? What do I get out of the wager in that case?”
I don’t know where the words come from. If I’d taken enough time to even breathe, I’m sure my filter would have caught them before they left my mouth. But I don’t pause. I just speak. And it’s a shock to both of us.
“Then I’ll pay off the loan and deed it back to you for nothing.”
It’s really something to behold. Hennessy O’Halloran’s jaw literally drops at the same moment her brows arch high in surprise. She blinks rapidly and tilts her head a little closer to me as if she thinks she’s misheard. She’s so close that I can smell her flowery shampoo, and that’s not helping me at this moment.
“Are you…are you saying you’ll pay off the hundred- thousand…and then turn around and deed the property back to me? For free?”
“You’ve got it.”
Funny, the more I say it, the easier it gets. Suddenly, the only thing I want to do is take away the worry lines that perpetually crease her beautiful face. At this moment, though, she’s not worried so much as incredulous.
“T–that’s absolutely insane! Who does that? What kind of a businessman are you?” she demands, her voice ratcheting up to a squeak of disbelief.
I shrug.
“It’s only insane if I doubted, for even a second, that I won’t make it to the bitter end,” I explain calmly. “You see, for me, it’s a done deal. I’ve already won this bet as far as I’m concerned, so it’s a good risk for me.”
She bristles at my confidence, and I see her start to warm up to the idea of kicking my ass.
“And what if I do raise the money and pay it off. What then?”
I hold up my palms, just as Walker drops the second shot in front of me.
“No harm, no foul,” I say when she’s left us alone again. “I get to go home, you get to live happily ever after. No one owes anyone anything.”
“I still don’t understand?—”
I cut her off before I have to go through the whole thing again…and before I have a chance to change my own mind. “Hennessy, I want this property. It’s that simple. That being said, I honestly liked your father—what little dealings we had. He was a good guy, an honest guy, and I’m not going to take anything away from his family if I don’t have to. I’d rather be a sport and pay you a fair price for it, the way I was going to do with him.”
