The Bachelor Pact by Rita Herron Read Free Book Online

for money now, not after the way they'd parted, but she had no other choice. She checked her appearance in the mirror, painted her lips a soft plum color to contrast with the dark green suit she'd chosen, climbed from her car, and walked inside the double glass doors.
    On the other side of the room, she spotted Jeff leaning against a chrome counter decked with coffee and other condiments. A tall blonde rested her hand on his arm, chatting flirtatiously. Obviously, Jeff had weathered the break-up pretty well.
    His gaze lifted, and he looked straight at her, his blue eyes piercing. Frissons of heat danced along her nerve endings at the anger she saw radiating from his expression. She should have worn knee pads for protection when she dropped to the floor to beg for money, she decided. Jeff Oglethorpe didn't intend to make this encounter easy.
    In fact, he spent ten minutes talking to the blonde, ten more to his secretary detailing his schedule, then made Maddie wait in his outer office a good twenty minutes after his secretary had disappeared for lunch before he finally allowed her to enter.
    She approached his office cautiously. "Um, hi, Jeff."
    The mole at the corner of his mouth jumped as his jaw tightened. "If this is about the other day, I don't want to discuss it, Madison."
    Maddie bit down on her lip. "Actually, it's not about the other day. Not exactly."
    His brown eyebrow raised.
    "I would like to apologize for embarrassing you though, Jeff, I never meant to—"
    "If you came hoping for a reconciliation, I don't think that's possible now. My mother has barely recovered from that debacle on TV."
    His mother. What about him?
    "I didn't come here to beg for a reconciliation."
    He clutched the lapels of his suit jacket stiffly. "Well then, why are you here?"
    Maddie momentarily lost her nerve. The strained hum of silence that lingered between them only elevated the tension in the room. Finally, unable to bear the awkwardness any longer, she cleared her throat. "I came here about a loan."
    "You want to borrow money from me?" He pulled out a couple of hundred-dollar bills and tossed them toward her. "I'm a little surprised but here, I'm a generous guy, and I don't want any hard feelings. Will two, three hundred be enough to tide you over?"
    "I didn't mean I wanted money from you personally. I need a business loan, Jeff. From the bank." Heat climbed her neck. "Remember we discussed it before."
    "Before you ditched me on TV." He settled into his brown leather desk chair, then leaned back and studied her, a faint look of hurt in his eyes. "You seriously want me to back your business now?"
    "Yes. I hate to come to you, Jeff, but I've been everywhere else in town, and no one will help me." She indicated the folder in her perspiring hands. Darnit, she was sweating like a pig in heat, and her panty hose were climbing up her behind, sticking in every nook and cranny. "I've itemized the costs for start-up and included a business plan and a report on the parent company and the franchise I want to buy."
    When he simply stared at her, she rushed on, "You know I've wanted to be an interior designer for a long time."
    His thin lips quirked sideways. "This venture is risky, Maddie. I think the two elite design firms already established in Savannah would have the market cornered."
    "You didn't seem skeptical before."
    "Well, as you pointed out, that was before. Now that I've seen how impulsive you can be, I have a few reservations."
    She pressed her lips into a fine line at his insinuation, remembering her brothers' comments. At least her previous meetings had prepared her to argue her case. "There are a lot of new developments popping up, and let's face it, Jeff, not everyone can afford Franchesca's or Dante's. They're pretty upscale and don't cater to middle-income families. I want to cater to them. Plus, I have the advantage of low overhead on my side, and I'll travel to people's homes with samples."
    "Franchesca's and Dante's both offer