The elevator spit her out on the roof and she practically skipped to her favorite chaise on the pool side. With half a buzz relaxing her, she closed her eyes and basked in the sun’s fading rays.
The next time Amery opened her eyes, the sun had dropped in the horizon. She scrambled upright and looked over to see Ronin stretched out beside her. Watching her. “Crap. Did I fall asleep?”
“Only for an hour.”
She ran a hand through her hair. “Sorry.”
“Don’t be. You must’ve needed it.”
“So you’ve been up here listening to me snore the whole time?”
“Except for the call I had to take right after I got out of the shower.”
Was this his way of sharing? “What was the call about?”
“Boring business stuff.”
And . . . not so much with the sharing.
But he did reach for her hand. After a bit, Ronin said, “I’ve been thinking.”
“About?”
“Your financial situation.”
Hard not to get her back up. “And?”
“And I came up with a way to help you.”
“Ronin. I already designed a new logo for Black Arts. As a matter of fact, I saw the new patch on your gi top.”
“Looks great, doesn’t it? But you piddling around with graphic stuff for my dojo wasn’t what I had in mind.”
“Then what?”
He stood and moved to sit on the bottom of her chaise. “Please hear me out before you jump in and say no.”
That definitely got her back up. “I’m listening.”
“You’ve got a good thing going with your business. Unique, yet mainstream enough you haven’t locked yourself into a niche market. I suspect given the chance you could spin it into a bigger agency. Not now but a few years down the road. Which is why I want to invest in Hardwick Designs.”
“Invest in?”
“I’d give you a year’s worth of operating capital so you could keep Molly on.”
“Give?” she repeated.
He squeezed her knee. “Loan, if you prefer. You wouldn’t have to start repayments until your company was operating in the black again.”
“What’s the interest rate for this investment?”
“Standard business rate. The whole point of this is to keep your business afloat during these market fluctuations. It’ll level out sooner rather than later. The signs are already there with the unemployment rate dropping, new construction rates slowly climbing again, and the upswing in the stock market.”
Amery stared at him. Since when did Zen Master Black give a damn about the effects of the economy?
Just another sign that you don’t know him beyond sexually.
“I would be a silent investor, so you needn’t worry I’d take over your business. I’m already running the dojo and dealing with other family pressures. I wouldn’t require much for financial reporting besides a basic idea where you are bi-monthly on the profit and loss.”
As much as she wanted to snap, No way in hell am I ever taking a penny from you, and then list the reasons as dispassionately as he had done, she coolly asked, “Are you finished?”
His eyes narrowed. “Don’t you have questions?”
“Just one.” She cocked her head. “Will you take business advice from me?”
“Sure.”
Maybe the buzz of anger gave her the push to address the grumblings she’d heard in his dojo. “Pull out whatever stick you’ve got up your ass about Brazilian jujitsu and consider adding that martial arts discipline to the Black Arts class schedule. You’ve already got self-defense classes, kickboxing classes, you’re training mixed martial artists, and your staff offers personal protection training. I heard Ito talking to Knox about his judo background. He should also be teaching judo classes, which would be another addition to the lineup. Right now you have space to expand into on the third floor and a diversity of classes, including Muay Thai, would increase your income base.”
If she expected a stunned reaction from him that she’d poked her nose into his business, or that her attempt at redirection would actually work, well, she was sorely mistaken. Ronin’s expression didn’t change. He merely said, “So noted. Any questions about the business solution I proposed to address your issue?”
“No, because I already have an answer.”
“Which is?”
“Hell no.” She pushed off the chaise.
“Where are you going?”
“For a swim. Alone.” Amery dove into the deep end and popped up like a cork. The water temperature was perfectly refreshing and cooled off her hot head. She floated in the warm void, eyes closed. Filling her lungs with air to keep herself afloat forced her to focus on her breathing.
But eventually her ears picked up weird sounds underwater, distorting them to the point she couldn’t figure out what they were. She remained perfectly still.
One sound that she didn’t need to decipher: a body diving into the pool. She righted herself after being tossed around by the waves and then Ronin was right there.
Amery backed up.
He followed her.
“What part of ‘I want to swim alone’ is confusing to you?”
“What part of ‘this is my pool’ is confusing to you?” he countered.
“Fine. I’ll get out.”
He blocked her exit. “Can we finish our conversation?”