Falling for the Secret Millionaire (4 page)

Then the man in the corner lifted his hand and gave the tiniest wave.

He looked young—probably around her own age. There wasn't a hint of grey in his short dark hair, and his blue eyes were piercing.

If he was the head of Hunter Hotels when he was that young, then he was definitely the ruthless kind. She made a mental note to be polite but to stay on her guard.

His suit was expensively cut—the sort that had been hand-made by a good tailor, rather than bought off the peg—and she'd just bet if she looked under the table his shoes would be the same kind of quality. His shirt was well cut, too, and that understated tie was top of the range. He radiated money and style, looking more like a model advertising a super-expensive watch than a hotel magnate, and she felt totally scruffy and underdressed in her jeans and T-shirt. Right then she really missed the armour of her business suit.

He stood up as she reached his table and held out his hand. ‘Thank you for coming, Ms Thomas.'

His handshake was firm and a little tingle ran down Nicole's spine at the touch of his skin against hers. How inappropriate was that? They were on opposite sides and she'd better remember that. Apart from the fact that she never wanted to get involved with anyone again, the fact Gabriel Hunter was her business rival meant he was totally out of the running as a potential date. Even if he was one of the nicest-looking men she'd ever met. Didn't they say that handsome is as handsome does?

‘Mr Hunter,' she said coolly.

‘Call me Gabriel.'

She had no intention of doing that—or of inviting him to call her by her own first name. They weren't friends; they were business rivals.

‘How do you like your coffee?' he asked.

‘Espresso, please.'

‘Me, too.' He smiled at her, and her heart felt as if it had done a backflip.

‘If you haven't been here before, I'd recommend the Guatemala blend.'

‘Thank you. That would be lovely,' she said politely.

This was the kind of café that sold a dozen different types of coffee, from simple Americanos and cappuccinos through to pour-over-and-siphon coffee; and she noted from the chalk board above the counter that there were a dozen different blends to choose from, all with tasting notes, so this was the kind of place that was frequented by serious coffee drinkers. The kind of coffee bar she half had in mind for the Electric Palace, depending on whether she kept it as a cinema or turned it into a craft café.

But Gabriel Hunter unsettled her.

She wasn't used to reacting like that towards someone. She hadn't reacted to anyone like that since Jeff. Given her poor judgement when it came to relationships, she really didn't want to be attracted to Gabriel Hunter.

Focus, Nicole, she told herself sharply. Business. Work. Nothing else.

Gabriel came back to the table carrying two espressos, and set one cup and saucer in front of her before sitting down opposite her again.

She took a sip. ‘You're right; this is excellent. Thank you.'

‘Pleasure.' He inclined his head.

Enough pleasantries, she decided. This was business, so they might as well save some time and cut to the chase. ‘So, what are these mutual interests you wanted to discuss?' she asked.

‘Our businesses are next door to each other. And they're both works in progress,' he said, ‘though obviously the hotel renovation is quite a bit further on than the cinema.'

‘Are you thinking mutual customers?'

‘And mutual parking.'

His eyes really were sharp, she thought. As if they saw everything.

‘Are you really going to run the place as a cinema?' he asked.

She frowned. ‘Why would I discuss my business strategy with a competitor?'

‘True. But, if you are going to run it as a cinema, I'm not sure you'll manage to make it pay, and it's not going to be good for my business if the place next door to me is boarded up and looks derelict,' he said bluntly. ‘Most people would choose to take the Tube into the West End and go to a multiplex to see the latest blockbuster. One screen doesn't give your customers a lot of choice, and you'll be competing directly with established businesses that can offer those customers an awful lot more.'

‘That all depends on the programming.' She'd been researching that; and she needed to think about whether to show the blockbusters as they came out, or to develop the Electric Palace as an art-house cinema, or to have a diverse programme with certain kinds of movies showing on certain nights.

‘With your background in banking—' well, of course he'd checked her out and would know that ‘—obviously you're more than capable of handling the figures and the finance,' he said. ‘But the building needs a lot of work, and restoring something properly takes a lot of experience or at least knowing who to ask.'

‘It's been boarded up for the last five years. How would you know the place needs a lot of work?' she asked.

‘Because if you leave any building without any kind of maintenance for five years, there's going to be a problem,' he said matter-of-factly. ‘Anything from damp caused by the tiniest leak in the roof that's built up unnoticed over the years, through to damage from mice or rats. None of it will be covered by insurance—assuming that there was any premises insurance in place at all while it was closed—because that kind of damage counts as a gradually operating cause.'

There was definitely insurance in place. That was the first thing she'd checked. But she also knew he had a point about uninsured damage. And she'd noticed that he was using legal terms as if he was very, very familiar with even the tiniest of small print. She'd need to be very careful how she dealt with him.

‘And then there's the state of the wiring and the plumbing,' he continued. ‘Even if the rats and mice have left it alone, the cabling's probably deteriorated with age, and do you even know when it was last rewired? For all you know, it could still be nineteen-fifties wiring and it'd need replacing completely to make it safe. Without safe wiring, you won't get public liability insurance or any of the business licences you need.'

Just when she thought he'd finished, he continued, ‘And then there's lead piping. Unless your water pipes have been completely replaced since the nineteen-sixties, there's a good chance you'll have lead piping. You'll need to get that replaced—just as we're having to do, next door.'

She didn't have a clue when the wiring had last been done, or even how to check what its current state was like, or how to check the water pipes. ‘That's precisely why I'm having a survey done,' she said, grateful that Clarence had suggested that to her. ‘So then I'll know exactly what needs to be done and what to ask builders to quote for.'

‘So where are your customers going to park?' he asked.

‘The same place as they would at the multiplexes in town—there's no need to park, because they'll either walk here or take the Tube,' she countered. ‘Where are yours going to park?'

Even though he was pretty impassive, there was the tiniest flicker in his eyes that gave him away. And then she realised. ‘That's why you want to buy the Electric Palace,' she said. ‘So you can raze it to the ground and turn the space into a car park.'

‘It's one option.' He shrugged. ‘But if the building is in better condition than I think it is, it could also work as the hotel's restaurant or conference suite.'

She shook her head. ‘It's not a restaurant. It's a purpose-built cinema.'

‘But it's not a listed building. The use could be changed very easily.'

She stared at him. ‘You've already checked that out?'

‘As we do with any building we consider developing,' he said, not looking in the slightest bit abashed. ‘If a building's listed, it means we'll have to meet strict criteria before we can make any alterations, and it also means extra site visits and inspections—all of which adds time to a project. And time is money.'

She blinked. ‘Are you saying you rush things through?'

‘No. Cutting corners means offering our clients a substandard experience, and we don't do that. Hunter Hotels is about high quality,' he said. ‘What I mean is that if a building isn't listed, then we don't get the extra admin hassle when we renovate it and we don't have any enforced down-time while we wait for inspections.' He looked her straight in the eye. ‘Then again, if the council were to decide your cinema ought to be listed...'

‘Are you threatening me?'

‘No, I'm pointing out that you need to get various licences. The council might look at your application and decide that a purpose-built Edwardian
kursaal
really ought to be on the Statutory List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historical Interest. Especially as there aren't many of them left.'

His voice was bland, but she was pretty sure he was enjoying this. Gabriel Hunter was a corporate shark—and he'd just spotted a weakness and was playing on it. She narrowed her eyes at him. ‘It feels as if you're threatening me.'

‘Not at all. I'm just warning you to be prepared, because you clearly don't have any experience of dealing with premises—and, as your building's been boarded up for the last five years, there's a pretty good chance you have hidden damage that's going to take a lot of time and money to sort out. The longer it takes to get the building up and running, the longer it'll be before it starts to pay for itself, and the more likely it is that you'll run into other roadblocks.'

Gabriel Hunter was being perfectly polite and charming, but Nicole thought that he was definitely trying to worry her to the point where she'd think that the burden of restoring the cinema would be too heavy and it would be easier to sell the place. To him. ‘The Electric Palace isn't for sale,' she repeated. ‘So, unless you have some constructive suggestions—like offering my clients a special pre-movie dinner menu—then I really don't think we have anything more to talk about, Mr Hunter.'

‘A special dinner menu is a possibility. And in return you could offer my clients a special deal on ticket prices.'

‘You seriously think we could work together?' And yet she couldn't shake the suspicion that this was all a smokescreen. She knew that Hunter Hotels wanted her to sell. ‘I've just refused to sell my cinema to you. Why would you want to work with me?'

‘It is what it is,' he said.

She looked at him in surprise. ‘Clarence says that all the time.' The words were out before she could stop them.

‘Who's Clarence?' he asked.

She shook her head. ‘Nobody you know.' Clarence had nothing in common with Gabriel Hunter, and it was extremely unlikely that they knew each other. Even if they did know each other, in real life, they were so different that they probably loathed each other.

* * *

Clarence.

It wasn't exactly a common name. Gabriel didn't know anyone else called Clarence, whether in real life or online.

Surely Nicole couldn't be...?

But, as he thought about it, the pieces fell rapidly into place. Georgygirl had just inherited a commercial building—a business she'd been mysterious about. He knew she hated her job, and was planning to take a sabbatical to see if she could turn the business around and make it work.

Nicole Thomas had just inherited the Electric Palace and, according to his sources, she was taking a sabbatical from the bank.

So was Nicole Thomas
Georgygirl
?

This was the first time he'd actually connected his online and real life, and as the penny dropped it left him reeling.

The girl he'd met online was warm and sweet and funny, whereas Nicole Thomas was cool and hard-headed. Georgygirl was his friend, whereas Nicole Thomas had made it very clear that not only were they not friends, they were on opposite sides.

The whole reason he'd resisted meeting Georgygirl was because he'd been afraid that they'd be different in real life, not meeting each other's expectations. And then he'd lose her friendship, a relationship he'd really come to value over the months.

It looked as if his fears had been right on the nail. Georgygirl was completely different in real life. They weren't compatible at all.

Nicole clearly hadn't worked out yet that he was Clarence. Even if she'd researched Hunter Hotels, she wouldn't have connected Clarence with Gabriel. He'd let it slip that he worked in the leisure industry, but that was such a broad category that it was unlikely she'd connect it with hotel development.

Given that they didn't like each other—he ignored that spark of attraction he'd felt, and that surge of protectiveness he'd felt towards her—maybe he could leverage the ruins of their friendship. He could keep pointing out the downsides of the building and the difficulties she was going to face; then he could offer her an easy option. One he hoped she'd take, and she'd sell the Electric Palace to him.

OK, so he'd lose Georgygirl's friendship completely. But he'd pretty much lost that anyway, hadn't he? Once she knew who he was, she'd turn away from him. He'd be naive to think it could be different and could ever lead to anything else.

‘I guess you're right,' he said. ‘We probably don't have mutual interests. I'll let you get on. Thank you for your time.'

‘Thank you for the coffee,' she said.

He gave her the briefest of nods and walked out before his disappointment could betray him.

* * *

Later that evening, a message came in on Gabriel's screen.

Hey, Clarence. How was your day?

OK, I guess
,
he typed back, feeling slightly uneasy because he knew exactly who she was, while he was pretty sure she still didn't know the truth about him.
How was yours?

Pretty grim. I met the guy who wants to buy my business.