Josh shook Connie’s hand, thankful this excursion was over and he could get out of this nowhere beach town and tiny cottage that smelled of paint and stale coffee. All he had to do now was give Ms. Holt the client’s list of revisions and wait for the end result. “Great. I’ll have my firm draw up the papers and have them sent to you.”

“Wait,” Connie said. “You traveled all the way here just to ask if you could use that old picture? Couldn’t you have sent an email or something?”

“My client was concerned about the image getting spread around if we sent a copy digitally. In advertising, you always have to be a step ahead of your competition.”

“You must really need this drawing, then.”

The twinkle in Connie’s eye gave Josh the feeling she was well-versed in negotiating. “Actually, I need a variation of this drawing. This one is faded and a little distorted, but we need something with the same passion, same emotion.”

“I can’t.” Ms. Holt stood, grabbed a mug from the table and disappeared outside, taking his hope of saving his company with her. Between the agent’s negotiating skills and the artist’s obvious reluctance, this wasn’t turning out to be the cakewalk he had hoped it would be. He needed to seal this deal. It had to be that image. He’d already shown it to the client who loved it and was ready to sign on the dotted line for a multimillion-dollar contract if he could get the artist to do the requested changes. This one contract would finally get him out from under his father’s thumb. His old man never let him forget that he’d loaned Josh the money to start his company. Not to mention his father had only agreed to the loan if Josh promised to return to the family business if he failed. Vacuum cleaners, he thought with disgust. There wasn’t anything wrong with making vacuum cleaners, something his family had been doing successfully for generations, but it just wasn’t for him. He’d only ever felt suffocated under the weight of monotony in that job. He needed something with more creativity.

“Hey.” Connie snapped her fingers in front of his face and he blinked. “Don’t go anywhere. I’ll talk to my sister.”

He saw his opportunity slipping away as she headed toward the back door. He couldn’t let that happen. Snagging Connie’s arm, he said, “Let me talk to her.”

Connie eyed him then the door. “You don’t know my sister. She can be…stubborn.” When he still didn’t release her arm, she sighed. “Fine. I think you’re digging your own grave, but at least she can’t bury you too deep in all that sand.”

Chalking the woman’s warning up to sarcasm, Josh made his way around the easel to the back door, spying a horrific painting of a grotesque house as he passed. It was lifeless and flat, nothing like the image in his hand. He couldn’t paint a stroke, yet he knew that wasn’t any good. Was this even the same artist? His enthusiasm at hiring the woman who had created such a magical image was fading quickly.

He yanked the back sliding door open and stepped out onto a rickety wooden porch. The sand-laced breeze lashed at his skin and the sun shone bright in a clear sky, blinding him for a moment. He snagged his sunglasses from his coat pocket and covered his eyes.

Lily stood at the railing, looking out over the ocean. Her long, wavy blonde hair tied with a hair band, hung halfway down her thin back. It was beautiful, natural. Nothing like the other artists he’d met in the city. They always seemed to dye their hair every color of the rainbow and cut in the newest style, whether it suited them or not.

“I don’t mean to pry, but is there a reason you don’t want to sell this piece of art? Is it the money?” Josh eyed the peeling paint and dented metal downspout. Certainly twenty-five thousand would be enough to fix up this place. He clenched his fist. He was sick of money-hungry women. “I can talk to my client about offering more…”

“No. That’s more Connie’s thing. I’m happy if I can just paint or sketch what I want. Living in a small cottage on the beach, it’s perfect for me.” Lily didn’t look at him, her words only carrying softly on the wind. Nothing about her seemed forced or fake, yet there had to be some reason she was so reluctant.

If there was anything he knew how to do, it was to win a woman’s affection with a little charm. He scooted closer and eyed her half-empty mug. “Perhaps I can buy you a cup of coffee and we can discuss the terms, maybe come to some arrangement that will suit both of us.”

For a moment, he thought he’d lost her as her gaze traveled over the vast ocean. Her expression looked as though she would rather be anywhere but standing on that porch talking to him.

Then she turned and smiled, mischievous and beautiful. “Okay.”

Before he ended up stammering and embarrassing himself, he cleared his throat then said, “I’ll drive.”

“We don’t drive around here.” She batted her long, dark lashes at him.

“We don’t?” he asked, not liking where this was leading.

She shook her head. “Nope. Follow me.” She sashayed through the back door with an inspired look and her head held high. “We’ll be back.”

Connie stood in the center of the room with her mouth hanging open. “Where are you going?”

Lily set her mug down on the counter. “For coffee.”

Connie narrowed her gaze on Lily. “You wouldn’t.”

Josh hesitated. “Should I be concerned?”

Connie smacked her forehead and sighed. “You have no idea. This girl will do anything for a good cup of coffee.” Dropping her hands to her sides, she said, “Listen, I’ll go get it. You two can stay here and talk.”

“No coffee, no conversation.” Lily winked at her sister, and he knew there must be some joke between them. Whatever Lily thought she could do to get rid of him, it wouldn’t work. If he could hold his own against his father, he could in any area of life.

“I’ll be fine. Let’s go,” he said, his chin high.

“Great!” Lily spun around and headed for the door. “Follow me.”

Connie groaned from behind them. “There goes the commission money.”

They exited into a carport lined with several shelves. Instead of a car, two bikes occupied the wall and a golf cart filled the center of the space, and he realized he was about to be taken on one heck of a ride if he was going to earn this image.

“What’s wrong? You can stay here if you want.” Lily climbed onto her bike. “Perhaps that’s for the best anyway. We wouldn’t want you to mess up that fancy suit of yours. You probably have big important things to be doing as well, so I’m sure you don’t have time for a bike ride to a coffee shop.”

Knowing a brush-off when he heard one, he said, “I’ll be fine.” If he didn’t do this, he had a feeling he’d never get another meeting with her. Besides, he’d already promised his client he’d get her to revise the image. She could play all the games she wanted, but he was here to save his company.

After tucking his right pant leg into his sock to keep it from getting torn on the bike chain, he climbed onto the other bike. They rode out of the garage and down the driveway, then turned and headed to the beach.

“I thought we were going for coffee?” Josh asked.

Lily glanced over her shoulder with the most innocent smile and brazen bad- girl eyes. “We are…if you’re up for it.”

It was then that he realized Lily Holt was going to make him jump over sand dunes on an old-fashioned bicycle just to get a signed contract. The question was, why? Something told him this wasn’t a power trip. She really didn’t want to recreate this artwork for some other reason and was likely hoping to give him the slip to avoid facing it. Well, neither sand, wind, nor rain would stop him, not when his company was on the line.