The first thing Hank did was talk to Adam.

He knew he was going to have to confront Eric, and he’d prefer to do it sooner rather than later, but there was no need to go into this thing unprepared. He wanted to know as much as he could before talking to the guy. Hank wasn’t going to let anyone talk in circles around him and make him look like an idiot.

“You know this isn’t my kind of law,” Adam said when Hank mentioned it to him at the bar that night.

“I know,” Hank replied, “but who else am I gonna talk to about it? None of my family can afford the legal fees. They’re barely hanging on as it is.”

“You’d think that would make them more eager to sell.”

“It’s their stubbornness.” Hank sighed. “I mean, I get it in a way. Everyone grew up there, the whole family’s there, everyone is close to one another, and it’s outdoors, and it’s just … look, it would be a big hassle for them to move.

“They’re happy where they are. Don’t you think it’s unfair that they’re being forced to move, even if you and I see it as a potentially good thing? I look at that stupid park and see something that’s long past its glory days, but they don’t see it that way, and I need to respect their wishes. They’re finally including me and asking for my help.”

Adam looked doubtful. “I think it’s a little unfair of them that their way of including you is asking for you to stick your neck out for them.”

“Maybe, but it is what it is. I’m not giving up on this opportunity.”

Adam sighed. “All right. I can advise you as best I know, but you guys don’t really have much of a leg to stand on when it comes to telling them to back off.”

He filled Hank in, asking questions that Hank answered as best he could. The next day, when he stopped by Eric’s office, he felt almost — almost — prepared enough.

Not that he was going to let Eric know that.

He walked in right around the time that Adam said Eric took lunch. That way, Hank would know that Eric was free without having to call ahead or make an appointment.

Was it a little unfair of him to surprise Eric and not give him advance warning? Maybe. But Eric had stopped by the trailer park without advance warning, so it was only payback.

Eric’s office door was cracked open a bit, suggesting that he was free if you needed something, but busy enough that he couldn’t chat.

Hank knocked on the door, careful to keep himself away from the crack so that Eric couldn’t look up and see immediately who it was.

“Come in,” Eric called.

Hank stepped inside, closing the door behind him. “Swanky office you got here.”

Eric looked startled for a moment, his light eyes going wide before he stiffened and sat up straighter, his mouth thinning. “Nice of you to make an appointment.”

“Just thought I would stop by,” Hank replied.

Damn, Eric looked even better now that he’d actually gotten some sleep. Still more tired-looking than most people, but those bright eyes were alert, and his dark hair was styled so that it looked artfully tousled. It made Hank want to run his fingers through it and mess it up properly.

He was wearing a nice suit, too, in dark blue, with a slightly brighter blue for his tie. It complemented his eyes and showed off his lean figure, the tight muscles in his arms, and the stretch of his shoulders.

Hank felt a little underdressed. He’d worn his nice pair of jeans and a button-up shirt, one of the few he owned, in a dark green that he was told brought out the brown in his eyes. He wasn’t dressing up for Eric — this wasn’t a damn date — but he wanted to look professional.

His family, led by Grandpa and Aunt Laura, had been acting like proper hillbillies, pranking and causing problems and behaving like five-year-olds. Maybe that worked in Hollywood movies, but certainly not in the real world. Hank wanted to show that whatever sort of precedent his family had set, he was going to be professional and mature about this.

He was prepped with information from an honest-to-God lawyer, and he was going to discuss this properly in Eric’s office, and he wasn’t going to resort to misdirection or tricks in order to get what he wanted. Still, compared to Eric’s well-made, tailored suit, Hank felt kind of like the white trash that his family had been accused of being. Resisting the urge to shove his hands into his pockets, he stood firm.

“I’m here to represent the entire Caskill family, who own the majority stakes in the Sunny Acres Trailer Park.”

Eric arched an eyebrow at him. “Just pretending that we’ve never met before, then?” he asked.

“I’m behaving professionally,” Hank replied. “Let’s see if you can manage that as well.”

Eric rolled his eyes. “All right, fine, have a seat. But this has to be quick; I’ve got lunch coming up.”

“What, a big, important man like you can’t take lunch whenever he wants?” Hank retorted. It was a bit of a low blow, as well as an educated guess based on what Eric had said before about his bosses, but it was apparently a guess that landed, because Eric’s jaw visibly clenched.

“If you think taunting me is going to get me to back off, it’s really no use,” Eric said. “I’ve got just as much of a stake in this as you do.”

“Oh, you’re set to have your entire family lose their homes if you don’t secure this deal?” Hank asked. “Because that’s what’s at stake for me here.”

“Your family would be compensated generously, enough so that they could afford new places to live,” Eric pointed out. “It’s not like we’re leaving you destitute, or just taking it and not giving you anything.”

“You would if you could,” Hank retorted. “Don’t think that I don’t know how you guys lowball it. You’d take the land right out from under our noses if you could get away with it.

“And it’s not a matter of how much compensation someone’s going to get, it’s a matter of whether they want it or not, and saying yes or no. We said no. Or did they not cover the idea of consent in your Sex Ed class?”

“Associating my job with sexual coercion, that’s real classy,” Eric replied, deadpan. “That definitely makes me want to listen to you and back off.”

“Oh, c’mon, you can’t tell me that you actually enjoy this job.”

“I could say the same thing about your job. Is that really what your dream was as a kid, when you realized you wanted to be a chef? Working in the kitchen of a bar?”

“You sure weren’t complaining last night when you were hanging out there,” Hank pointed out, taking a step closer to the desk. He didn’t mean to be threatening or anything, but Eric needed to know that Hank meant business, and he wasn’t going to stand for being spoken to like that.

“And you do realize that you’re getting real close to harassment, with the way your company’s been treating my family? I spoke about it with someone versed in law, and they informed me that I could very well have grounds to bring about a harassment lawsuit, not just against you, but against every single person that your company sent out, as well as the company itself, for unethical business practices and strong-arming people into signing their land over.”

Eric stood up as well, eyes blazing. “I’m not going to listen to your sob story, or your threats, or whatever it is that you came here for. You couldn’t afford the cost of a lawsuit anyway, and we would win.”

“You sure about that?” Hank shot back.

Eric walked around the desk and strode to his door, peering out to check. Hank couldn’t see anyone else in the office — he assumed that everyone had left for lunch.

Eric closed the door and came back over so that he was face to face with Hank. Hank really wished Eric didn’t look annoyingly attractive when he was angry. It made Hank want to poke at Eric until Eric messed him up, or get his hands and mouth in there until he properly messed Eric up beyond the point of salvaging himself.

“If your family could afford a lawsuit, they would’ve done it a long time ago instead of resorting to childish pranks,” Eric said. “You’re just trying to blow hot air so that I’m intimidated enough to back down. And maybe one of my coworkers would’ve fallen for it, but I’m not. I need this job to succeed, and I’m not letting you or anyone else get in the way of that.”

“How do you know it’s just hot air?” Hank replied, stepping closer. They were the same height, but he was stockier, and he used that to his advantage, looming over Eric as best he could.

“I wasn’t involved in this until now. I’m not like my family; I have savings, and now that they’ve asked for my help, things are going to kick up a notch. I’m not going to let you take away what’s important to my family, or the place they call home.”

“You know that my company could get right back at you with the lawsuits for the damage you’ve done to our employees and their property?” Eric demanded. “Spray-painting a car, for instance?”

“I’m sure that an able lawyer would be able to point out that it was an act of self-defense, made under extreme emotional duress after being repeatedly harassed and verbally attacked by an all-powerful company,” Hank said, trying to remember everything that Adam had told him. “And my family isn’t the only one that’s been pressured or feels bullied by your company’s representatives. There are plenty of people who will testify as character witnesses on our behalf and against your company and its employees for the way they’ve been handling the situation, including people who were all but forced to sell to you.”

“You make it sound like we held a gun to their heads,” Eric said. “Everyone was generously compensated for their trouble.”

“As if money that was practically forced on them can make up for losing their homes or businesses that they’d been working on or living in for generations,” Hank snapped.

They were standing incredibly close now, so close that he could feel the angry heat of Eric’s body, see the way his pupils went large and dark, turning his irises into bright rings of almost-green, see how Eric’s chest heaved as he sucked in frustrated gulps of air.

Hank clenched his hands into fists, digging his fingernails into his palms. He really did not need to be attracted to Eric right now. He almost wanted to get angry at Eric for that, too, for daring to still get Hank hot and bothered while Hank was supposed to be having an argument with him.

“You talk as if we’re the enemy,” Eric said. “When most of those houses were old and falling apart, when most of those businesses were failing. We’re injecting actual life back into your town and we’re moving it forward into the 21^st century, and you’re pissed about that? You want to go back to being a one-horse stop in the middle of nowhere, the place folks only went through on their way to something better?

“We’re just a symptom of change that was already happening, and you can’t blame me for wanting to do my job well or properly. I was given this assignment, and I’m going to see it through the right way, and sorry if I don’t let a bunch of childish hicks stop me.”

“Well, those childish hicks are my goddamn family,” Hank replied. “And sorry if I don’t let your bloodthirsty corporate sharks get their hands on their home.”

“So you can be the white knight, striding in and leading them to victory?” Eric asked.

That admittedly stung, but only because it was so close to home. Yes, Hank wanted to prove himself to his family with this. He wanted to be applauded by them for once, instead of being made to feel like every life decision he made was the wrong one.

“How is that any better than what you’re doing? Trying to earn the praise of your bosses, who probably don’t care at all about you, and would kick you to the curb the moment you stopped being useful to them? They’re ruthless, and they’ve been acting like assholes to the people of my town; who’s to say that they won’t be assholes to you if given the chance?”

“This is how the world works,” Eric said. “This isn’t some feel-good family movie where someone’s the evil corporate bad guy. This is how it’s done the world over. We’re just doing our jobs, and we’re not evil, and you need to stop deluding yourself that you’re actually going to succeed in this before you drag your family into a painful court case that you’re not going to win.”

“And you need to get your head out of your ass and realize that what you guys are doing is not okay. My family said back off, so you guys need to back the fuck off—”

Something in Eric’s eyes snapped and he lunged forward, kissing Hank.