Love, Chocolate, and Beer (Cactus Creek #1)(41)

“Well, Mr. Jameson—”

“Call me Noah. Mr. Jameson is my father to everyone in Cactus Creek.”

“Oh, of course. Well, Noah. I talked to Dani and—”

“Wait a minute, you talked to Dani?”

Man, the guy sure did like to interrupt. “Yes, we’re…friends.” Every day, that measly description of his relationship with Dani was starting to rankle more and more. “She and I met over the holidays and hit it off, I guess you could say.”

“I see.”

“So as I was saying, I talked to Dani and she mentioned you’d helped one of her other friends who had a small start-up shop in town by giving her a small loan.”

At the silence from the other end, Luke found himself missing Noah’s interruptions.

“Because our chocolate shop has been doing so well,” he trudged forward with confidence. He wasn’t a Noah Jameson, but he knew how good his shop was doing as far as small businesses go. “We actually need to acquire new and larger equipment to keep up with our now booming sales. The cost for this equipment is quite substantial—”

“And no banks will give you a reasonable loan,” finished Noah matter-of-factly. “The kind of equipment I’m assuming you’re talking about, based on what I saw of your set-up, will cost you tens of thousands of dollars. I have to say I don’t blame them, mainly because of how young your first loan is and how much you’ve levied in your personal savings account the past few months to cover renovation and remodeling costs.”

“How did you know about my—”

“You’re a tenant leasing out one of my bigger real estate holdings in Cactus Creek. It would be irresponsible of me not to know your financial situation.”

Luke sighed. “So I take it your answer is no?”

The lack of an immediate response from Noah gave Luke a flicker of hope.

That was extinguished a second after that.

“Unfortunately, my answer is no, Mr. Bradford. That is, if you’re asking for a simple business loan similar to the one I gave Dani’s other friend Lia. I have the same reservations as the banks you’ve approached, I’m afraid.” He paused. “However, I can offer you a collateral loan.”

Luke frowned, confused. “But we’ve already established I have little to no assets.”

“You have your chocolates,” continued Noah as if Luke hadn’t even spoken. “They’re quite good. I’ve tasted a few myself.”

“You have?” Somehow he didn’t see a Phoenix big shot like Noah eating truffles.

“Yes. I’ve had my assistant order several boxes from your premiere line. I try to support Cactus Creek businesses where I can. And in your case, you sell something I can actually give to my colleagues and business contacts without them thinking I’m off my rocker.”

Luke chuckled at that. Cactus Creek wasn’t exactly teeming with corporate-friendly gifts.

“The loan I’m suggesting is similar to a patent collateral loan, but instead of a patent to an idea or product, you’d put up a few of your premiere recipes for the life of the loan.”

His recipes? Luke’s stomach plummeted so fast he felt nauseated. He couldn’t possibly do that. Not his recipes. No way would he ever—

The rising wave of objections in his head was squelched by a sudden chirp from his cell phone.

A text message from Dani.

>> GUESS WHAT? WE HAVE YOUR FAVORITE ON LUNCH SPECIAL TODAY! SAVING YOU A PLATE.

Instantly a grin split across his face. Soon, a second voice in his head, calmer than the one earlier, began reasoning with him. Was putting up his recipes for collateral really that great a risk? It was a necessary expense so he’d see the benefits from it not just in sales but in his taxes the following year. As long as sales kept up, everything would be fine. And it’s not like he was going anywhere. He already knew he wanted to stay in Cactus Creek for the long haul; this was just one more firmly planted root to keep him here.

All good reasons.

And the follow-up chirp from his cell phone reminded him of another big reason that was surely rooting him there as well. Seeing Dani’s avatar grinning at him on the screen alongside her second text, this one even more playful than the last, Luke felt his lips begin to move, seemingly independently from his brain. “Could you send me the collateral loan papers to look over?”

“By all means. I’ll have my secretary email you some information and we can have a sit down sometime over the next few days. If you agree to the terms, we can get the process started after I get back next week.”

While the extended timeline to think about this should have made him relieved, on the contrary, it left him unsettled. He didn’t want the added time to talk himself out of this. He believed in his chocolates, and he had faith that their marketing plan for the shop was going to succeed. He didn’t get this far in the business by not taking chances. This was a risky one, for sure, but no riskier than relocating to Cactus Creek in the first place. Shoving down the last of his doubts, he asked instead, “Actually, why don’t I just come in later today? Then we can get the loan paperwork started immediately before you leave for your trip.”




LUKE FINISHED the call just as Quinn returned to the office from her meeting with the printers. Perfect timing. He didn’t want Quinn knowing anything about the loan; there was no way she’d ever let him put up his recipes as collateral.