Free Falling for the Secret Millionaire by Kate Hardy Page B

She still couldn’t understand why her grandfather had wasted it by using the room as storage space.
    â€˜Look up,’ she said.
    Gabriel shone the torch upwards and she actually heard his intake of breath. ‘Is that plasterwork or is it pressed tin?’ he asked.
    â€˜I assume it’s plasterwork. I didn’t even know ceilings could be made of anything else. Well, except maybe wood?’
    â€˜Do you have a ladder?’ he asked.
    â€˜It doesn’t tend to be something that a banker would use in their everyday job, so no,’ she said dryly.
    â€˜I’ll bring one over from next door later this afternoon, so we can take a closer look,’ he said.
    We? she wondered. It was her cinema, not his. But at least he seemed to appreciate the ceiling.
    â€˜Do you still want to raze the place to the ground, then?’ she asked.
    â€˜No,’ he admitted. ‘If that ceiling’s tin, which I think it might be, that’s quite rare in England and it’ll probably get this building listed. Look at those Art Deco stars—they’re absolutely amazing.’
    He’d already told her that if a building was listed it meant extra work and delays. ‘You mean, that ceiling will get the building listed if someone drops the council an anonymous letter telling them about it?’ she asked sharply.
    â€˜If you mean me or anyone at Hunter’s, no. That’s not how I operate. But I’ve got experience in this sort of thing, Nicole. I can help you. We’re not on opposite sides.’
    â€˜It feels like it.’
    â€˜We’ve been friends for a while. We probably know more about each other than most of our non-online friends know about us.’
    â€˜But do we really?’ she asked. ‘How do we know it wasn’t all an act?’
    â€˜It wasn’t on my part,’ he said, ‘and I’m pretty sure it wasn’t on yours.’ He held her gaze. ‘Have dinner with me tonight.’
    No. Common sense meant that she should say no.
    But the expression in his eyes wasn’t one of triumph or guile. She couldn’t quite read it.
    â€˜Why do you want to have dinner with me?’ she asked.
    * * *
    Gabriel couldn’t blame her for being suspicious. He had been trying to buy her cinema, planning to turn it into a car park for his hotel. But now he’d seen the building and its potential he was looking at the whole thing in a different light. Maybe there was a way to compromise. OK, so he wouldn’t get the parking, but he might get something even better. Something that would benefit them both.
    â€˜Because then we can talk. Properly.’ He sighed. ‘Look, you know my background’s in the service and entertainment industry. I’ve worked with several renovations, bringing a building kicking and screaming back to life and then into the modern age. I’ve got a lot of knowledge that could help you, and a lot of contacts that would be useful for you.’
    â€˜And what’s in it for you?’
    She was so prickly with him now. And he wanted their old easy-going relationship back. ‘Does something have to be in it for me?’
    â€˜You have a reputation as a very hard-headed businessman. I can accept that you’d maybe do charity work, because that would double up as good PR for Hunter Hotels, but I’m not a charity.’ She looked at him again. ‘So why would you help me for nothing?’
    â€˜Because,’ he said softly, ‘I live in Surrey Quays and this building is part of my community. Plus Georgygirl’s my friend and I’d like to help her make her dreams come true.’
    â€˜And there’s really nothing in it for you? At all?’
    Maybe this was the time for honesty. And she was right in that there was some self-interest. ‘Do you remember suggesting to me that I ought to take the family business in a different direction—that I should do something that