“Did you know this is private land?” he asked, willing to give her the benefit of the doubt this once.

“I know,” she admitted with an impish smile. “You won’t tell on me, will you?”

He looked up at the sky, jaw clenched. Did she have another awful article in the works? What had he done to deserve this? He tugged on a handful of hair and lowered his gaze back to her. “Tell who, Miss Simons?” he asked. “You’ve already told on yourself. I’m Elijah Lockwood. This is my property.”

“How do you know my name?” she demanded. Then she paled. “Lockwood?” She seemed to pull herself together and stuck out a hand. “Nice to meet you. I’m Aria Simons.”

“I know,” he said impatiently. “You’re the journalist who’s trying to ruin me.”

Her jaw dropped. “I’m not trying to ruin you. I don’t know why you’d think that.”

“Your bleeding-heart article in yesterday’s paper. It wasn’t exactly open-minded.”

“It wasn’t untrue, either,” she said, eyeing the exit as if she were considering making a run for it. “I presented one side of the argument. Not the only side.”

Eli wanted to rail at her. Could he not get a break? His day had been long enough without adding reporters to the mix.

“You’ll print a retraction in tomorrow’s paper,” he said firmly.

The reporter bristled. Her spine straightened, and her eyes gleamed. “I’m working on a series of articles, Mr. Lockwood, and there’s a lot riding on it.” He snorted derisively, and her eyes flashed before she continued, “I’ll write about every aspect of this development, but I’ll do it in my own time, and I’ll certainly not print a retraction. I’m not ashamed of my work.”

He scowled and crossed his arms. “Suit yourself. There are other ways to fix the problems you’ve made.”

“Look.” When she took hold of his arm, her nearness overwhelmed him. His palms started sweating, and he tucked them more firmly into the crooks of his elbows. Did she not understand personal boundaries? “I haven’t been trying to make problems for you,” she said. “I’m only doing my job. Your development is big news around here. We’re a small community, so you shouldn’t have expected anything else.”

Eli supposed she was right. She had a job to do, and so did he. Clearly, she wasn’t going to be as cooperative as he’d hoped. Not that he should have expected anything else. The media hadn’t treated him kindly in the past. Never mind. He’d find another way.