“He went to school with Jason’s father, my brother. Same fraternity. He’s Jason’s godfather. Good to have contacts in the city government when you’re trying to get things approved, am I right?”

“Sure. Though, there shouldn’t be a problem with any approval since we all stick to the historic and preservation guidelines, right?”

“Of course, of course. But you never know.”

My eyebrows had pinched together, and I made the effort to relax them. Mr. Tate had fingers in a lot of pies, and I had an inkling he was one to err on the cheaper and uglier side of design if it meant a small kick back for him from a supplier. I had no proof of that obviously. But call it a gut feeling. I had a lot of gut feelings about Mr. Tate. And the way he came to sit next to me on the couch rather than take one of the chairs didn’t help.

“Well.” I forced a bright smile and brought out my plans. “Here are my designs for the exterior of the proposed East Bay Street Hotel. I think you’ll see that even though it might be slightly more costly, we’ll make up for it in other ways, and it will have no trouble being approved by—”

“The hotel has already been approved.” He waved his hand dismissively at my rolls, and surprise and dread hit me square in the belly. “The commissioner already saw Jason’s plans at dinner last night,” he went on.

“Jason’s plans?”

“This hotel will be a huge coup for the commissioner in his new role. It will bring in lots of construction jobs for the city. They’re salivating.”

“But—”

“Look, honey.” He leaned forward and almost put a hand on my knee, stopping himself just in time.

I stiffened at both the aborted action and his condescending address. His words played over in my head. If they’d already approved Jason’s designs, did that mean I was off the project?

“I know you get your panties in a wad over the historical fancy-schmancy stuff.”

My mouth dropped open, but he continued. “And I get it, I really do. This is Charleston. But we also need to show the world we’re a modern city. We can accomplish that with a few flourishes and detailing to keep the history buffs happy, but at the end of the day we’re a business. The developers are a business. And the builders are a business. The cheaper and quicker we can get things built the better off we’ll all be.”