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“Reid, I don’t think you ever really relax when you become a homeowner.” Then it was his turn to pause. “However…” He stopped again and pulled his tablet out and immediately began tapping and scrolling. “Are you off this afternoon?”
He nodded again. “I am. How come?”
“Well…I have a few properties that Marissa and I have purchased already and they’re the ones we’re getting ready to do the demo on. What I’m thinking is…if any of them are of interest to you—and there’s no pressure here—then maybe we can work out a deal on them. You do the labor as a down payment.”
Reid knew his eyes had gone comically wide. “Are you serious?”
“Ask anyone who knows me, I’m always serious,” he deadpanned, but then smiled. “Again, none of these may be what you’re looking for, but if one of them is, we can sit down and work something out so neither of you are killing yourselves to buy it.”
“Holy crap! This is amazing! I…I don’t even know what to say!”
He nearly jumped out of his skin when someone came up behind him and kissed his neck.
“Now there’s a first,” Ashlynn teased. “Reid Baylor, speechless!”
With his hand over his racing heart, he shook his head. “You scared the crap out of me.”
She kissed him on the lips this time. “Poor baby.” Then she smiled at her cousin. “Hey, Patrick! What are you two talking about?”
Patrick looked at him before saying anything and Reid figured he should probably be the one to answer.
“I’m looking for some side work.”
Sitting beside him, she frowned. “Really? Why?”
“I don’t want to live in that apartment forever.” Then he took her hand in his. “Actually, I was hoping that maybe you wouldn’t want to live in your apartment forever either. And maybe we could, at some point down the road, look at someplace we can live together.”
Then he held his breath and waited for her response.
Instead of answering him, she looked at Patrick. “Can you show us that house over on Maple? The craftsman? Marissa mentioned that you guys bought it and I’ve always loved that house!”
Reid nearly sagged to the floor with relief. “You already have a house picked out?”
“Well, I might not like it once I see the inside, but I think it’s super cute from the outside. Although…”
“Although, what?”
“I’m not sure I’d get approved for a mortgage since I just got the loan for the business.” She bit her lip and looked at Patrick again. “But you’d be able to help us figure all that out, right?”
“Absolutely!” he said as he got to his feet. “Do you have time now, Ash, or do you need to get back to the salon?”
“I totally have time right now!” She looked excitedly over at Reid. “Are you free to go now too?”
“Um…yeah! Are you really serious about this? Because I didn’t want to put any pressure on you and wasn’t going to even bring this up until after the salon opened and…”
She silenced him with a kiss. “You don’t always have to be so cautious,” she told him. “Remember what we said about talking to each other? Well this is one of those situations.” When she got to her feet, she held out her hand to him. “I’m just going to grab some coffee to go and then I’ll be ready!”
As soon as she walked away, Patrick laughed softly again.
“What? What’s so funny?”
“You’re going to have your hands full with Ashlynn, but in the best possible way,” he clarified. “She’s an amazing person and I just hope you realize how lucky you are.”
“I do. Believe me.”
“Good. Now let’s go and see if we have a winner even before we officially get started.” Patrick grabbed his things and walked over to the counter and said something to Ashlynn that made her laugh. She looked so happy and beautiful and he knew she was his forever.
Epilogue
