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“Babe, it’s okay. You’re not.” I lifted my phone from the nightstand and held it up. “See? It’s not like I can ever get away from it. I’m always working.”
She nodded. “Okay then. If you’re sure.”
“Why do you sound upset?” I felt my own crease forming between my eyes. Suddenly, I thought of Jenny’s note and how she’d convinced herself she wasn’t good for me. “Are you getting in your head again?”
Her frown deepened. “What do you mean?”
“Like when you left me that note.” I sighed. “You seemed like you had some big conversation going on in your head about what ‘should’ be happening.”
“Maybe I am a little bit.” She shrugged. “I just don’t want to be too much of a distraction.”
“You don’t need to worry about me, babe. I have a team. I have Shirley. I have my phone.” I waved it back and forth for emphasis.
“Okay, Coley.” But she was still frowning.
“I am not falling behind,” I assured her. “If it makes you feel better, I’ll work on a few things before I meet James to go fishing. Okay? You can go on your trail ride. I promise you, I won’t miss out on anything important. And I sure as hell won’t blame you if I do.”
She traced an invisible pattern with her finger onto the comforter and nodded. “Okay. I hope you get everything done with your deal. It’s better to wrap things up, doncha think?”
“Sure,” I mumbled. Was something up with Jenny, or did I just need a coffee? She seemed upset, worrying about things that were none of her concern, which concernedme. I didn’t want her getting freaked out again and then running away.
I reached for her hand. “Everything’s okay, I promise. You don’t have to worry about anything. All right?”
“All right.” She leaned over and gave me a sweet kiss, the scent of her coconut-y body spray wafting over me. “But you gotta tell me if you need space. Promise?”
“I promise.” I kissed her again, and we both moaned.
Jenny pulled away. “Don’t be starting with that Cole hotness again,” she teased. “I have to go meet Audrey. I’ll see you this afternoon, okay? I’m going to miss you.”
“I’ll miss you more.” With another kiss, followed by a smack on the ass, I sent Jenny on her way.
I picked up my phone again and was unsurprised and un-delighted to find several voicemails from my father. Each message escalated—he was furious that Ramos hadn’t delivered the approvals yet. Sighing, I called Ramos again.
He didn’t bother to say hello. “I know your old man’s pissed,” he said. “But the city inspector said the structural beams need more support. What do you want me to do? I can’t permit a building that might collapse—not unless you pay upfront. I already told you that. I’m not sure why this is stillmyproblem. I’m thinking the answer is a big, fat no.”
“Fine,” I said. “I’ll call him and let you know you’re leaning that way.” I was sure that wasn’t what Ramos wanted to hear. He was looking for a personal payday, but I wasn’t going to give it to him. That wasn’t how I did business.
Sighing, I called my father. “You better have some good news,” he barked.
“Ramos has conditions,” I said. “And I am not willing to meet them.”
“We don’t want conditions,” my father seethed.
“He wants to get paid. He wants us to buy the approvals,” I explained. “But he said there were existing structural integrity issues, so I said no way.”
“We can deal with the issues later,” my father spat. “Just do it.”
“No way,” I said. “If you want to get into a situation like that, you’ll have to do it yourself.”
“I can’t,” he seethed. “I’m directly involved in this thing, but you’re not. If something goes wrong, the project itself won’t be liable. You’re not connected to it, so we can’t get sued.”
“You’re putting this deal together, so if you want to take that risk, that’s on you. I’m out,” I said firmly.
“If we pay Ramos off and do this upfront, we can handle any structural issues later,” my father countered. “But we need this sorted out upfront so they’ll write the insurance policy, and my buyer can get his financing. Don’t you knowanythingabout how real estate works, you idiot?”
“Bye, Dad,” I said. “I’m not listening to your rant right now. I called you as a courtesy.”
“Don’t you dare hang up on me,” he spat. “Get Ramos in line for full approvals by the end of the day or you can kiss your inheritance goodbye. And then you can kiss your hooker all you want—because you’ll be dead to me.” He hung up.
