“I’m sure.”
“You’re a billionaire. You can’t partner with someone on a small-town body shop.”
“I’m not a billionaire yet, but I can, and I am.”
“Wait.” She blinked up at me a few times. “Yet? That has to mean something. What does that mean?”
“It means that I talked to Alex and I’m going to be opening up a branch of W&S in Quartz Pass. Right there on the main strip.”
She blinked at me. “What?”
“I’m already in talks with a few other businesses about bringing your small town into the modern era too.” Her lipsparted, but not a sound came out, so I carried on. “Thayer is interested in opening a regional operation nearby and Alex and Trent have been looking for a southwest hub for their beef too.”
She stared for a long beat. I wasn’t even sure if she was staring at me or if she was just staring, but either way, it took a second before she spoke again “Your family agreed to this? To let you open a small W&S branch in Quartz Pass, Arizona? Does Alex even know where that is?”
“He does now,” I said. “To be honest, he surprised the shit out of me when I spoke to him.”
“What did he say?”
I groaned. “Well, there was a lot of yelling. He was waiting at the airport when I landed and he tore me a new one.”
She scrunched up her nose. “I’m sorry.”
“I’m not. Once the dust settled, he gave me the go-ahead for the plan I think I’ve been formulating in the back of my mind since I first got to Quartz Pass. It just didn’t properly form until I spoke to Colin about it.”
“The plan to open up a branch of W&S?” she said slowly. “In Quartz Pass.”
I laughed. “You seem pretty hung up on that.”
“I am because I can’t believe it.”
I finally pulled her backward toward the couch, sitting down and pulling her with me. “Well, you better find a way to believe it because it’s happening. Alex has been looking for more and more ways to expand the company’s footprint ever since he took over, and apparently, I impressed him for thinking outside of the box.”
“Apparently?”
I shrugged and took a sip of my wine. “His words, not mine. He said this would be a whole new market for us and that he’s excited to get started.”
“So he actually approves?”
I nodded. “Miraculously, yes, and it didn’t even sound like he was just indulging me because I’m the baby brother who always needs direction. He told me that this was a stroke of genius and that he was happy I brought it to him.”
“Why was he yelling at you, then?” she asked, her head cocking.
“Uh, to be fair, the yelling was before I told him the plan, but also, he was pretty upset that I hadn’t talked to him about it before and pissed as hell that I just took off without telling him about you at all. I think he was even kind of devastated that I felt like I had to go behind his back. He’s a complicated man.”
She tucked her leg underneath herself, hope sparking to life behind her eyes. “Does that mean you don’t have to turn your back on your family to be with me?”
“Yeah, I’m not turning my back on my family or W&S, so I don’t have to forfeit anything and I still get to move to Quartz Pass.”
“What about getting married?”
I shrugged. “Alex is a hardliner when it comes to the rules, but it turns out that means he knows them back to front and front to back. There’s no clause in any of our trust deeds or contracts that sets out who we have to marry, which makes sense, considering that Jesse got his inheritance and he married Jacque, who he chose.”
“Does that mean you’re free to marry anyoneyouchoose?”
“Yep, but it also means you’re stuck with me. Jesse’s jet is taking us back to Arizona as soon as we’re ready and I don’t know how long it’ll be before I leave again, but even then, I’ll always be going back. You’ll never get rid of me now.”
Her expression turned slowly from incredulity to playfulness. “Well, where will you live?”
