Page 111 of Brighter Together

Because this is mine.

Mine.

I designed every part of it.

Then I look at Tommy.

His entire face has changed.

He leans forward slightly.

Interested.

Engaged.

Excited.

And the pride curdles into guilt.

Of course he likes it.

I built it around him.

Around what I learned from working beside him.

Every offhand comment.

Every frustration.

Every time he described what Greenview Manor Hotel should feel like.

I used all of it.

Lee didn’t understand the hotel.

I did.

Tommy catches himself and leans back again, expression deliberately neutral.

I almost laugh because I recognise the effort.

But Lee is staring at me.

Not at Tommy.

Not at the screen.

Me.

There is satisfaction in his eyes.

A silent reminder that I did exactly what he wanted.

My stomach twists.

When the lights come back on, Tommy opens the proposal folder.

He takes his time.