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Martin gave me a pleading look and spread out his hands. “Just tell me what you think. Will the place do or not?”
I walked deeper into the space, which was just a blank canvas, four walls, a concrete floor, and a low ceiling. It had been thoroughly gutted after the last tenant moved out.
To help me focus, I started planning out in my mind where everything would go. In one corner, I could see a glass partition going up, the walls lined with mirrors for the Zumba and CrossFit classes that was the fucking craze these days.
I imagined the smoking hot trainer I’d bring in to teach Zumba standing on a stage, of the throng of women in front of her, trying to follow along, most failing miserably, but all shaking their asses and sweating through their spandex.
In my mind, the trainer looked my way and took on Zoe’s, then her clothes disappeared… big boobs bouncing on her chest… little vee of curls between her legs… fuck… I was getting a boner just thinking about…
I closed my eyes and shook my head. I glanced down to make sure the hard-on was all in my mind.
“I thought this would be a good place for the juice bar, and next to it the merchandise section,” Martin was saying, his hands painting the scene in the air. “I’m telling you, the women here are even more crazy about their looks than they are in California, man. We will probably make more in this one location than we do three in Cali.”
“You think?”
“Hell yeah,” Martin said, hands still cutting the air. “And over there, we can close that off for the sauna and Jacuzzi.”
I gave him a thoughtful frown and nodded along. “Right.”
“The stairs lead to a small space about the half the size of this one,” Martin continued. “You can close it off for the offices and a private sector for the really high rollers, you know what I mean?”
“Uh-huh.”
“And there’s a basement where we could set up a meth lab and make some real cash. Maybe work with the Russian mob, do a little sex trafficking on the side.”
“Sounds good.”
Martin pushed me from behind, hard, and I staggered before whirling on him. “What the fuck?”
“What the fuck?” Martin yelled back, hands in the air now like an angry ape. “Are you fucking kidding me? What’s wrong with you, man? It’s like I’m talking to myself here.”
“I’m listening,” I said defensively.
“Since when do you fucking listen?” Martin asked. “You’re the one who usually does the talking. Why aren’t you talking? Sounds good? A meth lab sounds good?”
“What meth lab?”
“Exactly,” Martin threw up his hands in exasperation. “What’s going on, Chad? I thought you’d be excited about this? It’s why we’re here.”
I blew out a long breath and shoved my hands into my pocket. “Nothing’s going on, okay. I’m just tired.”
“Chad Walters does not get tired,” Martin shot back. He eased his tone and put a hand on my shoulder. “Listen, if you’re getting cold feet, we could just drop this whole thing. Head back to California and forget about New York. But just so you know, you’re not going to build an empire unless we do this. New York is the first step to the world.”
“I know.” I sighed and shook my head. “It’s fine, really. I think it’s the jet lag. My brain’s just not firing on all cylinders today. Having a hard time focusing on anything.”
Anything other than Zoe Maxwell. Everywhere I looked, I saw her face and gorgeous body. On the treadmill, in the sauna, lying on the weight bench, arching her back, tightening her legs, grunting as she pushed me up and down, up and down...
All the time smiling at me like there was no one else in the place besides me and her. A part of me wanted to ring her up and have her come see the new space, but I knew that was a stupid idea. I had to deal with Martin first. I had to fucking focus.
I looked at my watch, then buried my hands back into my pockets. I was acting like a high school jock waiting for the time to pick up his girl for the prom. I clenched my teeth, hating the way I was feeling about all this. That’s what Zoe did to me, dammit. She made me lose control.
I hadn’t seen her for years, too long to even remember, and the minute she stepped back into my life, I was thrown off my game.
Sure, I’ve thought about her.
A lot.
But it was always just a memory of something that could have been great, but had ended. I didn’t expect to s
