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Though the steak must have been resting for a while it still tasted delicious. “Did you cook this yourself?” she asked him as she swallowed a bite.
“Medium rare, the way you like it.”
She smiled to herself. “Thank you for the photographs,” she said, spearing another morsel. “They mean a lot. It’s nice to know the old beach café is never going to be forgotten.”
“I’m thinking we can do something similar with all the Coastal Cafés. Have old photographs of the local town, make people feel that the café is part of the history.”
“That’s a good idea.” All she heard was ‘we’. What did it mean? She took another sip of wine, trying to think things through. “I’ve signed the contract,” she told him, trying not to smile at his look of surprise.
“You have?”
She fished the envelope out of her purse and pushed it toward him. Once again he slid the
contract out, skimming the black type until he reached the part she’d written on.
“You crossed the zeros out.”
“I’ll take one dollar for the idea,” she told him. “Nothing more, nothing less.” She bit her bottom lip, waiting for his reaction. “I called a lawyer and he advised that would make this agreement binding. You just have to pay me something.”
“A dollar?”
She nodded.
“I’ll accept it on one condition.” He raised an eyebrow, that crazily attractive smile curling his lips.
“Oh yes?” She leaned forward. “What is it?”
“I want you to come and work for me.”
She put her silverware down on the plate and tried to work out what he was trying to do. “You want me back as manager?”
“No. Not as manager.”
“Then what?” She couldn’t help but ask. She was so curious to know where this was going. It didn’t help that the conversation between them was so easy, so light, it made her heart yearn for more.
“I want you to head up the Coastal Coffee brand. To oversee the redevelopment of the cafés and make sure they fit with your vision. You know the California beach trade so much better than I do. I know you have an eye for what works and what doesn’t.” His eyes twinkled. “I need you, Ally.”
The way he said it, all deep and graveled, shot straight through her. A delicious pulse that made her want to shiver. “And if I say no?”
“You can say no any time you want and I’ll respect it.”
She inhaled a mouthful of air, thinking through the offer. It was everything she’d dreamed of. Something different and yet still connected to this café she’d grown up in. It would be crazy to turn it down – jobs like this came along once in a lifetime. “If I say yes, will it be weird the two of us working together after everything that happened?”
“I promise not to make it weird.”
“Okay then. Yes.”
Nate grinned, his body visibly relaxing. “Thank God. I’ll put it in writing with all the details.”
“Is that it?” she asked, tipping her head to the side. “Is the business meeting over?”
“It is. But the date isn’t.”
Oh.
He reached for her hand, curling his fingers around her palm. “There’s something else I want to talk to you about.” He ran his thumb up and down her wrist, sending electric waves up her arm. “Or tell you, really.”
His eyes caught hers, and the way he was looking at her stole her breath away. As though every emotion she was feeling he was reflecting right back at her. “What is it?”
