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“That’s not what I was thinking.” He took another long sip of the smoothie.
“What were you thinking?” I asked quietly, worried I wouldn’t like his answer.
He shook his head. “That’s just it. I had no idea. I’m curious about you.”
I wanted to ask why, but I bit my lip to stop the words from escaping.
“You intrigue me. I want to know more.”
My face heated. “I’m not that interesting. I like to feel good, and I like to share that feeling with others. End of story.”
“I think that’s just the tip of the iceberg with you, Remington Lennox.” His eyes were heated.
I sucked in a breath. “I didn’t know you knew my full name.”
When my parents adopted me, I’d begged them to change my first name from Remington to Remi. I was fairly certain my bio parents thought it would be cool to name me after a gun brand. My adoptive parents refused, saying I was too young to change my first name.
His gaze locked on mine, he said, “I think it’s beautiful. Like you.”
Who knew it would be Colton who’d bring a different tint to my name? He thought it was pretty, beautiful even. Like me.
I chose to ignore the last part of his sentence. I refused to acknowledge he might see me as something other than Delilah’s sister because that couldn’t happen. No matter how hard my heart was thumping in my chest.
Colton Castle wasn’t mine and never would be.
He drained his glass and stood. Rinsing out the glass, he set it next to the sink.
“I can get it.” Following him to the door, I felt off-center. He said he was here to check on my safety, to make sure I’d installed the security system. So, why had he stayed? Why had he tried out my smoothie?
“Did you want a juice to go?” I asked him, craving his opinion on more than just my name or my smoothies.
Colton’s gaze slid over the fridge of bottled juices. “If I bring one of those into the station, I’ll never hear the end of it.”
“Too girly?” I tipped my head, considering the labels.
“Something like that.”
Hmm. I didn’t like the idea of men not wanting to drink my juice. I wanted to appeal to everyone.
He pushed open the door. “Be safe. I’ll check in later.”
Then he was gone. I watched him go, flipping the sign from closed to open. I had a few seconds to clean up the store from our morning drinks and prepare for the steady influx of morning customers. The draw of being healthier and feeling better brought in and kept the steady stream of customers.
This time, I paid close attention to the percentage of female versus male customers. Maybe Colton was on to something. My juices were marketed more to women. I advertised about cleansing and feeling healthier. How could I dip into the male market?
Maybe the key was going to where men were…health clubs? I remembered working out at a gym that had a smoothie bar. They added whey protein to those.
Could I offer my juices to some of the local gyms? Open a juice bar inside or just sell my bottled juices behind the counter? Tingling erupted over my skin that had nothing to do with Colton. It had everything to do with this new idea sparking like a wood-burning fire.
Having Colton in my space got my creative juices going. I ignored the part of my body saying he’d gotten other areas of my body juicing, too.
Colton wasn’t a guy you got involved with for a one-night stand. He probably had all kinds of rules and regulations about who he dated and when and how they got into his bed.
I smiled, thinking of how I could entice him to break some of those rules. It would be fun, and I loved the idea of making ripples in his carefully controlled life.
But I needed to focus on the expansion of my business if I didn’t want to just be a short-lived fad. I didn’t want to only sell to people worried about dieting and losing weight. I wanted to cater to the health-conscious, who wanted to feel good and get stronger.
Appealing to local gyms would be perfect. I jotted down some ideas in the notebook I kept under the counter in between serving customers. One thing was certain—I needed to hire help if I was going to be focused on other business ventures.
I’d partnered with Ava at Sweet Treats bakery in the marketplace by the harbor to sell juices with her baked goods. She got a percentage of what I sold. I only needed to provide the product. It was a relatively easy income stream. Maybe I could do something similar at the gyms.
When it slowed down in the afternoon, I searched all the gyms, health clubs, and yoga centers in the area, jotting them down. I could call or email them, but I was more persuasive in person. When I was passionate about something, few could turn me down. That was my superpower. I tried not to think about what would happen if I turned that same passion on grumpy Colton.
Would he be able to resist me then?
