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“An opportunity.”
“Exactly.”
“What about the other resorts?”I’d seen a few of the other hotels as we drove in, and although they didn’t seem to be the posh and elegant properties Keith was describing, they did have cars in the parking lots and seemed to have some action going on.“They didn’t go under?”
He shook his head.“They were further along in development at the time and the property planners were smart.They scaled back a bit and adjusted their target market.The original investors of the Oasis didn’t react quickly enough and finally it was easier just to walk away than to adapt.”
“And you come in, how?”He still hadn’t told me why we were there, but it was becoming clearer.
He ran his hand through his thick blond hair.He was a good-looking man; he oozed charisma, in a completely different way than Leo did.But still, it was easy to see why he was in the industry he was.“Obviously, there are new investors,” he started.“But they wanted to do things with a different model.”I raised an eyebrow.“They thought it would be best if they had managers who were invested.”
“Invested?”There it was.In that one word.
“Obviously, it’s a much smaller financial investment on the part of the managers.”
“Obviously.”I spoke as if I knew what I was talking about, but I had no idea what type of investment it would take to be part of such a grand operation.And more to the point, what it meant for Leo and me.
“We’re really moving along.”Keith kept talking.“You can see that we went after the exterior finishing first.At least in the back; the front is next on the list.It’s important to establish the landscaping early because it gives everything a chance to take root and by the time the busier summer season hits, there will be lush lawns and—”
“Get to the point, Keith.”
“It’s a good opportunity, Lexi.”Keith didn’t miss a beat.“To get in on the ground level of something like this.Opportunities like this don’t come along every day.I knew Leo would want to consider it.”
And that was it.I’d known it from the moment the limo had pulled up in front of Oasis and I’d looked into Leo’s eyes.This was just the type of challenge that got him excited.But...there were so many buts.
“How much?”
Keith shook his head and looked at me in question.“What do you mean?”
“You said there was a buy-in.”I wrapped my arms around my abdomen.There was no way this could be something Leo would actually consider.Not without talking to me.Particularly if there were a financial investment involved.Because that was simply laughable.We didn’t have any finances to invest.Except, maybe we did...I shook the thought clear from my head and focused on Keith’s answer, almost wishing I hadn’t.
“Two hundred and fifty.”
“Two hundred and fifty?”
“Thousand,” he clarified, as if I hadn’t already figured that part out.
I swallowed against the lump in my throat and nodded carefully, as if I was considering what he’d just told me.But on the inside, I screamed, because despite the fact that in the grand scheme of things, it was an incredibly small amount, it was also a ridiculously huge amount and there was no way we could buy in to such an investment.Even if I was willing to consider uprooting my entire family to move back to the city that had always been my nemesis—which I wasn’t—such a thing couldn’t happen.Ever.Leo knew that.
Except...
I turned around to where Leo still stood by the pool, his hands on his hips, taking in the grounds.Even from the distance I was at, I could see the way he held his head up, surveying everything.The grounds that could be his kingdom.I knew even without seeing the look in his eyes exactly what I would see there if I was close enough to see.
Excitement.
Passion.
Two of the things I hadn’t seen in my love’s eyes for a very long time.
But we didn’t have that type of money.
Except we did.
I looked back at Keith, who watched me closely.I forced a smile and tried to appear as casual as I could.
I needed to talk to Leo.
~Leo~
