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“Yes. Word is that Ronald Spellman, the big-time movie director, is buying a few buildings here so he can make his next movie in Marietta. Can you believe that? I’m so excited!” Franchesca’s eyes twinkled and she gave a huge grin before taking a sip of tea.

“You’re excited?”

“Sure! Why not? I’m in theater, remember?”

“Yes, I remember. But aren’t you worried about him shoving us out? We could lose our studios.”

“I don’t think so. He wants to keep them as an investment once the movie makes Marietta a known place and the town grows. He’s seeing it as a profitable business move.”

Noelle sat back in her chair and absorbed what Franchesca had told her. She’d left everything in San Francisco to start again in Marietta. It made her uneasy to think any kind of change would cause her to lose the new life she was building. She wasn’t sure she had it in her to start over once more. If she lost her studio, what then?

“Hey. Don’t worry about it. I think it will all be fine.” Franchesca patted Noelle’s leg. “Besides, we have a performance to put on in a mere few days. There is much to be done.”

Noelle shook her head to free her thoughts of future problems. Franchesca was right. Things would be fine. “Yes! Please catch me up on things. What did I miss while I was gone?”

As the two women pored over the details, Noelle’s mind eased. Her studio would be fine. Things with Wes were heating up. Life was good. With two more Bake-Offs to help him with, she’d get to see him for sure and her studio was thriving. Her future in Marietta was even brighter than she’d dreamed.

Chapter Fourteen

Noelle moved aroundthe apartment as nervous as if this were her first date with Wes. And the evening wasn’t even a date. She’d thought it a good idea for him to practice for the second Bake-Off at her apartment, the kitchen being smaller—much smaller—than the one at his family’s house. Although Wes had done well in the first Bake-Off, Noelle could tell that the size of the kitchen being so different threw Wes off his game a bit. He’d agreed that a change of scenery was a good idea.

Now Noelle wasn’t so sure. What seemed a good idea at the time she mentioned it now gave her pause as she triple checked things once more. She and Holly had scoured the apartment until every nook and cranny was spotless. The floors gleamed.

“Those are clean enough to eat off of,” Holly said as she breezed by Noelle who stood in the doorway of the kitchen staring at the floor, hands on her hips.

“I don’t know about that.”

Holly poured herself a cup of coffee from the carafe on the counter. “Why are you so nervous? It’s not like you haven’t spent time with Wes before. For heaven’s sake, we just did a trip to New York with him. One where you still haven’t given me details about what happened between you two.”

It wasn’t as if Noelle had been avoiding the topic with her sister. They told each other almost everything. But with the performance happening the following evening, she’d spent every night working late with Franchesca on last-minute details, falling into bed and then waking up in the morning to do it all over again. Holly had been busy with a new client so their paths hadn’t crossed much since the New York trip.

Okay, she could have maybe spared a moment or two to fill her sister in on details, but she was still working through how she felt about all of it. She hadn’t even seen Wes since he dropped her off at her studio two days before. Well, he’d stopped in to pick up Annalise after class, which was when they scheduled their baking lesson for that morning, but with a whirlwind of activity around her, it wasn’t what she would call quality time.

However, one look at the man and her knees had gone weak. The craziness of a mass of little girls in tutus around them faded away when he’d smiled at her. Memories of that kiss floated in her mind about every five minutes, making it tough for her to focus on her work, or anything else for that matter.

“You’re blushing. And you have a far-off look in your eye.” Holly eyed her over her coffee mug. She now sat at the table, the morning paper pulled up on her iPad. A paper she wasn’t reading. Instead she was staring at Noelle and teasing her about blushing.

Noelle placed her hands on her cheeks. “I am not.” Her protest was futile. Of course she was blushing. Her body flushed with heat every time she thought of that kiss. She went and poured herself a cup of coffee and sat across from her sister. Facing the inevitable was always easier with coffee.

“Say what you want, but your cheeks are crimson, sister. And don’t tell me nothing happened between you two. The air all but crackled when Jeff and I came back into the penthouse the other night. And I’m your sister. Your hair doesn’t get messed up like it was, not without help. Help from some large, manly hands attached to a mighty fine billionaire businessman. With phenomenal taste, I might add. That penthouse of his is something else.” She raised her mug in a toast before taking a sip.

So that was why Holly hadn’t hounded her with questions. She already knew.

“I might have been able to figure out what was going on between you two, sheesh. Anyone with two eyes could see the attraction anytime you’re in the man’s vicinity, but that doesn’t get you off the hook. Talk.”

Of course. Although knowing they kissed was one thing. Wanting the dish from Noelle was another. However, after Holly’s first date with Jeff, Noelle had done the same thing.

Noelle cradled her coffee mug in her hands. “I don’t think I need to give details on how amazing things were in New York, but I still don’t know how I feel yet, Holl.”

“What’s stumping you?”

“Geography, for one. I live here. He lives in New York.”

“The man has his own jet. I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t mind commuting.”

A valid point, for sure. But not one that had Noelle convinced. “It’s not the commute alone I’m worried about. I can tell he doesn’t even like Marietta. He would want to live full time in New York.” She shrugged and took a sip of coffee. “My life is here now.”

“Don’t shrug this off. You have serious feelings for this man. Own that.”

Source: www.allfreenovel.com
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