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Chelsea tightened her arm around his waist and smiled up at him. “I do, too.”
~ ~ ~
“Did he spend the night here?” asked Smoke as soon as Grant and Laura had left.
Chelsea rolled her eyes. “Yes. Not that it’s any of your business.”
Smoke blew out a sigh. “Sorry.”
“So you should be. You can’t just come barging in here and give him a hard time like that. You could scare him off, and then I really would be pissed at you.”
He gave her a rueful smile. “I don’t think I’ve got any worries there. He doesn’t seem like he scares too easily.”
Chelsea grinned. “He doesn’t, does he? Anyway, never mind all that. We agreed I’ll tell you about Grant when I’m ready, and I will. For now, let’s just say that I think the story has started another chapter.” She smiled, and Smoke smiled back at her.
“Good. I think I like him, but as you said, that’s not the point. It’s not what I came to talk to you about.”
“No, you were going to help me figure out how to sell my shares.”
“Or give you some other ideas. What do you think of a loan? Would it be realistic to think you could pay it back over time?”
She sucked in a deep breath. “I don’t know, Smoke. I don’t think I like that idea. I mean if I borrowed the money, then I still wouldn’t own Zosca, not really; the bank would.
He shook his head impatiently. “Not a bank loan. I mean I could lend you the money.”
“Oh!” She frowned. “Why?”
He shrugged. “Why not. I’d give you a better rate than a bank would. It’s just, I don’t know. I sold out my interest, and I’ve always regretted it.”
“You have? But you’ve done so well on your own. You’ve got the planes and the charter company and everything. You must be doing well to be able to lend me enough to buy Zosca.”
“Yeah. I’ve done great; it’s not that. It’s just that I sold out of the family business. You know? I didn’t think it mattered, and it didn’t at the time, but things change. Look at me now, Laura and me. We might even have kids one day.”
Chelsea gave him a questioning look.
“No! Not yet, and probably not ever, but we might. And if we did … well, I kind of feel like I did them out of their heritage. They won’t ever be a part of Hamilton-Groves, even if they want to be.”
“Wow. I’m sorry. I didn’t know you felt that way.”
“It doesn’t matter. You live and learn. But if you can, I’d like you to learn from my mistakes. I think you’re a lot more likely to have kids than I am. I’d hate for you to one day end up feeling the way I do now. I know you’ll have Zosca, you’ll leave your own legacy, just like I will with the aviation side of things, but …” he shrugged. “Maybe I'm being too sentimental?”
Chelsea laughed. “It seems like there’s a lot of that going around.” She stared at him for a long moment. She wouldn’t have thought that he had a sentimental bone in his body, but it seemed love had changed even him. She grinned as an idea struck her.
“What? I can tell you’ve got one of your hare-brained schemes going on in that little brain of yours. I just saw the lights go off.”
She laughed. “You know me too well. How about this? I think this is awesome. I need money, I have Hamilton-Groves shares. You have money, you want Hamilton-Groves shares. How about you buy some of mine?” His eyebrows knit together, but she held up a hand to stop him before he could speak. “I don’t mean all of them because if I’m honest, I never wanted to sell them all, even before you went all sentimental on me. What about half and half? I sell you half my shares—and then we’ll both still own a part of the company. Then, if you really want to lend it to me, I can borrow the rest of what I need to buy Zosca from you.”
He smiled. “When did you get so smart, little sis?”
She laughed. “I always have been, but I stay quiet about it till it suits me to speak up.”
Smoke nodded. “I like it. It’s a win-win. Let’s figure out how to make it happen.”
“Yes,” she grinned. “The sooner, the better, as far as I’m concerned.”
“Me too, I’ll get right on to my accountant when I get home.”
Chelsea frowned. “Won’t you need to talk to Laura about it first; make sure it’s okay with her?”
