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“Damn.”
He leaned back with the papers in his hands and skimmed over everything I had gone over. He asked a bunch of questions, then shook his head and dropped the documents on the coffee table before leaning back and looking defeated.
“I’m not sure what Howard will do, but I know there is no way I can afford to do it.”
“Were you seriously thinking about buying the tavern?”
“Yes.” His brown eyes were solemn. “It was my way of going legit. I figured that if I could have a profitable business to keep me busy, I would keep myself out of trouble.”
“And you aren’t able to afford the entire amount?” I paused. “You know, you don’t have to tell me this. Your finances are none of my business; you can tell me that.”
He shook his head. “No. I don’t mind. I have nothing to hide; maybe you’ll have an idea that I haven’t.” He sat on the edge of the seat and leaned on his elbows. “I have a good chunk saved since I have lived above the place for years and barely paid any rent, but my credit isn’t that great, so I can only qualify for a portion of the cost.”
“How much do you need?” I asked.
He inhaled deeply and then released it. “Well, with the cost that he is selling right now, I’d need about a hundred and twenty grand, but even if I could get him to sell it for less than that because of these problems, I still wouldn’t have the money to fix the problems or do any updates to the place.”
“Huh.” I pondered for a moment. “You don’t know anyone who would want to partner with you, do you?”
He scoffed. “I think it is more of someone I would want to partner with. I could probably get a couple of the guys from the club to kick a percentage in, but then they would have a stake in the place, and I don’t want that. I left the club because I was ready for a different life. I don’t want to turn the tavern into a biker bar.”
“Well, I appreciate that, Mike. I’d be pretty sad if it became that.” I sighed. “Let me think about it for a little while. Maybe I can come up with someone who might want to invest with you. Someone on the up and up would be good for the tavern.”
“You’d do that?”
“Yep, I sure would.”
He put his hand on my knee. “I appreciate that, Candy. Thank you.”
“Well, don’t thank me yet. I haven’t done anything, but you should take that to Howard and let him know so he can talk to his buyer.”
“I will.” He glanced at his phone. “I should probably get going. It’s getting pretty late, and I need to get back to close the tavern.”
I walked him to the door, and he turned to me. We stared at one another for a few seconds, and I was suddenly nervous. Would he just walk out, or would he kiss me goodbye?
“I know we had sex tonight, but are we still on for Sunday?”
“Do you want to be on for Sunday?”
He hiked both his brows. “You think that after what we did in your bedroom earlier, that I wouldn’t be? Girl, you’re crazy if you think I wouldn’t want a repeat of that.”
“Okay, then we are still on.”
He curled his hand around my neck and pulled my face toward his. Man, I loved when he did that. “Good, because I’m not done with you yet, Candy. I know you deserve much better than me, but I hope you stick around for a little while.”
“You sell yourself short,” I replied, brushed my lips over his, and stepped back. “I will see you Sunday night at seven.”
“You call that a kiss goodbye?” he asked, and I grinned. A second later, he had me in his arms and laid a kiss on me that made my knees weak, then he pulled back. “That was better. Sleep well, sweetheart.” He winked and was gone, and I swear my heart sighed in happiness as I closed the door.
CHAPTER TEN
MICHAEL
Ifelt better than I had in a long time as I stepped back into the tavern. I was glad I had decided to go over there for a little while and even happier that Candy hadn’t kicked my ass to the curb the minute she saw me.
She was gorgeous and funny and sexy as fuck. I stepped behind the bar and scanned the room, my gaze skidding to a stop and jumping back to someone staring hard at me. I nodded to Ethan Winston, Candy’s older brother and a county detective who had it in for all club members, whether they were in or not. Well, fuck.
When his older sister Cara had been seeing Vigil, Ethan had ridden his ass hard. He did everything he could to break that relationship up. I was damn sure he would find a reason to lock my ass up if he knew I had even kissed Candy.
