AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Her man had a special talent for that.
That same amazing man now slipped into the passenger seat of her GT, a look of patient amusement on his face. As Alanna got behind the wheel, nerves tingled down her arms and legs. Yes, she was really doing this.
“What’ve you got planned today?” she asked Sully to distract herself as they pulled out of his driveway.
He crossed his arms behind his head. “Hue and I are replacing all the old industrial lights in Valentina’s Cantina with the new fixtures you picked out, and we’re putting in LED lights. It’s going to look great and save them a ton on their electric bill.”
Alanna nodded. Just by inviting a few SoCal food influencers to the restaurant and playing up the place’s history and authentic cuisine, her agency, New Horizons, had been able to increase sales by 15% in a single month. With Sully’s help, the old restaurant looked better than ever. He’d installed a new speaker system and repainted the outside of the building. It was insane what a fresh coat of paint and better acoustics could do to a place.
“I can’t wait until I get my hands on that patio,” Sully mused as they stopped at a light. “That thing is falling to pieces. Hue and I are going to make it amazing.”
“Not before you work on the outdoor patio for The Rose and Thorn,” Alanna told him. They still had so much to do. But little by little, the place was turning around. Just by asking locals to post honest reviews on Yelp and Google, she’d been able to increase foot traffic by nearly 10% and their waitlist for wine memberships had over 40 names. If Theo would only make up his damn mind about which bottles he wanted to release first, she could formally launch the program and market it like crazy.
“Oh, I forgot to tell you last night. Theo signed up for a six-month PR package with New Horizons,” Alanna said as the light turned green and she hit the gas.
“He’d be an idiot not to,” Sully responded without hesitation.
This. Right here. Sully’s effortless belief in her is what made Alanna the luckiest woman in the world. It also scared the fuck out of her.
“That’s what, four clients you’ve locked in now?” he asked, completely unaware of his absolute wonderfulness.
“Five.” The word was a croak. “The Auto Yard signed up two days ago.”
“Good job, Wonder Woman.” He put a hand on her thigh and rubbed.
Alanna tried to swallow the lump in her throat. The last month has been equally amazing… and terrifying. Sully believed she wasn’t afraid of anything, but the way she felt about him scared her to death. Her heart felt so vulnerable, so open. How did he do it, this kind, gorgeous, delicious man? How did he knock down all her walls and slip into her soul with only a smile and a terrible icebreaker question?
Things had been great with Sully, except lugging her overnight bag to his place was starting to get annoying. It was something they’d have to address… soon. Was she ready for it?
She took a left onto Chaparral Drive. The city’s main street was already alive with people walking down the sidewalk and small crowds congregating around Donuts Delight and Buzz + Brew.
Yes, it might take all her strength, but she would be ready. Alanna Fucking Sandoval did not back down from a challenge, not even if that challenge was being vulnerable to the man she…
Alanna pulled her GT into a small parking lot. Sully stared out the windshield at the Yucca Hills Animal Rescue in front of them.
“Alanna, anything you want to tell me about our mission?”
“If you had to go into witness protection, what would your fake name be?”
“Griffin Reynolds. You’re stalling.”
“Griffin? You think you can pull off Griffin?”
Sully crossed his arms, and Alanna couldn’t help but admire the lean muscles of his shoulders and chest hinting beneath his t-shirt.
“Of course, I can pull off Griffin. I’d live in Raleigh, North Carolina, and own a small solar panel installation company. The mob would never find me. And you’re still stalling.”
She was because suddenly this was becoming real. They were here, and she didn’t have the buzz of alcohol to give her strength this time. Doubts began to bubble up. What if she really wasn’t caring enough to adopt an animal? What if her new pet hated her? What if it ran away?
No!The rebuttal was sudden and fierce in her mind. Maybe there had been a time when she was too busy and distracted to keep a plant alive, but that same plant was now thriving under her care with plenty of advice and mentorship from both her mother and Sully.
I am a caring person,Alanna told herself.Even with all the pressure and insanity that building her new PR firm required, she still made time to have lunch with her mom each day. Every Sunday, she, her mother, and Layla had dinner together, sometimes bringing their menfolk along and sometimes keeping it ladies only. On the nights she didn’t spend at Sully’s place, she and her mom curled up together on the couch, sharing a worn blanket and binging old TV shows. And it was wonderful.
“Letting you keep Sheba was the right call,” Alanna said to Sully. “I wasn’t the person I needed to be to give her the home she deserved. I wasn’t ready. But I’m ready now.”
Sully was the reason she was ready. Every day he showed her how to open her heart. How to balance work with meaning. How to… she shied from the completion of that thought. Her mother and Layla were also the reason she was ready. Their love made her feel safe and strong. Same with the Crazy Cat Ladies. Even the newest and most reluctant member, Jax. Her friends were like an unbreakable net, always there to catch her if she stumbled or feed her brownies and offer support if she ever started to doubt her ambitious plan.
“You are ready.” Sully took her hand in his. Lacing his fingers through hers, he lifted her hand and placed a kiss across her knuckles. “You can do anything.”
