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I mumble something like, “Thanks again,” and then proceed to do some weird half wave thing as she drives away.
I wanted to kiss her. I almost did after we etched our names in the concrete.
And I couldn’t let her walk herself to her car. It’s a construction zone out here, with washouts and equipment and hilly, dried mud tracks throughout the property.
But now she’s driving down the mountain, back to her place in Longdale, and I can’t even think about the moving parts of the acquisition. I’ve only got her in my head. Her clean, raspberry scent, the way she looked in those leggings and t-shirt, those bright, royal-blue eyes.
This is bad. I can’t do this right now, with all that’s happening with Tate International.
I can’t entertain thoughts of my assistant.
I repeat this to myself as I wander my way back through what will eventually be my home. And I continue to repeat it as I stand and stare out at the black lake below.
It’s total BS. But I’ll repeat it until I believe it.
Aside from last night’s longing for Elianna, I’m on top of my game.
We’ve done a few of these acquisitions the past couple of years, and so it all feels familiar, yet there are still a lot of things that could go wrong.
Buying these four properties is going to set us up for huge gains this last quarter, and my head pulses with the possibilities. If all continues to go well and we get this deal brokered on time, we’re sitting pretty to make the list.
Part of me is still wrapped up in thoughts of what it would be like to kiss Elianna. Which is highly disappointing. Disappointing that I didn’t and can’t kiss her, and disappointing that I’m so bothered by that.
Still, she’s the quintessential advocate for the company today. She even wore a relatively conservative—for her—dress. It’s light gray, but then, true to form, she had to style it up with a wide, plastic yellow belt.
Why am I paying so close attention to her and what she’s wearing?
It’s because you care about her, you idiot.
I know I do. And as I watch her help the legal team feel comfortable in the boardroom and listen to her laugh with several of them, I understand why. Is there anyone that woman can’t talk with?
It’s almost nine at night when Drake comes to clear away the bags of takeout from a sushi restaurant he drove over an hour to get. Thank goodness for Drake. I’ve got the legal team settled in their hotel rooms here for the night, so now it’s just Elianna and me, going over the day and making a plan for tomorrow.
She’s sitting across from me, in our usual spots on the matching sofas. A sweet smile blooms on her face. “So? Today was pretty great.” She kicks off her flats and hides a yawn behind her hand.
“Sorry for another late night.” Seeing her yawn has caused me to do the same. “Thanks for staying so late. You’ve been a big help today.”
“Thanks,” she says, setting her laptop on the tray table near the sofa and then standing. She unclips her plastic, yellow belt and lets it fall, grasping it with one hand, then meets my gaze. “Sorry. You have no idea how much this was digging into me these last couple of hours.” She slides a hand along her waist, as if to rub it out.
The movement reminds me of last night, when I had my arms around her, just like that. I don’t think I’ve ever felt anything so beautiful. Can the sense of touch be beautiful?
I just barely decided it can, and now I can’t get Elianna out of my head.
“Don’t apologize.” I get to my feet. I’ve already got my tie halfway over my head. I unbutton my top two buttons. “It’s been a very long day.”
We both laugh at the two of us standing here like this.
“But are you happy with how things are turning out?” she asks, massaging her forehead. “You’re well on your way to being the new owner of four resort hotels in Maine, my friend.”
“They could still back out. I’m not convinced they’re fully on board. I think they want to meet me in person and take a look around at how I run things before they sell their properties to me. It does feel good, though.”
But what would really feel good is to know that I was free to hug her, to kiss her, to develop a relationship with her. I’ve never known anyone like her.
And I want to understand why hearing her call me her “friend” irks me so much. I need friends. Ethan and my brothers have borne the weight of that task for too long. Not that they’ve complained, and I’ve tried hard not to need much from anyone. But I would like more friends. So, why don’t I want to be friends with Elianna?
Because you want more than that with her.
That persistent thought is what propels me to move around the room. The tape hopscotch maze is still there in all its glory. I couldn’t pull up the tape. Things back home for Quinn and Navie aren’t resolved yet, and I can’t bear the thought of disappointing Navie by tearing it down. I’ll have to get rid of it eventually, I know.
