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I’m so screwed.
2. paige
Dreams
What a total shit show.I came to town looking forward to setting up my new bookstore, and instead, I found out thatmybookstore is now someone’s new law office. And that someone wouldn’t help me when I confronted him about it.And he’s also really hot.But that’s beside the point. So I did what every sane person needs to do to recalibrate and figure out what her next step is. I went to get coffee and carbs. Because I need those to plan my next move. These days, I pretty much run on coffee, and I’m pretty sure that’s what flows through my veins at this point. Iced coffee, anxiety, and the dire need to get this bookstore up and running ASAP so I can pay my bills. And I have a lot of bills right now. Hence the anxiety. And to top it off, I’m now going to have to find a part-time job to keep up.
Getting carbs and coffee actually became the catalyst for my new life here in Freedom Valley. When I first learned about my predicament, I stormed into Baked Inn Love for sugar and solace and ended up making friends who are supportive and as excited as I am for my bookstore to open. And it turns out that theyknowthe jerk who bought the building that was supposed to be my bookstore. They referred him to me for help! To be fair, it probably isn’t his fault I got scammed.
I don’t even know if I’ll be able to get my money back or if I can keep my grandpa Harry safe at the Freedom Valley assisted living facility for another month. Sheila, the office manager at the facility, is constantly on my back. She seems to be itching to get Harry thrown out for any infraction she can dream up. Being a minute late on payment being one of them. I wonder if she treats all the families of the residents this way or just me. She seems to have it out for Harry. Just another bump in the road I’ll get over.
Speaking of the road, I’m currently living in my retro, let’s say “loosely” renovated Volkswagen van and have been for the past several years to save money for said bookstore that has now officially been put on hold. The insulation is crap, and it gets very cold or very hot in there, depending on the weather. I’ve lived the most frugal lifestyle in order to put every penny into this new business. I’m beginning to question whether any of this was even worth it. I feel like I’m watching my dream go up in smoke. My chest tightens, and I rub my knuckles over it, trying to relax and remember to breathe.
Now back at my van with some more things planned, I open the side door and check on Pancake in his carrier. “Hey, buddy. We found a place to stay,” I coo at him as I reach in and scratch his big floppy belly. “That big bad wolf who stole our bookstore building won’t get the best of us. We’ve got this, don’t we?”
A throat clears behind me, startling me, and a deep voice calls out in annoyance, “Why are you here?”
I straighten and try to look as intimidating as possible as I narrow my eyes at him. “Mind your own business,” I practically hiss.
“Or what?” he says, his irritation evident. “Let me get this straight. You call me up, accuse me of stealing fromyou, go over and talk tomyfriends, and then come back here to stalk me?” His body tenses and his biceps flex. They’re close enough to reach out and squeeze.No squeezing, Paige.His bossy tone somehow makes him seem even more attractive. I bet he’d be great in—
I snap myself out of it.Okay, focus, Paige.I shake myself out of my thoughts. He’s the enemy, for God’s sake. Not a friend. A foe. He didn’t even seem remotely interested in helping me. And now here he is accusing me of stalking him? Whatever.
“For your information, I’m not stalking you,” I scoff. “Don’t flatter yourself. I’m simply parked on a public street, and you don’t ownthateither.” I gesture to the bakery across the street. “Also, they can be my friends, too. Not that I can even remotely understand why they would be friends withyou.” I mutter the last part under my breath.
“Whatever, Sunshine. You’re the one out here talking to your cat in the back of a van. What are you even doing here in Freedom Valley anyway?” He glares at me skeptically. For the first time, I notice he has warm hazel eyes. Dark, perfectly styled hair. He’s not one of those ultra-buff guys. More like tall and lean. He’s got a runner’s body. But he’s got these rich guy vibes, too, like his haircut probably costs more than I have in my bank account. Not that I have any problem with wealth. I just have zero wealth at the moment. And no love life to speak of. The last man I was interested in told me he’d just moved from a gated community. He meant he’d just gotten out ofprison. So, yeah, I’m done. That’s part of why I moved to Freedom Valley. To get away from the crazy people in the city. And to be near my Grandpa Harry, of course. I don’t need to worry about cute jerks like Preston Steele making me feelthings.I need to focus on my bookstore. Eye on the prize.
I stand to my full five-foot-three height and stalk toward him, flipping my hair over my shoulder to make sure he knows that I mean business. “First of all,” I say in annoyance, “it’s rude to judge someone you just met and know nothing about. What’s your problem, anyway?Youstole fromme.If anything,Ihave the right to be mad here.” I put my hands on my hips and stand in my Wonder Woman pose, trying my best to stare him down, but he’s up. So far up. So hot and so tall.
His eyes search mine with even deeper suspicion. “What are youdoing?”
“This is my power pose. You don’t scare me,” I say with all the confidence I can muster.
“You just called me the big bad wolf,” he retorts smugly.
“Well, you’re acting like one.”
“Now who’s judging?” He tilts his head, his eyes narrowing.
“Aren’t you just the funny guy?” I lean toward him, which makes his eye twitch a little. Interesting. Do I make him nervous? Good. I hope I do.Jerk.
“Not trying to be funny, lady. I’m just trying to figure out why you won’t leave.”
My shoulders slump in defeat a smidge, but I’m trying not to show him that. “I just don’t know what to do. I rented this building from a guy named Nial Poolmoore and paid my first and last month’s rent and a hefty deposit. Then when I got here, I found out that my lease is as fake as the keys he sent me. So now I’m stuck with a storage unit full of inventory with no building to sell it in. And not that it’s any of your business, but I don’t have any money to get something else for the time being. I feel like I just losteverything. Not that you would even remotely care.” I bite out that last part and wipe at my eyes, which are threatening to spill over with tears. I’m tired of crying. I need strategy, not tears.
This day has been a roller coaster of emotions. I was elated this morning, driving into town with Pancake to finally start our new chapter here. And then it was like the rug was completely ripped out from under me. I’m under so much pressure to make this work that I’m getting a tension headache.
His hazel eyes soften, and he shifts his stance. “I do care. I should have realized Nial Poolmoore had a hand in this. Rumor has it he skipped town.”
“Yeah, well, that’s not going to get my business open so I can pay my bills. I have people counting on me.”
“Look.” He sighs. “I didn’t intentionally steal anything from you. I bought this building. Not from Nial, though. And I have the paperwork to back it. I looked the contracts over myself.”
“Yeah, well, it’s a good thing you did, otherwise you probably wouldn’t have your business either.” I sniff.
“You should have read your contracts better and hired a lawyer,” he says. The jerk has returned. For a quick minute, he seemed like a normal person, even kind, and now the real Preston is back. Jerk face.
“Andyoushouldn’t be a giant pretentious asshole, Daddy Warbucks,” I bite out as I spin and shut the side door to my van. I walk around to the driver’s seat. I’m not sure why I called him that, except that he’s grumpy and he looks like he oozes money. It just fits. Daddy Warbucks was a jerk inAnnie, too. One of my favorite movies when I was a kid. Probably because she had wild red hair like me—something I got picked on a lot for—so having someone in a movie look like me helped a lot as I was growing up.
