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"Just read it. Who knows, it may help you with your complications."
The stack of papers landed with a soft thud in my hands, and I frowned down at them. The top page read "Contract of Sale" in bold, formal letters that mocked my indecision. My fingertips traced the words, a shiver crawling up my spine. Was this really happening?
"Is this…?" My question trailed off as I flipped through the pages, each one outlining terms and stipulations that felt both foreign and thrilling. A contract that could change everything. Could I truly be looking at owning a part of this place? Of Tangled Pages?
"Yep," Colby confirmed with a nod, leaning forward with his elbows on the counter. "We figured out a way that might work, if you're interested. It'd be for forty percent."
I blinked, trying to process what he was saying. The reality of it all was dizzying, a heady mix of power and possibility. Of things I never knew I craved. But it was too much, wasn't it?
"Colby, I can't afford to buy a business."
Colby said. "Read the terms. You're not buying it outright."
"Did you just decide to do this on your own?" My voice sounded distant to my own ears, disbelieving.
"Nah, I mean, once he pitched it to me, it made total sense. All the work you're putting into the shop is more than some minimum wage job."
"He? He who?"
"Gunnar, of course. I guess he bumped into Luna and told her about how much you'd done for the shop," he replied, and the name sent a jolt through me. "Small town, you know. He went through something similar when he bought Malloy Customs. It's a seller-financed his business loan, enabling him to make a purchase he wouldn't have been able to make otherwise. The banks are hesitant to give loans, especially because Tangled Pages has been struggling since our aunt died. Anyway, Luna told him her dream of becoming a travel blogger, sharing that she felt trapped by the bookstore and by Hazy Cove."
"Really?" I looked around, trying to imagine how someone could feel trapped by this wonderful place.
"Luna is always searching for something that'll make her happy but never seems to find it. Anyway, Gunnar gave her the details of how his loan worked, telling her she'd have a steady income to fund her attempt at becoming a travel blogger, or whatever her latest scheme is."
My heart hammered against my ribcage, the notion of ownership entangling with images of the man who had me questioning everything. The very idea that Gunnar had suggested this sent a rush of heat through me, lacing every word Colby spoke with an undercurrent of erotic promise.
"Five years…" I scanned further down the contract, the future it offered stretching out before me like an uncharted expanse of desire and dreams. "Or sooner if I pay it off?"
"Exactly." Colby's smile was warm, encouraging. "Luna wants to keep ten percent, for some reason. I'll have my half, and you… you'd have your forty percent ownership stake. Any profits we generate from our hard work will either be put back into the shop or will go to us as the owners."
I flipped through the contract, frowning. "This says I need to have a down payment. I don't have that kind of money."
"Oh, Gunnar told me to write in that amount. Said you had it? We can iron out those details, though."
My mind raced, the prospect of being tied to this place, to Gunnar, in such a tangible way was intoxicating. It was a future I hadn't dared to fantasize about until now. It wasn't just a piece of paper. It was a new life, a new identity, a new dream, unfurling before me with each clause and condition. Ownership. Partnership. A tangible stake in something that had quickly become more than a refuge.
I blinked, and the world blurred. Hot, heavy tears spilled down my cheeks, betraying the storm of emotions that Gunnar's absence had stirred within me. I tried to steady my breath, to compose myself, but the thought of walking away from Tangled Pages—my unexpected sanctuary—clawed at my insides with unforgiving talons.
"Hey," Colby's voice broke through, a gentle lilt in the midst of my turmoil. "It's okay, Mira. You don't have to decide anything right now."
He reached out, his touch light on my arm, but it was enough to tip the scales. The dam burst, and I was ugly crying in the middle of the bookstore, snotty and gasping, a mess of tangled dreams and broken expectations. Here I was, a woman who meticulously charted every aspect of her life, unraveling at the seams over a man—a fuck buddy—who didn't even stay the night.
"Colby," I choked out between sobs, "I… This is lovely, but I think I have to go back to Portland. For med school." My words felt like shards of glass in my throat, each syllable scratching, leaving trails of doubt and pain. "Gunnar, he… he doesn't love me. We're just… It's just sex, you know?"
My confession hung in the air, a raw and naked truth that I had never dared speak aloud. And it was ridiculous, wasn't it? Absurd to imagine I could trade sterile hospital halls for the musty enchantment of old books. To exchange the prestige of Dr. Shah for the whimsy of a bookstore owner.
"Fuck Gunnar, then. This is about you, and I know you love it here." Colby paused and frowned. "I mean, don't fuck Gunnar, that's clearly causing the problems, but why go to med school when you're happiest among books?"
I laughed, sniffling. "Because that's what I'm supposed to be. A doctor." The iron-clad certainty that had propelled me through years of grueling study wavered, the vision of my future cracking under the weight of dreams I hadn't been able to acknowledge before I'd come here.
But fantasies were just that, weren't they?
Colby sighed, tugging a hand through his messy hair. "I can't tell you what to do, Mira, but I think you should stop worrying about what you're supposed to be."
"I'm so lost." I searched Colby's face as I tried to regain my sense of reason. But the studious, rational part of me had gone missing since Gunnar had stormed into my life, all leather and steel-blue eyes.
Colby's arms encircled me, a soft contrast to Gunnar's steel-hard embrace. His scent was comforting—fresh paper and cinnamonfrom the café—not like Gunnar's leather and musk, and I hugged him back, trying to calm my tears.
