AllFreeNovel
Share Us
By the time I finally make it up the stairs to the bedrooms to start visualizing what murals I want to do, I’m already exhausted. My anxiety over Stella’s situation is causing me more stress than I honestly need.
And instead of visualizing murals, my mind conjures up the image of a dark-haired, dark-eyed, brooding businessman.
My core tightens as I picture him in his suit, his eyes boring right into me. The stubborn set of his square jaw. He’d been clean-shaven when he walked into the house for the will reading,
My whole body quivers as I picture him. I open my eyes, telling myself the only reason I’m thinking about him at all is because he’s a real estate mogul. With Stella’s real estate problems, it’s only natural I’d think of Dante Lewis.
Despite my internal reassurance, goosebumps form over my arms. I have to bite my lip as butterflies launch an attack on my stomach.
He looked hot as hell striding into the home as he had. He’d seemed ten feet tall and had all the suave sophistication of someone raised in London, Paris, or New York. I knew from Knox that Dante had grown to be extremely successful. I just never realized how much until I saw him.
Ugh. He’d been brooding the whole time. I never saw him crack a smile once, just had an asshole smirk on his handsome face. I knew the moment I caught the scent of his expensive cologne he hadn’t been there with good intentions. My pussy didn’t care though. I can’t remember getting so wet from someone without him touching me.
The front door closes, making me jump.
“Kylie?” Knox calls.
Shit.“Up here!” I call back, smoothing out my shirt. With my best friend’s arrival, I take all these thoughts about his brooding big brother and throw them out the window.
Knox is more than generous, offering his time, skills, and resources to fix up the clubhouse and asking for nothing back. Yet Dante had shot down his idea without hesitation, and Dante doesn’t even have a share in the property. He’d had no right to butt in like he had. And I’d seen how hurt Knox had been when Dante rebuffed his offer.
Maybe Dante has to be cold and ruthless. Maybe he has to be a shark, scenting for blood and ready to tear into the nearest dying thing in his business. But when dealing with family? Forget it.
There’s no excuse for it.
“There you are,” Knox says the moment he enters the room. “Know what you’re going to paint yet?”
“Almost,” I hedge. “I just need to clear my head a bit.”
Knox puts an arm around my shoulders. “I know it’s hard to see the change. But this is a good thing.”
“I know,” I say, smiling at him.
Dante’s an idiot to not see just how smart and kind Knox is.
He’s dismissed Knox’s skills as long as I’ve known him. Even as teens, Dante sneered at the way Knox and their dad worked together. They ran a successful carpentry business, yet to Dante, they might as well be beggars on the street.A man like that isn’t worth my time, fantasy or not. Even if he’s sexy as sin in that business suit of his.
I push aside thoughts of Dante once more and grin at Knox. “So, where do you need my help today?”
Chapter Four
DANTE
My phone lights up with a text.
If you want to talk, come see me in person. I’m at the treehouse.
I scowl at the message from my little brother. I’m not at all interested in stopping by the treehouse. Hell, I didn’t even want to come back to Willowcreek. I’d done my damnedest to keep things rolling from New York. But three weeks of Knox refusing to talk business over the phone has brought me back.
Now, he won’t even go to a restaurant like I suggested.
No, I have to go to him on his time. He’s deliberately making this more difficult than it needs to be.
I thought Mrs. Kendall was a hard sell. She was positively easy compared to my brother. At least she pretended not to hear or understand on the phone. Knox told me outright that every time I brought up the property he was going to hang up.
My brother apparently needs a personal touch in this affair. Statistics and promises aren’t going to cut it with him. It’spersonal.
I run a hand through my dark hair as I throw my suitcase onto the bed of the best hotel Willowcreek has to offer. Knox offered to set up my old bedroom for me but no way was I setting foot in that house again. I’m not about to sit at family dinners while Dad and Knox drone on about the tiny projects they’ve taken around town.
