AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Remembering who he was and what Remy was, I tensed up. “Oh, Jimmy. I mean, James. This is Remy, the owner of the building and the person financing the outreach center.”
Remy’s brow furrowed as he looked at me, confused. “I don’t own the center. I thought you knew…”
I cut him off. “James and I went to junior high together. He now works at the FBI.”
Remy’s eyebrows jumped to his perfect hairline. “Really?”
“Which division again?” I asked him.
“Mostly the organized crime branch,” he said jovially.
“Really?” Remy asked, turning to me, stunned.
“There’s a lot of gang activity in the area,” I explained. “The kids who come here need to know that they’ll be safe. So, when I heard what James was up to, I asked if he was interested in partnering with us in providing a safe space for the kids. And, lucky for us, he was.”
“I grew up around here. I know how much a place like this is needed.”
“Here, here!” Remy said, hiding the panic behind his eyes. “So you made him an official partner with the center?”
“Yep,” I said, staring into Remy’s eyes.
“Excellent! Keep your friends close. Am I right?”
“You are,” Jimmy said for the first time, hinting that he knew who Remy was.
Remy tightened his lips, trying to smile. “Where is Cali with that drink?”
“Excuse us,” I said following Remy as he walked off.
When we were out of Jimmy’s earshot, Remy whispered, “You partnered with the organized crime division of the FBI?”
“Not with the department. With James.”
“Right. Because anything he discovers while using this as his base of operations will certainly not leave this room,” Remy sniped, genuinely rattled.
“Remy, you wanted a community center somewhere it would help people. This is it. And partnering with someone like Jimmy is a necessary evil. Would you have preferred if instead of him it was a drug dealer from one of the local gangs? Because those were my two options.”
Remy calmed himself. “I’m not questioning your decisions, Dillon.”
“It certainly sounds like you are.”
“I’m not. Believe me, I think you did an amazing job. This place would never have existed without your hard work and everything you’ve done. Thank you, Dillon. You’re incredible.”
Allowing his compliment to sink in, a smile beamed up from the deepest part of me.
“I appreciate you saying that.” I looked into his beautiful, grateful eyes. “And I recognize how hard you worked on this, too. No one else sees it, but I do.”
Remy wanted to wrap his arms around me. I could feel it. Instead, his hand bounced up touching my arm.
“I appreciate that,” he said sincerely. “And, I guess I’m not the only one who likes to live dangerously,” he said with a smile.
I smiled knowing it was true. “I guess not.”
“As the day continued, I introduced Remy to everyone there. With every introduction, it felt increasingly as though I was introducing my boyfriend. I knew he wasn’t, and he was never going to be. But, that was the energy between us.
The way Remy looked at me didn’t help. It was like he was imagining tossing me onto a bed, flipping me over, and taking what he wanted.
Moreover, the man used every excuse he could to touch me. I mean, I was doing the same, but I wasn’t the one planning my wedding; he was. I was the one too foolish to stop falling for a guy planning his wedding. So I was allowed.
