“I need an investor for the start up.” I can’t look him in the eye as I quickly add, “Someone like you.”
“Why me?” he asks between bites.
“Yesenia said you might like to add a café to your portfolio.”
“My portfolio?” he repeats as his head tilts. He must not be into crypto and stock exchanges. Hell, he might not even be an investor type.
“I have a business plan. It has everything from market analysis to a menu.”
“Menu?” His ears practically twitch at the word. He might not be interested in investing, but he sure does love food.
Writing the business plan gave me a headache. I drafted it with the intention of eventually taking it to a bank and applying for a business loan. I looked at hundreds of examples online to make sure mine looked professional.
Dominic barely spares it a passing glance.
The menu though? That was a labor of love for me. I spent weeks trying to pick the perfect desserts to showcase. You only get one grand opening. When I finished, one of my friends designed the logo.
Muffin But Loveis drawn in bold cursive script across the top with the ‘O’ in love replaced with a blueberry muffin. The menu is unsurprisingly muffin forward. Over two dozen varieties. But there are also pies, cookies, and donuts on the list too.
“I want to try all of it,” Dominic says as he eyes the menu.
Like a bear with honey.
“You’ll have to come down to town sometime. I’ll be happy to bake anything you want.”
Dominic just ate half a crumble, but he still looks hungry. His dark eyes shine with the kind of hunger that gets a girl into trouble. Thrilling, panty-soaking, trouble.
Dominic
My grandfather used to say that the right woman would turn my head onto my ear, and I’d make a fool of myself chasing after her. I laughed. He laughed. Now I’m not laughing but I’m sure he is.
Thoughts of Rachel cloud my head. Distracting me. Confusing me. My instincts push me to kiss her. To give her a key to the cabin. Not just a spare key, but one that’s hers. Because just like me, everything in this cabin belongs to her.
“It’ll be days before the roads are clear. You can sleep in the bedroom,” I find myself saying. My brain is still trying to wrap itself around the idea that she thinks I can invest in her café.
I’d love to, but while I have money in the bank, I wouldn’t have enough to fully fund a business. She keeps talking about portfolios and marketing analysis which all go straight over my head. I joined the Army right out of high school, and I did two tours before I got out. Now I work for mountain rescue. It pays well, but not that well, and the army barely paid anything at all.
“I can’t take your bed,” she tries to protest. Her words fall on deaf ears as she follows me to the bathroom. My abuela’s blanket is still wrapped around her shoulders and she lifts it up so that it doesn’t drag across the dirty floor.
“Towels,” I say pointing to the supply closet. “Water runs ice cold at first.”
“Dominic,” she snaps stomping her foot on the tile to get my attention. “I’ll sleep on the couch.”
She’s so damn stubborn.
“This is nonnegotiable.”
No soldier under my command would have talked back but Rachel sure as hell does.
“I can’t crash into your house and steal your bed!”
“Take a hot shower, and then we’ll talk about it.”
Rachel wants to continue arguing with me, but I see the way her eyes slide to the shower with longing. Her shoulders slump as the fight drains out of her.
“Okay,” she says before she jabs a pointed finger at me. “But we’re not done!”
It takes every ounce of my control not to kiss away her frown and keep kissing her until she stops glaring at me. Resisting such temptation should earn me a medal.
