I let go like she’s on fire and scratch the hair at the nape of my neck. I take a step back.Distance, Roman. Distance.
When she still doesn’t say anything my shoulders tense. “Lola?”
She blinks. “Right. Sorry. Everything’s fine. I just wanted to talk to you about something.” She peers around me to where everyone’s sitting on the patio. “But if now’s a bad time I can?—”
“Now’s fine,” I say, drawing her attention back to me. Some primal part of me doesn’t want her looking anywhere else.
She nods. “Right, okay. Great.”
I tilt my head to the side and assess her. Lola isnervous. A slight pink blush spreads across her cheeks and her eyelashes flutter as she blinks just a little too rapidly. She swallows, her pulse jumping and my fingers yearn to trace the slender column of her throat. I shake my head and shove my hand deep into my shorts pocket.
“Anytime today, Firebird.” I wince internally as my words come out a little caustic. I don’t mean to sound irritated but her being here is not helping my plan to keep my distance and I don’t know how much longer I can stand this close to Lola and not do anything about it. It’s like ever since I made the decision to stay away my body is fighting for the opposite.
My abruptness at least seems to snap her out of her nerves.
Matches strike in her eyes. She pulls her shoulders back and stops fidgeting, a fierce, determined look setting across her face. “I have a proposition for you.”
I don’t know whether it’s the way she’s bites her bottom lip the second after she speaks or whether my mind is just that dirty when it comes to Lola but my thoughts immediately go to the bedroom.
“I want to purchase your unsellable apples at a discounted rate. The ones too bruised or blemished to sell? I want them.”
It’s so far off what I was expecting her to say it takes me a second to get my head in gear.
“For the coffee shop,” Lola adds. “To make apple fries.” She holds out the purple folder from under her arm. “I have all the details in here, including a copy of my business plan with my projected profit margins and a proposed payment plan. I know the price I’m offering is low but currently you’re making a loss on the apples you can’t sell, so anything must be better than that. And once the coffee shop is up and running, I’m happy to pay a subsidized but increased agreed upon rate.”
“Okay,” I say.
She stops, her mouth caught open like she was prepared to dive right back into her speech. “Okay?” she asks.
I nod. “Okay. Any apples that don’t meet standards are yours.”
Lola’s purple folder droops in her hand. “You haven’t even read my proposal.”
I shrug. “I don’t need to. It sounds like a good deal.” I’d been looking for something to do with the subpar produce because I hate the waste. I’d been thinking about teaming up with a cider company but there isn’t anywhere local. Selling to Lola would mean providing local grown produce to the town, it would be good word of mouth for the business, and there would be almost no transport costs.
I’m ready to shake on it now but Lola backs up a step and narrows her eyes at me. One of those damn purple streaks falls free from her ponytail as she shakes her head. “I don’t need any special treatment, Roman.”
I raise my brows. “That’s good, because I’m not giving you any.”
Her fingers clench around the edge of the folder. She tilts her chin back. “I can do this. I have a solid business plan. I’ve done my research and I know what I’m doing. I don’t need you to agree to this because I’m some immature girl who’s in over her head.”
If she thinks that’s what I’m doing, then she has no idea. I’ve been convinced that Lola can do whatever she puts her mind to ever since she followed Mase and I all the way up to Tiger Falls at just eight years old. It’s a six-hour hike that we’d spent weeks training for, and she did it with nothing but grit and a stubborn resolve that she wasn’t going to be left out.
She was halfway dead by the time we reached the top and realized she was following us. Mase had panicked and shouted at her for being stupid. I’d had my fair share of worry too, but I couldn’t help but be impressed. We took it in turns giving her a piggyback down the mountain. Mase grumbled the whole way, but I felt like I was carrying a champion.
As far as I’m concerned Lola can do the impossible and I hate that her past has made her doubt herself like this. I cross my arms, ready to tell her just how wrong she is. “Lola?—”
She shoves the folder out towards me. “Just read the business plan. Look over the deal and then decide.”
I glance down at the dark purple folder. She’s drawn a coffee bean in the corner with marker pen and it’s just so her I have to bite back a smile.
“Please,” Lola adds.
I sigh. So much for keeping my distance. I already know I’m going to accept her business proposal, but I also don’t want her thinking I’m doing so out of pity.
I reach for the folder, my knuckles not so accidentally brushing against hers. Tingles dance where we touch.Fuck.
Lola’s long brown lashes flutter as her eyes flick up to look at me. There’s a question in them that I don’t know how to answer. I’m smart enough to realize I’m not going to say no to her. I don’t think I can. But if I’m not going to keep my distance, I at least need to draw some lines.
