Her voice still comes through the speaker when I pull the phone away from my ear. “Oh my goodness, he heard you, didn’t?—”
I hit the red button to end the call, cutting her off. My lungs refuse to cooperate and my heart is a thumping mess inside my chest. It takes everything in me to force myself to turn my torso and look over my shoulder.
Of course it’s him.
Jace stands at the edge of the porch, his head cocked to the side. His lips part as if he’s going to say something, but instead he shuts them.
“I don’t know how much you heard, but let’s just pretend you didn’t hear a word.”
The corners of his mouth twitch. “If that’s what you want, Will.”
I swallow roughly, ignoring the heat that creeps up my neck. “Thank you.”
Each step Jace takes down the steps reverberates through my body, loud and purposeful. At the bottom, he pauses and turns to face me. “How does tomorrow look for you?”
My eyes slowly widen and my stomach flips. “What?”
His forehead creases. “To work in the shop.” He pauses again and clears his throat. “Remember, you said you’d let me know?”
If the ground was ever going to open up and swallow me whole, now would be the perfect time. “Right,” I say in a rush, shaking my head to dismiss the train of dirty thoughts that had begun to barrel through my mind, no thanks to Mia. “Tomorrow is perfect.”
“Awesome,” he dips his chin. His lips stretch across his teeth, the dimples deepening in his cheeks and his eyes shimmer. “See you in the morning, Will.”
“See you then.”
His eyes linger for a moment and then he’s turning around, and walking back to his truck. I don’t know why he stopped by, but I’m beginning to wonder if this deal was a bad idea. Everywhere I seem to turn, Jace Miller is there.
And working together means it’s only going to get worse.
What am I getting myself into?
CHAPTER TEN
JACE
Ican’t seem to shake this feeling of dread that’s building in the pit of my stomach. Kicking my feet up onto the front desk and crossing my ankles, I lean back and stare at my phone in my hand. My eyebrows tug together and my eyes dart back and forth across the text on the screen. This is the first that I’ve actually looked up the rink since Harrison and I spoke about it.
The thought of doing something with it is overwhelming, but the thought of someone else coming in, tearing it down, and building something else feels even worse.
I’m not so sure I can let that happen.
The bell dings from over the front door, but it doesn’t drag me away from the listing. The price isn’t outrageous, which has me wondering how bad the interior is. Mr. Nelson owned it when I was a kid and he passed away a few years ago. I’m guessing it belongs to someone in his family now, so I’m curious whether or not anyone has kept up with anything.
My feet abruptly fall to the floor and the movement jerks my body upright, my phone almost tumbling to the floor. Pressing the button on the side, I lock the screen and my eyes widen as they flash to the person who knocked my feet onto the ground.
“Hey,” Willow says, an innocent smile stretching across her lips. “You shouldn’t put your shoes on the desk.”
My nostrils flare and my eyebrows lower. “Well, you shouldn’t surprise someone like that either.”
Willow shrugs her shoulders. “The bell rang when I walked in. I thought you knew I was here.”
“And what gave you that indication?”
Willow stares at me for a moment, the smile falling from her lips as she lets out a sigh. “Okay, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that.” She lifts her eyebrows. “What’s got you all irritable this morning?”
Bracing my hands on my knees, I rise from the chair with a sigh and unlock my phone screen before I turn to show it to Willow. “They’re selling the rink.”
“Oh, yeah, I saw,” she says quietly, her eyes scanning the screen as she holds my phone. I move out of the way, pushing the chair closer to her. “I know it hasn’t been open for a few years and I don’t think the Nelson's have the money, time, or energy to reopen it.”
