"We have a few on our short list. When is Meg coming by?"
"Not until this afternoon. We're meeting to strategize first though. The last meeting went poorly."
"I would have paid good money to see Meg punch Hunter in the face. Greg was appalled when he found out," Archer cackled, leaning back in my chair.
I shook my head.
"He's used to those planning meetings in New York City. A brawl would never break out in one of those," Archer said, chuckling.
"That's how we roll here in small-town America," I replied, gathering up my notes.
Of all of us at our strategy meeting, Archer, because of all the hotels he'd had to secure approvals and permits for, was probably the most knowledgeable. Though my twin could be annoying, he could dominate a public meeting like no one else.
"You guys need to promise something," he said when we went over our strategy. "The community wants to see that they're not getting pushed out. That's why all my hotels have a publicly accessible restaurant on the ground floor or something like a high-end bodega. One hotel has an Italian grocery store that sells imported goods. It was smart because it also tied in with the history of the neighborhood, which historically had a strong Italian immigrant population," Archer explained.
"We're offering to build a park," Liam said, tapping his pen on the table.
"Ah, yes, the good old transfer of development rights," Archer said, rolling his eyes. "That's fine if you need to fulfill some legal requirement, but you need to have something directly related to your new building."
"The residents are mad about the amount of land we're going to be tearing up and the meadow and forest," I told him. "I'm not sure another restaurant is going to help that."
"It can help drum up more support from younger people," he said. "You can use your cute marketing genius."
I kicked him under the table. I could see my twin struggling to keep his mouth shut. I shook my head at him.
But Archer blurted out, "Mace has a girlfriend."
"I don't! I told you that in confidence!" I yelled at him.
"Wait what?" Liam asked. "Greg said you hated her."
"Hate is a strong word," I replied.
"He's embroiled in passion for her." Archer snickered. "And in typical Mace fashion, he's imagining worst-case scenarios and way overthinking things."
"You're terrible," I grumbled.
"Just make sure you go down on her first," Archer said. "A helping hand helps her first and all that."
"That is inappropriate!"
Archer ignored me. "You should ask Hunter for some tips." Hunter's face said that if for some reason I was dumb enough to ask him, it would be the last thing I ever did.
"If we could get back to the meeting…"
"So you can get back to Josie?" Archer waggled his eyebrows.
I did want to go back to Josie, but after the meeting was over, Hunter grabbed me.
"Don't get involved with Josie," he said, face serious. "It can only end badly. Trust me."
31
Josie
My infatuation with Mace was at a simmer. I wanted it to boil, but I also didn't want to screw it up. My friendship with Anke had progressed fast too. When I liked something, I went all out. I was worried that my desire for Mace was overriding the minimal amount of good judgement I had left.
At least I had the excuse of working on the marketing campaign to stay away from him. I avoided him last night and made the kids help me with cleanup after dinner so I wouldn't be tempted. Then I locked myself in my tiny house to work at the cramped drop-down desk.
