He didn’t seem to mind.
Chapter Seventeen
Eli looked up at the old industrial building in LoDo—the building he’d had his eye on for months. It was old, it needed a bunch of work done, and it was overpriced. Hence why it remained on the market for all these months. But the location was spot on, and the place had character.
The perfect location for a restaurant. His restaurant.
He was willing to pay the price tag once he had the cash.
Marlee took his hand. “What’s this?”
“I want to buy it,” he whispered. He hadn’t said the words out loud to anyone. Not even his real estate agent when she’d shown it to him three times.
A few more huge events and he would have enough for the down payment.
Marlee ran her hand along the brick exterior. “It’s beautiful.”
It wasn’t, but it would be.
“Come on.” He tugged her hand and opened the door for her.
She walked through, a layer of dust and musty air assaulting them.
For the briefest of moments, he wished he hadn’t brought her to the building. She should see it when it was complete. When it made sense. Right now? Right now, it was an overpriced building with stale air and red graffiti tagged on the inside walls.
When he was done? When he was done it’d be one of Denver’s best hot spots.
“We can just walk in?” Marlee asked.
“Trish?” he called.
“I’m here,” his real estate agent hollered back.
“I’ll introduce you to her in a little bit. She’s my Realtor, but she knows I prefer to check things out alone.”
Trish got him. Understood that he didn’t need the sales pitch. She unlocked the doors, showed him around the new properties, and then disappeared while he dreamt.
“The bar will go over here.” He strode to the area on the west side of the room. “Bar tables here by the big windows so guests can have a drink and watch the sunset over the Rockies.”
Marlee didn’t move as he jogged up the stairs to the landing. “This will be the room for events. Not huge, but it’ll work.”
She followed, cautious on the stairs. They were rickety, but they’d hold—for now.
“The kitchen will go back behind the bar. We’ll need new plumbing, get everything up to code, but when it’s done…” He shoved his hands on his hips. “Yeah. It’ll work.”
Marlee still hadn’t said anything.
His heart dropped. She hated it.
The building was a wreck, for sure, but he had a vision for it. And for some reason, he wanted Marlee to get it. To love it, too.
“You’re not going to paint the brick, are you?” Marlee asked, running her fingers over a batch of graffiti on the wall. “I think you can get this off pretty easily.”
He placed his hand over hers on the wall. “No, I like the exposed brick.”
“It’s beautiful, Eli.” She turned so her lips were millimeters away from his. “It’s perfect.”
She wasn’t lying. He saw it in her eyes. She got it. Knew what he was trying to do. And that meant everything.
