Her head snapped up, her eyes wide. “You’re serious about this? About me partnering with you.”
His expression sobered. “I am. And Nico, if he wants to be part of it.”
“Why?”
He looked surprised by her question, but Stone took it in stride. “Because I want to build a life with you, Stevie. And I want you by my side.”
She frowned. “You don’t need my help.” She lifted the iPad. “You’ve got an eye for business. You could do this by yourself.”
“Maybe. But I’d prefer to have your help.”
Stevie wasn’t sure what to say. Hell, she wasn’t sure what to think. She felt as though the tornado sirens were blaring, and she was being forced to decide which shelter to take. On the one hand, there was the safety and security of what she knew—the business she’d built with Nico—or the other option, which involved venturing into the unknown with a man who’d broken her heart once already.
The logical side of her brain said she needed to politely decline because there was too much risk. Not financial because, based on this outline, Stone wasn’t seeking any capital from her. No, the risk was to her emotional well-being. If this didn’t work, if they hit a snag that directly conflicted with this well-thought-out plan, what would happen? Would he up and leave again? Would she be left stitching herself back together again?
“You don’t have to give me an answer right now,” Stone said. “I can send you the proposal. I’d like Nico to look it over, too. He might see somethin’ I didn’t. Y’all have seen the ups and downs of the small-town economy over the past eight years. You’ll have insight that I don’t.”
He was being so logical about it all. It didn’t suit the memory of the man that was still rooted deep in her brain. Stone had been impulsive and reckless back in the day—traits she’d found incredibly sexy because she’d been young and naive. This man … he was putting tremendous thought and effort into what came next.
Strangely, that was ridiculously sexy to the older, grown-up version of herself.
Stevie set the iPad down. “What you’ve got is impressive. I won’t lie. And it’s tempting. But I do need to mull it over a bit. And yeah. I want to talk to Nico.”
His smile lit up his entire face. “That’s all I was hopin’ for.”
Stone rubbed his knuckles on Jäger’s head one more time before setting him on the ground and standing tall.
“I’ll let you get back to it.” He stared down at her. “I’m gonna move forward and talk to my cousins. See if I can’t get their approval. You’ll let me know?”
She nodded.
Stone came around the desk. He waited until she turned in her chair before he leaned down and pressed another quick kiss to her lips. She wished he would linger because she missed the warmth of his body. The other night, she’d been anticipating staying the night with him. That hadn’t happened, and while she didn’t want to admit it, her patience was running thin. He’d generated a welcome heat inside her, and it continued to churn—more so with his proximity—so it wasn’t easy to do the adult thing and let him walk away without exploring that a little more.
But she did because that was the correct response. She wasn’t that impulsive young girl who would follow this man anywhere, and it was important that he knew that.
“I’ll call you later,” he said as he started toward the door. “Maybe we can have dinner again.”
She nodded. Not so much because she agreed but because she knew it was necessary. Especially if she was supposed to keep it together. What it was about this man, she didn’t know, but he had the uncanny ability to make all common sense flee.
Stevie figured the best bet was to sate those urges before they turned into a wildfire that burned out of control.
***
“How about dinner tonight? Our house. We’llinvite Stone?”
Nico grinned because it was unusual for Stevie to answer the phone with questions rather than some sort of pleasantry. He’d called her to check in and to let her know he was heading back after the morning from hell. But he didn’t get the chance to because she was focused on other things.
“You miss him, huh?” he asked.
“I just saw him,” she said, her tone a bit higher than usual. “Why would I miss him?”
“He was there?”
“Yep. Dropped by unannounced and then dumped this brilliant business proposal on my desk.”
“Brilliant business proposal,” he echoed. “That sounds like a positive.”
“It’s not,” she drawled. “Here he is, mappin’ out a future, and the only thing I can think about is gettin’ him naked.”
