Jeremy clears his throat, and my gaze snaps back up to his face. He smirks.
You can do this. It’s just a business meeting. You’ve had plenty of those before.
Tris touches my wrist. “You okay?” he mutters, his eyebrows lowering in concern. I don’t miss the way Jeremy’s gaze drops to Tris’s hand.
“Fine,” I say a little too loudly. I yank my hand out of Jeremy’s gentle grip. “Uhm, I definitely could use the help around here.” I wave vaguely around the room.
Jeremy steps past me, and I catch a whiff of his floral scent when he spins around, taking in the dining room and bar. “It’s a really beautiful space.” He walks over to the large windows, placing his fingertips on the glass as he looks out at the water. “Are you renting it? Are there any restrictions?”
He’d look really good naked and pressed against that glass while I?—
“Uh, no, I, uh, own the building. I have all the control.”
He raises an eyebrow. “Do you now?”
My skin feels stretched thin and hot, and I hate that he can tell that I have absolutelynocontrol right now.
Get it together, Marcus.
I try to put on my usual professional mask. “Why don’t we go into my office?” I say quickly. “We can talk about my expectations, and I’ll show you some photos of the Vancouver location.”
Jeremy nods absently, still studying the place with deep intensity. He looks . . . satisfied.
I walk to the other side of the bar to a set of stairs. I can hear his soft footfalls behind me.
There are actually two offices up here: one for me and one for Sebastian, though his goes largely unused. As we pass by, I glance inside. It’s mostly full of unpacked boxes, which makes me feel sad. I miss my brother.
I walk into my office, step aside to let Jeremy enter, and peek behind him to make sure that Tristan didn’t follow us. Then I close the door and cross to my desk, take my seat, and indicate that Jeremy should sit in the one across from me.
We stare at each other.
“So.” I feel so awkward.
Is he going to want to talk about last Friday?I really don’t want to. I want to forget it.But you can’t, can you?
Jeremy raises an eyebrow when I don’t say anything else, then places his hands on my desk with a sigh. “Look, Marcus?—”
“They’re purple now,” I blurt.
Jeremy looks up at me. “Sorry, what?”
“Y-your fingernails. They were silver on Friday.”
“They were,” he says slowly, looking confused.
I’m confused too.Why did I say that?“I’m sorry, what were you saying?”
He taps one finger on the desk. “I was just going to say that if you don’t want to work with me, it’s fine.” He shrugs. “I’ll just tell Tris that I didn’t think we were a good fit.”
“You don’t think we’re a good fit?”
He narrows his eyes. “I didn’t say that, but you seem uncomfortable.”
“You make me uncomfortable,” I admit, glancing away.
“Why?”
“That seems like a stupid question.”
