“So were you... you made some excellent points last time we were in this office. That’s what I want to talk about.”
“We really do have business to discuss?” she asks, a little surprised.
“We do. But I welcome this particular distraction.” I lean in for another kiss... or two.
“Maybe...” I begin a few minutes later, forcing myself to let go, “I need to sit on the other side of the desk for us to talk about anything.”
“That’s too far away. How about I sit on the desk, on this side?” She climbs off my lap, goes to the bookshelf behind us, and pulls out her tin of cookies. “Would you like a snickerdoodle?”
“Always.”
She hands me a cookie, then sits on the desk, her legs swinging and relaxed, lightly brushing mine as I stay in the chair. This might not be enough distance.
“What’s this business you have to talk about?” Her voice has a lower, more intimate tone than I’ve ever heard before.And I like it. “I really hope you didn’t quit your job just for me. I can’t handle that pressure. I can’t be responsible for you living on the streets,” she says with a tease, but there’s a thread of real concern in her voice.
“I didn’t quit for you,” I say as I take her hand. I can’t believe I’m this close to her; I have to touch her somehow “Though you definitely gave me the clarity to quit a job I should have left years ago. But rest assured, I quit for me, not you. I’m not sure why I stayed with Steele Properties so long. I suppose I was just going with the flow. Lucinda offered me a job, and I took it. I knew my mom and grandpa wanted me to start my own business, and working for Lucinda was the easy alternative. I had no desire to work that hard—probably because I didn’t have anything I was that interested in. But I do now.”
“And what is that?” Elinor weaves her fingers in and out through mine. It’s getting harder to concentrate, but I have to finish this explanation I’ve started.
“Well, originally I was mulling over this wild plan to buy Norland Park myself—” She stops abruptly.
“You were considering that? Seriously?” Her eyes go dreamy. “That is so... so incredibly sweet.”
“Yeah, I thought we could renovate it in all the ways you wanted. In all the ways that webothwant. Our rate of return wouldn’t have been as high as with the original plan, but it would still have been profitable.”
“I love that idea, but... Edward, if we’re dating, that would still leave me in a tricky spot.” She hesitates. “Wearedating, right?”
“Definitely dating. Don’t worry. That wasn’t the only problem with my plan. Honestly, I’m not sure I could have rustled up enough money to make it a go. But in the end, it didn’t matter. My mom sold the park to someone else.”
“No!” Elinor jumps off the desk.
“Don’t worry. This story has a good ending,” I take her hand and draw her back onto my lap. “I was pretty upset too—until she told me the name of the trust who bought it: BTB. It didn’t register as first. I was too shocked that my mom sold the park. But on my drive home, I thought again about the company name, and it clicked.”
“I don’t think I’m following.”
“BTB is a lacrosse term. It meansBehind the Back. On a hunch, I called Brandon and asked if he knew anything about the LLC, and he admitted it was his.”
“Brandon bought Norland Park?” Elinor freezes for a second.
“He did, the sneaky bastard.”
“And he can afford it?”
“Many times over.”
She lets out a small whistle. “I had no idea! Do you think Annie knows?”
“About the park, or that he has money?”
“Both.”
“He hasn’t told anyone about the park. He says it’s a surprise for Pepper. But I suspect he has other motivations.”
“Annie?”
“I can’t say. We mainly talked business. I’m planning to sell my townhouse and my cars to help contribute to our starting costs.”
“Even the Ferrari?” she asks, reaching past me for a snickerdoodle.
