Page 42 of On One Condition

“Nope.” I sit back down beside her and emit an audible exhale. “But it felt good to get it all out.”

“To manifest it?”

“Something like that,” I say and take another sip of wine. My buzz is just within reach, and it’s something I welcome wholeheartedly.

“There is one problem with your line of thinking though,” Nita says, giving a nod to Connor as the fresh drinks are delivered to our table.

“What’s that?”

“You know there are no random men in Cedar, right? We know every single one of them.”

“That’s true. Then I’ll rephrase and say dance with a harmless man. Does that work?”

“It does. Harmless is good. I just might look for one to occupy my—ahem—time tonight as well.”

“Oh really? Is that so?”

“Yep.” Her grin widens. “Miller is spending the night at my mom’s tonight, and I do not have to work either job tomorrow. So I’m childless with no one to take care of and have nowhere I need to be by a certain time tomorrow. It’s glorious.”

“And a rarity.” My smile softens as I meet her eyes. Being a single mother isn’t easy, but I’ve never heard her complain once. She loves her son and their life despite doing it all on her own. “You most definitely deserve some of that back-scratching sex more than I do.”

“Amen, sister.” She gives me a high five and then startles. “Uh-oh. I think you’re going to win the race to being horizontal.”

“What are you talking about?”

“There’s a man standing at the end of the bar right now giving you the eye.”

Ledger.

Why is he my first thought? And even worse, why, when I turn to look where Nita is motioning, am I disappointed that the man looking my way isn’t him? Instead, it’s Carson Allen.

Of course, it is.

“Carson’s always giving me the eye.” I roll my eyes at her before looking back at him and waving.

“That man has loved you ever since you backed into his car six years ago,” she murmurs as he starts to make his way through the crowd.

“I think he should take that as a reason why he shouldn’t like me.”

“But he’s funny and harmless. You could do worse.”

“I have done worse.”

Nita belts out a laugh as Carson approaches our table, his smile wide and laughter already on his lips.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Ledger

“The deal is on the table, Hiro. Three hundred mil,” I say, moving about my office. My inability to stand still while being on the phone drives my brothers crazy.

“I understand, Ledger, but Takashi isn’t going to budge.”

Fucking Takashi trying to play hardball when he doesn’t know that’s my favorite way to play.

“He’s not going to budge? That’s a mistake and you know it.” My chuckle is low and taunting as I run a hand through my hair and stare out the darkened window. “Three hundred is a more than fair evaluation. Your property is aging, your traffic is down, and Takashi has undermined it by using its equity to leverage his Tokyo project.”

“How did—”