Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 91594 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 458(@200wpm)___ 366(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91594 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 458(@200wpm)___ 366(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
I laugh inwardly because thinking about how hot Holden Sheppard is won’t help me in my quest to keep his hands off of my business and me.
“Greer!” he calls out when he spots me. “You look lovely today.”
He may need to get his eyes rechecked because I’m not dressed to impress. I’m wearing one of my Sweet Indulgences T-shirts and a pair of white shorts since the temperature is supposed to skyrocket later this afternoon. To add to that, I look like I haven’t slept in days. To be precise, it was only last night. I tossed and turned in bed last night thinking about his business proposition and our time in East Hampton.
I don’t return the compliment because that’s not the tone I want to set with him right now. I wasn’t able to discuss business with Krista, so I’m no closer to knowing what I’m going to do than I was when I stormed out of Carden’s offices.
“I have a hectic day, Holden,” I say as I approach him. “I told you I’d reach out to talk when I’m ready.”
“I know.” He nods, tucking both hands in the front pockets of his pants. “I’m not here to pressure you. I come in peace.”
I can’t help but smile. “Do I want to know what that means?”
His face remains stoic. “I mentioned we wanted to present a new offer to you and Krista. I believe your response was ‘don’t bother,’ but I bothered anyway and had it drawn up. I’ll send it over to you via courier since I don’t have any of your contact information.”
This is the moment in time when I should offer my phone number to him, but I’m not about to do that. We’ve shared way too much time in bed. If he had my number, he could reach out to ask me out.
At least I think he’d do that, judging by what he said to me last night.
“I’m not in a position to make a final decision yet,” I say.
I was set on not selling, but knowing that Krista is having a baby does change things. How could it not?
“No rush,” he says in an even tone. “Take your time looking over the revised offer.”
“Okay.” I nod.
“Okay,” he repeats, grinning slightly. “I’ll take off. Unless you want me to stick around and stare at you for an hour or two.”
I ward off a smile by biting the corner of my bottom lip. “Let’s skip that.”
“My loss.” He sighs. “Have a good day, Summer.”
“Greer,” I correct him.
“I know.” He leans close enough that I can feel his breath skirt over my cheek. “Forgive me if it takes me a minute to get used to calling you that.”
The fact that he repeats almost verbatim what I said to him on the day we met hits me hard. I’m flooded with memories of being in his arms.
“Forgiven,” I whisper, pulling back just far enough that I can look into his eyes. “I’ll be in touch, Holden.”
“I’ll be waiting,” he rasps. “Goodbye for now.”
I don’t echo his words. Instead, I watch as he walks away, keeping my gaze on him until he rounds the corner and disappears from view.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
Holden
I sprint into the hospital, sweat peppering my brow. Tugging on the knot in my tie, I’m able to loosen it just as I call out for the three people on the elevator to hold it.
One of them, a man dressed in scrubs, nods in acknowledgement.
As soon as I’ve boarded, I reach in front of him to press the button to head up to the sixth floor.
No one says a word to each other, as the elevator stops twice. More people stream on, buttons are pressed on the control panel, and when we finally make it to my floor, I’m out in a flash.
I was here the day Morgan was born, so I know my way around.
“Holden!” I hear my name coming at me from the right, so I glance in that direction.
Rook is there, dressed like he just rolled out of bed. There’s a strong possibility that’s the case because it’s nearing two in the morning. I was at the office, mulling over some potential acquisitions that Jameson put in front of me before he called it a night hours ago. I also needed to carve out some time to update our shipping procedures, so tonight was the ideal night to focus on that.
It’s been almost a week since Greer and I spoke inside her store. I anticipated hearing back from her by now regarding the new offer we presented, but her silence has been deafening.
James had suggested calling Krista on his own, but I told him to hold off. If this crawls into next week, I’ll let him make that call.
I know how badly he wants to buy out Sweet Indulgence. I’ve done more research on the company, and I’m on the same page as him. It would be a solid investment for us and take us into a new space if we decide to continue with the candy buffet aspect of Greer and Krista’s business model.