Page 41 of The Rebel

I laughed. “Nah, man. She’s great. Actually, she’s perfect.”

What would have made her even more perfect was if she had fucking called me.

This was the end of our second day home, and she still hadn’t reached out. I’d heard everything Brooklyn had said to me last night about Rowan processing what had gone down between us and taking her time to contact me.

For some women, that made sense.

But for Rowan, who hadn’t taken long at all to decide she wanted me to come up to her room, I didn’t buy Brooklyn’s theory.

There was a reason I hadn’t heard from Rowan. For the fucking life of me, I couldn’t figure out what it was.

“It’s about time you settled down, old man.” He laughed again. “That makes me happy as hell to hear.”

“Old man? You’re older than me.” I hissed out a whole mouthful of air. “I don’t know if I’ll be settling down anytime soon or if anything is really going to happen between us, but I like where your head is at.” I cleared my throat. “On the flip side of things, Lake Louise is causing us a bit of agony at the moment. We haven’t been able to get the seller to agree on our price.”

“Hold on … didn’t that happen last time?”

“Yes.” I groaned. “And the time before.” I slowed as I reached the red light. “There’s only one reason it keeps happening, and it’s bullshit. I’m tired of it.”

It wasn’t just me; my whole family felt that way. Every goddamn deal causing us nothing but fucking stress.

And since I’d returned from Canada, it was all we had talked about and the fact that there was no end in sight.

“I hear you,” Ford said. “I wish there were something we could do. Or something you could do.”

I could drink.

That was the only thing that would help this feeling of rage.

Although I had quite an extensive bar at home, there was a specific kind of bourbon I was craving that I happened to be all out of. Knowing that, I’d gone a different way home, so I could stop at the liquor store that I knew carried it.

“There are things that can be done.” Right before the light turned green, I ran my hand over my head, returning to the gearshift. “But until Spade Hotels is ours, it’s all in Walter’s hands. We’ve given him our opinion, but he’s the one who makes the final decision.”

“If it makes you feel any better, it’s the same over here. Not that I want my parents to fully retire—I want them to be happywith whatever they do—but when the firm is ours, we’re going to run things differently.”

“You get it.” I sped through two more intersections and pulled into the liquor store, parking out front. “Life’s going to be different when we’re in command, isn’t it?”

“Fuck,” he moaned, “you can say that again.”

I smiled. “Listen, I’ve got to run. Text me some dates you’re available—I know it’s hard to break away from that little girl, but I can make myself free whenever you can get out.”

“Will do, bud.”

I hung up and slid my phone into the pocket of my suit, walking inside the store. I’d been here many times before; I knew exactly where the bourbon was located, and I went to that aisle, scanning the bottles until I found the one I wanted. It was located on the top shelf, and I grabbed two.

As I was headed for the register, rounding the endcap of the aisle, I heard a familiar voice say, “Are you in the mood for red or white?”

If her voice hadn’t caught my attention, her scent would have.

Rowan’s was unique, and the mix of apple and cedarwood that instantly flew up my nose caused me to halt halfway to the register. While I stood in that spot, frozen, watching her talk on the phone, I took in the sight of her.

A sight that was professional, which was a side I hadn’t seen during our time together in Lake Louise and one I simply couldn’t get enough of.

She had on a black skirt that showed off her incredible legs, an emerald-colored blouse that was tucked in, and a black blazer. Heels that were fucking sky-high and sexy. Her long hair was down and a little messy, like she’d been tugging on it during a day just as stressful as mine.

Fuck me.

I wanted that hair to slap against my chest and slither down my abs as her mouth worked its way to my cock.

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