Page 66 of Mr. Wicked

I wished Sloane hadn’t said that.

I liked that she’d noticed, but I didn’t want him to know that he made me feel that way.

“Jovana tells me you want to buy the bar?” he said to her.

I gasped inwardly when his hand landed on my thigh, rubbing the inside and outside of my knee. He was definitely playing the part. Sitting close. Appearing attentive and present. Loving, even.

All of it was causing my skin to heat up.

I was sure he felt it.

And I was sure he was loving that he had this effect on me.

“I do,” she replied.

Another topic we’d discussed over pasta was Sloane’s desire to buy the bar and for my influence to make it the most popular place in the Back Bay.

“Except it’s not for sale,” she said. “I’ve been working on the owner and he’s starting to open up to the idea a little. I’m not sure how I would get financing unless he gave me a loan, but my plan is to keep hounding him until he agrees.”

“I’ll talk to him,” Grayson said.

She sat up taller, her feet moving to the floor. “You know Nate?”

“That’s why my friends and I go there so often, aside from the fact that it’s close to where we all live. We went to college with Cousins.”

When I’d been online stalking Grayson, Google had told me he was thirty years old, and Nate Cousins looked to be the same age. Rumor was, Nate had bought the bar several years back and immediately hired a general manager to run it. Nate apparently had no interest in being a part of the day-to-day. He’d made no effort to market the place or expand the menu. He just had so much money, he wanted to add a bar to his portfolio.

“And what would you say to him?” Sloane questioned.

“That I have a party who’s interested in buying with the possibility of owner financing.”

She stared at him in awe. “It’s that easy?”

“Of course.” He sat with his legs open, the beer resting between them. “He’s a businessman, just like myself. We like options. We also like to be presented with ways we can make money.” His hand moved toward my hip, his eyes locking with mine for a single smoldering second before they returned to Sloane. “He’ll profit off the sale, and if he’s the one to hold the note, he’s going to make plenty off the interest. Cousins has several other businesses that are more of a main focus to him.”

“How much pull do you have with him?” Her body now faced us. “I mean, is this something that could actually happen?”

Grayson smiled.

Power was his love language.

She couldn’t have asked a better question.

“I have a stronger chance of persuading him than you do.”

Sloane drank half of her glass. “This could really be an option.” She wasn’t looking for an answer; she was saying the words out loud, like she couldn’t believe them.

“Put together a business plan. If Cousins wants to move forward, that’s the first thing he’s going to ask for. It needs to be impressive, especially if he’s going to finance the deal.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet, slipping a business card from one of the folds. He held it out to her. “If you want me to look it over, I’m happy to.”

She took the business card from his hand, reading the information printed on it. “You really don’t mind?”

He chuckled. “I wouldn’t have offered if I did.”

She balanced the card between her pointer finger and thumb. “Wow.” She swallowed. “Thank you.”

He was so good when he wanted to be, and there was no doubt he’d won her over.

The only way to reward him for that was to let him leave. I was sure he was dying to. But before he went, it was only appropriate to show him around first. That was what any girlfriend would do the first time her boyfriend visited her apartment.

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