He cupped my cheeks with his hands and drew me in for a kiss. We were both breathless by the time we pulled away.
“Maybe I can send Samantha home early,” I whispered. I’d done that the last time he’d come to visit. I could hardly work at my desk anymore without remembering Jensen bending me over it.
But he shook his head. “Actually, today, I’m here as a client.”
I started to chuckle, but then I realized he was serious. “Wait. Really?”
“Yes, if you have time.” He pulled back slightly. “I’d like to talk about real estate.”
“Well, sir, you’ve come to the right place.” I went back to sit at my desk and gestured for him to take the chair across from it.
“I’m looking for a commercial real estate location.”
Maybe he was thinking about opening a second shop in Garnet Bend, although I couldn’t figure out why he’d want to do that. Regardless, I wasn’t licensed as a real estate agent in Montana.
At least, not yet. I had looked into the requirements forbecoming a Realtor there. But I hadn’t mentioned my research to him. After all, we hadn’t made any definite plans for the future together. Even if I wanted to move to Montana—which I wasn’t sure I did—I didn’t know if he even wanted me there permanently.
But for right now, I would listen to him as a client and try to offer my best advice. “Well, the first step would be figuring out exactly what you need, and then we could find an agent in Montana who could help you secure that.”
“Actually, I’m looking for a place in or around Denver.”
I froze in the middle of grabbing my notebook so I could jot down particulars. “Denver?”
“Yes. Particularly, I’m looking for some sort of small woodshop for woodworking.”
Was he saying what I thought he was saying?
“Jensen…”
“This isn’t working for me, City. This being so far away from you. I love you, and I want us to figure out a way to be together.”
I closed my eyes. There was nothing I wanted more than to be close to him. Jensen was it for me. He was the one I wanted to spend the rest of my life with.
And while I didn’t want to leave behind the career I’d worked so hard to build, I knew I also couldn’t ask him to give up the only true family he’d ever known and move here.
“I don’t want you to come here.” I forced the words out.
I opened my eyes to find him staring at me with a half-startled, half-concerned look on his face. “Have I misread this thing between us? Were you not thinking of us as long-term?”
I shook my head. “No, I love you and want to be with you too. Thelongestof terms. But I can’t ask you to leave Garnet Bend. That’s your home, your family.”
“Actually, I don’t plan to leave Garnet Bend, not permanently.But I don’t expect you to give up everything here to move there either.”
I let out a sad sigh. “Then what do we do?”
“We do both.”
Excitement had heat radiating through my chest. “How?”
“We add a room on to my cabin in Garnet Bend for the sole purpose of it becoming your second office. I will make sure we have the fastest internet available, so you can conduct business there whenever you need to.”
I stood up, nodding slowly. “Go on.”
“We find a place for me here so that, like I said, I can have a woodworking shop. That’s bringing in a lot of my income anyway. I can hire a second mechanic for the shop, which will free me up to come here and do woodwork as much as I want.”
I walked around my desk so I was leaning on it in front of him. I could literally feel my heart thundering in my chest with exhilaration. “You’ve put a lot of thought into this.”
“You’re worth a lot of thought. And even more, you’re worth a lot of effort.” He hooked his hands onto my hips and pulled me down to sit on his lap. “I also looked into the regional airports near Garnet Bend. Did you know one of the smaller airlines has flights to Denver and back four times a week? Airport is an hour away, but…”