Page 103 of The Main Event

I was completely thrown, and it took some of the wind out of my sails. “Oh, well … okay.”

He stared at me a beat and then burst out laughing. “I’m getting the steak. I was just messing with you.”

I elbowed his side. “That’s cheating.”

His eyes were clear when they locked with mine. “Actually, that’s something I would never do.”

I was a goner for this man. It was no longer a big revelation. I was already overboard, and there was no life preserver in sight. What was I going to do if he didn’t feel the same way? What if he couldn’t overcome his parents and stay? What if he was the iceberg and I was the Titanic, and it was already too late?

25

TWENTY-FIVE

Daisy was a lump in the bed when I switched off my phone alarm. I woke up five minutes before it went off and was determined that she should keep sleeping.

We were close to the big Halloween party, the party that made the most money for the Hunter Hotel, and the money we cleared would be enough to fund us through two rounds of renovations. That was half of what was left. Daisy was convinced the Christmas and New Year’s parties would pay for the sixth floor. That only left us to figure out how to pay for the seventh floor. Daisy was such an optimist she just kept saying over and over “It’s going to happen. Don’t worry.” I was more pragmatic, and yet her optimism was seeping in.

I rolled to my side and watched her sleep. She wrapped herself like a burrito in the blankets. There were times I woke up and didn’t even have a sheet to cover myself. I didn’t care about being cold, though. Having her in my life was warmth enough.

And wasn’t that a sobering thought?

I trailed my fingers over her soft skin, grinning when she murmured. She had entire conversations in her sleepsometimes. I couldn’t figure out what she was saying half of the time, but she was animated, and that made her adorable.

“What are you doing?” she murmured without opening her eyes. “Go back to sleep.”

“I woke up cold.”

That had her opening her eyes and looking at the blankets. “Sorry.” She lifted her arm so I could scoot under with her, which I gladly did. I was supposed to meet Jesse at the gym in forty-five minutes, and yet I couldn’t be bothered to care at this point.

My arms slipped around her and pulled her tight against me, and a feeling of rightness settled over me as she rested her head on my shoulder. This was how it was supposed to be. I was supposed to go to bed every night with her giggling next to me, and I was supposed to wake up freezing and without blankets every morning.

We were supposed to go out to dinner and try every pumpkin-themed martini in town.

We were supposed to go to Salem Witch Village and mock the wax museum once a month.

We were supposed to have cider and doughnuts in Salem Common. She’d been right about the cake doughnuts. They were amazing. I wasn’t a warm cider fan—cold was another story—but for some reason, it tasted great when I was with her.

I wanted to spend weekends in Boston with her, visit the museums and see her reaction to everything.

I wanted to go on pub crawls, or just spend an entire day in bed with the snow raging outside.

And, most importantly, I wanted to run the hotel with her. My grandfather’s legacy needed to be secured. Never before had I been excited to go to work. It wasn’t just Daisy either, although she was a big part of it. I liked the workers. I liked the atmosphere. I liked the sense of family.

Sure, Tammy was still a problem, but I had a feeling that was never going to change. I’d taken a page out of the other worker’s books and started looking at her as the kooky cousin. Half the fun was waiting to see what sort of weird thing she would do next.

I wanted the whole shebang.

Now I just had to figure out how to get it.

Sure, I technically didn’t need to do anything other than what I was doing. My family couldn’t force me to sell and split up the proceeds. They could make it so I was ostracized from the family, though, and I had no doubt they would if I didn’t follow my father’s instructions.

I’ll be like George.

That was a sobering, although not unwanted, feeling. Was I the new George? He didn’t seem bothered at being cut loose from the family.

That’s because he made a different family, I realized, and one of the people he loved most was resting safely in my arms.

This was the life I wanted. Well, maybe other than living in a hotel room. I was going to have to figure out a different living situation if I moved to Salem permanently. That would mean selling my condo and moving all my things over here.

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