Page 61 of Meet Me at the Grand

“I’m open to suggestions if you’ve got a different way to go about this.” There was no arrogance in his tone. He truly was trying to be objective.

And not for the first time she wondered why he was doing this. Why he’d stayed when he could have easily gone home. Was he truly falling for her, like he’d admitted to Cody? Or was it some sense of obligation, the promise his dad had given Seb?

She couldn’t ask him though. It would definitely risk her ability to accomplish that second goal. Might derail them from goal number one as well.

Dani shook her head. “No, it’s okay. We’ll do it your way.” Then she closed her eyes and allowed herself to remember the Grand Sullivan Hotel how it once was. What meant the most? Her eyes reopened. “I want the gazebo to stay where it is.” It was too important to her—to her family’s history—to ever see it moved elsewhere.

“Got it.” Liam grabbed a yellow legal pad and wrote down her choice. But what part of his monstrous plans would he insist on keeping first? “And for me, the rooms have to have televisions.”

She nearly laughed with relief. “You and those TVs.”

He winked and wrote his “demand” down with a flourish. “I’ve got to make a stand for my fellow modernites. What’s next?”

“The community porch. It stays.”

Frowning, Liam nodded. “Gotta admit, that one hurts. I really loved the idea of individual porches.”

“And I have too many memories on that porch to let it go.”

“Like what?” He looked up at her then cleared his throat and diverted his gaze. Tapped the legal pad again. “Never mind.”

Her insides twisted. She hated him pulling away like that. But it was for the best. “Um, so what’s your next pick?”

“The lobby as I have it designed here.”

Ugh, no. “Does it really have to be three stories high? Aren’t we losing out on valuable real estate we could be using for housing guests?”

“That’s what the villas are for—to make up for that. The outside of a hotel has to be beautiful, but a lobby is a hotel’s first real chance to impress guests. Why would we waste that opportunity?”

Dani swallowed against the loss of the lobby she remembered as it disappeared like a popped bubble. “O-okay.” Her voice shook, but she plowed on. The faster they got this “draft pick” over with, the sooner they could be done here—and she could retreat to her couch and drown her sorrows in a pint of Ben & Jerry’s and the Travel Channel. “Then speaking of the outside of the hotel, I want to rebuild it to keep the original architecture. The columns lining the veranda, the turrets, the twin low-lying dormers with multiple windows, the central open belvedere.”

“The original is gorgeous, I’ll give you that.” Liam scratched his neck. “But we’re keeping the colors I suggested.”

“Red and gray? You can’t be serious.”

He shrugged. “White is so plain.”

“And stately.” She couldn’t keep the indignation from her tone. Dani stood, walked to the window, and leaned her forehead against it. Breathed. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to get worked up.” When she turned back to face him, Liam was looking at her, frowning.

He opened his mouth to say something, then shut it. Sighed. “It’s fine.” Picked the pen back up. “Next pick?”

She wanted to move forward, to shake him, to shake back the teasing Liam, the one with the softness in his gaze, who asked her what was wrong.

But if he returned, then she probably wouldn’t be able to stick to her resolve. This professional distance was good, and she’d do well to remember that.

Dani resumed her seat, shoulders straightened. “I want the rooms designed the way they used to be—all individual and unique, with charming bold patterns and antique furniture.”

Nodding, he wrote it down.

They went on that way for hours, working out all the little details, picking and choosing. And by the end of the day, they had a plan—and Dani hadn’t flirted with Liam once.

But she still wasn’t sure if she’d really succeeded at either of her two goals after all.

* * *

He and Dani finally had a plan. Liam should have been relieved.

But it was all wrong.

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