Page 67 of Fast and Dirty

“No! I don’t care if your bunk is cold, you CANNOT SNUGGLE!” I protest to the intruder of slumber.

“What? Babe!”

I feel my body shake gently before I come to and jolt awake with a yelp. “Jesus, Kira!” I shout as my heartrate resounds through my body like a bat out of hellas my beautiful girlfriend comes into focus in the darkened room. Her head drops to the side as she gives me a dubious look.

“Okay, if this relationship is going to work out, you need to seriously see a therapist about your sleep issues. Anyway,” she shifts and crisscrosses her legs, getting comfortable. “I think I’ve had some kind of breakthrough!

“Breakthrough?” She certainly broke through my state of slumber.

“Yes! I think I finally have some kind of direction; like I know what I want to do!”

She’s so excited and my sleep addled brain is trying to keep up.

“Spill,” I mumble, trying to prop myself up on my elbows.

She takes in a deep breath, clearly intent on making a big reveal. “I want to buy the Inn.”

I let her revelation sit in silence between us a moment while I try to process.

“The Inn?” I raise an eyebrow and she nods, biting her lower lip. “The old Inn. Here in town. The eyesore that’s falling apart.”

I’m stating rather than asking, and she nods along with each sentence.

“That’s the one.”

After a long pause I finally blink. “Why?”

She inhales deeply before settling into the pillow next to me. “I don’t know… I just look at it and I I keep envisioning what it used to look like. And this town is already so charming and I feel like having it restored would accentuate that. Like it would shine a light on a grey area people have been overlooking.”

I let her perspective settle over me and it seems to open a window in my mind. I can see what she’s talking about and it makes sense; beautiful sense.

“Baby…” I start, trying to find the right words. I believe she can do this, but she doesn’t like to be bullshitted and I know she’d appreciate me helping her look at every angle. “I think it’s the perfect venture for you. And you’re a smart woman, and I bet you could make that place beautiful again. But do you have any business experience?”

Her face falls. “No,” She sighs dejectedly. “And it is a big place. Even if I got it up and running it would be a lot to take on. Oh my god what was I thinking? I just woke you up in the middle of the night to tell you something stupid,” she groans, rolling away.

“Whoa, hey…” I object, reaching over and putting a protective hand on her hip and inching closer. “Don’t toss the idea that easy. It’s not impossible. You’ve got time to figure it out. I by no means said you couldn’t do it.”

“Then why…”

“I was just trying to make sure both your eyes were open, that’s all,” he says gently. “And I could help…?” I offer.

“Really?” her beaming glow practically lights up the dark room.

“Whatever keeps you here,” I whisper sincerely, surprising myself with the depth that I feel my words. “Are you going to keep pulling the Miss Independent act and try to stop me again?”

Her eyes shift downward. “I sure want to. I hate coming intothis new life; this new independence and not actually being independent.”

“Accepting help doesn’t take away from that, you know?” I point out. “God knows I got lucky when it came to hiding my racing winnings. And your dad sure as fuck didn’t start from nothing, I’d bet my bottom dollar. And again, I’ll do whatever I can to keep you here with me.”

The way her eyes light up make me feel so good it’s borderline painful.

“Wow,” she breathes out. “Are you basically telling me to…shut the fuck up and take your help like a good girl?”

“One hundred percent.”

“Just tell me you really want to do this,” she requests, adamantly. “That you’re not doing this to just be nice.”

“Kira… you and your getaway car getting dropped into this world has been a great thing for me and I want it to be that for both of us. I want to work with you on this and help you make it happen. The only reason I’ve been able to run the shop - well, besides my experience with cars - is because I had nothing to do in jail and I took some online business courses. You could buy the inn and while it’s being renovated, you could do the same and/or I could teach you what I know.”

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