Page 43 of Lovesick
“What?”
His grin deepened. “Oh, yeah. I’ve already got this rolling. Approval for a new loan came through yesterday. I could meet with the real estate agent tomorrow about the pizza place if it works out. Gotta get my eyes on it first, of course.”
“Damn, Mark,” I muttered.
He slugged me in the shoulder, but it didn’t move me. “JJ! This is it! We’re doing our next big one. Adventura is coming along. We’re successfully running four Airbnbs in three separate Colorado ski towns, and the car wash in Nebraska is holding its own.”
“It’s not profitable.”
“It’s ... getting there. You can’t expect a toddler to swim. Give it time. This is awesome. This spa could bring in the revenue I need for my final push to mountain-man status, or at least fuel our retirement funds.”
“You did it, Mark.”
He shrugged that off. “I’m nothing without you, bro. We just gotta figure out the interior restructuring now. Let’s see if we can pull images off the internet.”
The sound of Lizbeth clearing her throat startled both of us. She stood near the couch. Her fingers fidgeted with the bottom of her shirt. Mark sat down next to me, laptop in hand.
“What’s up?” he asked.
“Ah, quick question. Are either of you going into town tomorrow?”
Mark and I both shook our heads.
“Oh.”
“Do you need a ride?” Mark asked.
“Yes, if possible. I, uh...” She cleared her throat and lifted her chin. “Have a dinner I need to go to in Jackson City.”
“Oooh?” Mark drawled dramatically, eyebrows waggling. “Hot guy, Lizbeth?”
She refused to look at me, which was fine. Because something was burning in my throat, and if I had to speak, I’d croak. Like an utter imbecile.
“Ah, I don’t know,” she said. “It’s just a dinner. I was supposed to borrow Mav’s SUV, but he’ll be using it. With my car in the river...”
“I’ll take you.”
The words came from me, but I’d had no intention of saying them. Or even realized that they were in my head.
She blinked. “Great. Thanks. I, um ... you don’t have to do that, though. Maybe I could just drive it? Then you don’t have to wait around?”
I shrugged. “Not a big deal.”
Her forehead wrinkled. “You’re just going to wait in Jackson City while I’m on a date?”
So it wasn’t just dinner.
“Sure. I have some errands I could run.”
She pulled in a breath, opened her mouth, and paused. Mark looked at me with a grin I didn’t care to acknowledge.
“I mean ... do you not want me to drive the Zombie Mobile?” she asked.
“You could try,” Mark offered, “but it doesn’t have power steering, and the floor is about to fall out.”
He wasn’t kidding.
“Plus,” Mark added, “if this guy ends up being a serial killer, the Zombie Mobile isn’t your best option.”
