Page 19 of Enemies with my Bestie’s Brother
Sometimes I think that about myself too.
“Alright,I’vegotthedesigns,” Whitney says as she walks back into the apartment a few hours later. I look up from the mess that Landon and I still have spread out, though we’ve moved to the counter by now.
She has a wad of paper in her hand. I can see the faint outline of designs on the papers, but I’m more intrigued by the bright smile on her face.
“Alright.” Landon grins and glances over at me. “It looks like you two have some things to talk about, so I’m going to head home.”
“You don’t have to go,” I say, wanting someone else to be here with me.
I don’t know whether I’m going to lodge my foot back in my mouth and have to beg for her forgiveness. Having Landon with me will prevent that.
He shakes his head, smiling. “Nope. Actually, I do have to go. Hailey is making her famous roast for dinner tonight, and a business plan to commit to memory before you want to change it again.” A grin forms at the corner of my month. I’m happy that Landon has found someone that brings joy into his life. Hailey is fun-loving and a breath of fresh air. She balances out Landon’s serious disposition. He has mellowed out a lot since he has been dating Hailey.
Landon takes off, nodding to Whitney before he leaves. The second the door is closed behind him, Whitney starts spreading the designs out on the kitchen island.
I gather up my papers and put them to the side, watching as her face comes to life while she arranges the designs to match the layout of the penthouse.
“I thought that you weren’t going to have these done until later tonight?”
“Well,” she says, a sweet smile on her face. “I started thinking about the apartment and the vibes we discussed. I think that with the pale floors you have, a darker look could really be something special, so then I started drawing, and I couldn’t stop.”
I smile as I watch her point out each of the rooms and their features. Her long fingers trace over the ideas she’s sketched as she talks about paint colors and different fabrics.
All of it goes over my head. I don’t have a clue what she is talking about or what design elements will truly make the place come to life — her words, not mine.
When she talks about interior design, though, everything about her seems to come to life. There is a renewed sense of energy about her as she bounces around the apartment, dragging me into room after room with the plans she has in mind for them.
Seeing the passion that she has for her business is attractive. She’s ambitious, driven. She gets entirely consumed by her work when it interests her.
Whitney is someone who would understand the way I approach my own work. She wouldn’t judge me for the nights I stay up late working, or the way I allow a project to take over most of my life for short periods of time.
I’ve only ever met a few people as driven as I am. She’s one of them, and it draws me to her even more.
I don’t know how I can keep resisting her when, at least at the surface level, she is proving herself to be the kind of person I want in my life.
“What are you looking at me like that for?” she asks as she looks up from the drawings she’s produced for the main bedroom.
I shrug. “Will you go to dinner with me?”
Chapter Eight
Whitney
Eventhoughit’sbeendays since Grayson asked me to dinner, I still haven’t given him an answer. When he asked, I didn’t know what to think. I rushed out of that apartment like fire was licking at my heels, and I haven’t been back since.
What I have been doing since is more shopping than I’ve done in a long time.
I groan as I look at the screen in front of me, my eyes starting to hurt from looking at the bright light. Penny glances over at me as I rub my eyes gently, trying to relieve some of the ache.
“Going well over there?” she asks, turning down the music that’s playing as she makes dinner.
“It’s going.” I close my laptop and sigh. “Most of the stuff I want is back-ordered for a couple weeks, so it looks like decorating Grayson’s apartment is going to take longer than I thought it would.”
“What about the painters? He told me that they’re almost done.” Penny pulls some chicken breast out of the fridge and drops it on the counter.
“Just the ones painting the walls. I still have to find someone to refinish all the cabinetry, which is going to cost quite a bit and take up a lot of time. I want to have all the painting and refinishing done before I start moving furniture in anyway.”
Penny hums along with the music as she starts slicing the chicken into long strips. “Well, I’m happy that you’re going to be here longer. I need more time to convince you to move here.”
