Page 57 of Stuck with the Grump

If she were here to see this place, she would fall in love instantly. I could see her walking through the rooms and starting to plan out what the house would look like once she finished decorating it.

“Make the offer thirty thousand over asking. Tell them if they leave the boat and cover the cost of the inspection, I’m willing to sign the moment the inspection’s done.”

Cameron nodded and pulled out his phone. He walked down the hall, already talking to the other realtor about the offer.

As he talked, I spent time exploring the house. It would have more bedrooms than the two of us would ever need, unless there were children running around. If there were, there was more than enough room for our little family to keep growing.

Even if she didn’t come back to me, I would live here, even if my imagination decided to fill the house with all the things that could never be.

It was a house away from the city on a lake that I had fallen in love with. There was a little town nearby in case I needed anything but there were no men with cameras chasing me through the streets of New York.

This house would become my sanctuary.

When I returned to the lake house, the contract for the new house was in progress and the inspector was already there to look at the building. Cameron was staying with the inspector while I went to turn what I had found in the files over to the team of lawyers that would be working to send Jared Ryker to prison.

After the last box had been taken from the lake house, I looked around at the empty dining room. It was covered in memories of late nights with Leigh, bent over paperwork and trying to find evidence. She had been quick to spot several patterns, excitement spreading across her face each time she uncovered another one.

I walked out of the dining room and closed the doors behind me, sealing the memories shut in there.

In two weeks, she hadn’t called once. She hadn’t sent a message. She hadn’t shown up at my doorstep, telling me what she wanted. I was starting to think that day would never come even though I knew she wasn’t the kind of person to leave me without an explanation. As much as it hurt, I knew that one day, she would tell me what was happening between us, even if it wasn’t the answer I wanted to hear.

Until then, I would focus on my business and the trial. I would put my mind where I had told her that it needed to be.

When I finally sat down in front of the fire for the night––Leigh’s blanket wrapped around me as the cold wind blew––my phone started to ring. Camille’s name flashed across the screen before the call went to voicemail. I should have known that she wouldn’t give up that easily.

“Hello, Camille,” I said, sighing as I waited for whatever she was about to say.

“Hello, you colossal idiot. When the news of the trial was going to go public, it was supposed to be me putting the stories out into the world. Not you. Some of my leads have told me about brutal stories that are hitting the internet right now. Tyson is calling me left and right to tell me about the investors that keep calling him. This was supposed to be a controlled spread. What did you do?”

“I didn’t do anything. I haven’t told any of the media about the story.”

Camille snorted. “Yeah, okay. Who else would have leaked the story?”

“Jared would have been formally served today. Have you thought about the fact that he might be leaking false information?”

“None of my sources will say anything other than it was one of the partners. Since Jared is no longer a partner, I had assumed it was you, but since none of the media outlets didn’t know that he was no longer a partner, that makes sense. Fuck, Clarke, this is a mess.”

“Clean it up the best that you know how, and I will ensure that there is a bonus in it for you.”

“Can my bonus be in the favor of pulling your head out of your ass and seeing that you and Leigh are meant for each other?”

My throat tightened at the sound of her name, and I sighed. “I know that. I know, Camille, but I’m not going to push her.”

“Both of you are idiots,” she said. “I’ll talk to you again soon once I have this entire mess sorted out.”

“Wait,” I said, before she could hang up. “How is Leigh doing?”

Camille sighed. “Do you really want to know? Because I don’t want you using this as an excuse to beat yourself up. I need you looking like the successful businessman you are when the cameras start coming around. I can’t have you looking miserable all the time.”

“Just tell me, Camille,” I growled.

“She’s fine, Clarke. As fine as she can be, at least. She’s working hard on getting her gallery open. The grand opening is on Saturday night, as long as everything goes to plan.”

“Is everything going to plan?”

“As much as it can be,” Camille said. “You know what starting a business is like. There’ve been some bumps in the road, but she is handling them well.”

“Does she ask about me?”

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