Page 57 of Sincerely, Your Inconvenient Wife

He lifted his drink. “You know me and plans, Lisie. We don’t mesh. But I’m into Luca’s whole vibe. I respect it.”

I held back the eye roll since I was supposed to be crazy in love. “Let’s see what my father and brother think tomorrow about Luca’s vibe.”

Deciding that surprising them in person was a recipe for disaster, Luca and I had video called my Wyoming family last night. My brother Lock had done a lot of grunting. My dad had gotten eerily quiet. And my sister-in-law Elena had become teary-eyed, which wassonot her…which had only made Lock gruntier.

“Luca’s known for his charm,” Elise said. “I’m sure once the shock is gone, they’ll be happy for you.”

“These are ranchers, Lise. They don’t get charmed.” I slugged back my drink and set the empty glass on the table in front of me, signaling our waitress for another. “Anyway, let’s talk about something other than me. I’m tired of being the center of attention.”

Thankfully, Miles steered the conversation to his house, which he declared was a money pit but refused to throw in the towel and sell it.

“Every weekend, I’m scraping shit, pulling up nails. I’ve probably inhaled enough asbestos for ten sets of lungs.” He casually drank his beer as though that wasn’t alarming.

“Asbestos? You’re not serious,” Elise pressed.

He shrugged. “It’s hard to say. I’m definitely inhaling particles of ancient building material.”

“There are masks for that, mate,” Simon quipped.

“That’s it.” Rebecca clapped her hands. “Let’s have a building party. I’ll bring Sam and snacks. Someone else can bring the beer. We’ll knock this thing out in a weekend.”

Miles winced. “It’ll be more like a thousand weekends.”

I waved my hand. “My next few weekends are filled anyway.”

Elise gave me a pointed stare. “What friend are you helping now?”

“How do you know it’s that?”

Her chin lowered. “I know you too well. Out with it.”

I took a long swallow of my fresh drink. “Kenji, my friend from when I lived in Japan—”

“Of course you have a friend in Japan.” Simon twirled his straw in his drink. “Is there a corner of the world you haven’t conquered?”

“Sure there is.” I fluttered my lashes at him. “But it’s only a matter of time.”

Elise rolled her hand. “Get to the point. What are you helping Kenji out with for free when you should be charging him?”

“He’s got this pop-up—” The entire table groaned before I even explained what the pop-up business was. And I got their frustration with me. I was feeling it with myself too.

“You have to charge for your time,” Elise admonished. “How many hours did you spend helping Maritza plan for her gardening shop?”

A lot. If I counted the time I’d given away for free…well, I didn’t mind it. I liked being useful and getting my hands on a new project. But at some point, it turned from offering advice to formulating entire business plans—and that was when it went from helping to being taken advantage of. I was a nice girl, but my niceness only went so far.

“I know, I know. And once I’m done with this pop-up, I’m going to take a step back from free labor. You know, I’ve been thinking about starting a consulting business for years. The prospect is just so daunting to do on my own—”

Miles set his beer down on the table. “I’m in.”

My mouth popped open. “What? You’re in on what?”

“Your business idea. Working at my brother’s company has been a learning experience, but I can’t grow there.” He flicked his hand next to his head before I could formulate a response. “I know, I know. You don’t take me seriously. But the minute you started talking, it clicked. I want in on this.”

Elise looked from Miles to me. “He’s an incredibly talented visual marketer. He won’t let me call him an artist, but he is. Miles is the lead designer of the Andes stores.”

Rebecca and Simon nodded. Since all four of them worked at Andes, Weston’s outdoor apparel company, they would have inside knowledge of Miles’s skill set. If they agreed with Elise’s assessment, I had to believe them.

Elise’s brow pulled into a frown. “Are you serious about leaving Andes?”

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