Page 23 of Enticing My Off Limits Billionaire

Madison is waiting outside, and I can see the dark circles under her eyes even from here. She stands outside of the front door with her arms crossed over her chest, a leather satchel over her shoulder. She's wearing jeans and a green blazer over a black top, her blonde hair pulled up into a bun. She glances up at me as I cross the street toward her, giving me a weak smile.

"I'm glad you made it," I tell her.

"Did you think I wouldn't?"

"I would have forgiven you if you didn't," I admit. "You had...well, a bit of a night."

She shakes her head. "I wouldn't miss this. But that begs the question—where is everyone else?"

A big truck pulls up to parallel park on the street beside us right at that moment, and a big man with a messy head of blond hair and a beard climbs out. I recognize him from the White Oak, though we've only met a couple times in person—Ryan Wright, the guy I've brought in to do the construction on our space. He grins and reaches out to shake my hand.

"Quinn, good to see you," he says.

"Good to see you too," I tell him. "Ryan, this is Madison Sterling; she'll be designing the blueprints for the performance space. I'm not sure where Delia is..."

Just as I say it, her head pops out through the front door. "I picked up the keys and headed over this morning," Delia says. "I was wondering when the rest of you were going to show up."

I look between everyone on the team with a shrug. "In that case...shall we?"

We all head inside, Delia leading the way. "I've been sitting here and meditating on what this is going to look like," she says. "Manifesting, filling the space with energy. This is going to be good—I can feel it."

Ryan gives me a skeptical glance, and I shrug; Delia has her own way of doing things, and always has. But Madison seems to agree with her, nodding along. "It's got good vibes," Madison says. "I totally agree."

"Quinn, rude of you not to introduce me, by the way," Delia teases. She extends her hand to Madison. "You must be our architect."

"Madison Sterling," Madison nods with a smile. "And you're the visionary?"

"Visionary," Delia echoes. "I like her, Quinn. Nice work. And you're Ryan Wright?"

"Sure am," Ryan says. "It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Miss Caine. Thanks for bringing me onboard."

He's got a slight Texas accent, and he nods his head politely. I feel like Delia is going to make fun of him...but thankfully, she leaves it alone.

"Please, Delia is fine," she says. "Now, how about a tour?"

Delia takes us through the space, pointing out its various features and discussing her vision for each area. Madison takes notes and asks questions, while Ryan nods and takes in the space with a critical eye. As we move through the space, I can feel the excitement building in me.

This is really happening.

I'm really opening a performance space of my own after years of imagining the kind of work.

We finish the tour in what will be the performance space itself. It's a large, open area with high ceilings and exposed brick walls. Delia takes a deep breath and closes her eyes, seeming to draw in the energy of the space.

"This is going to be the heart of the theatre," she says. "The place where people will come together to experience something magical...a transformation from the real world to a world that we've created."

"I've been reading up on how to accommodate acoustics for some people who are mic'd and some who aren't," Madison says. "I read up on your work and assume you'll be doing the sound design?"

"And she does her research?" Delia says, grinning at me. "Again, great find. Yes, I'll be doing the sound design..."

I watch as the two of them confer on how to make sure the space works, and Ryan wanders off to take some measurements and check out the walls. I feel this strange sense of pride in Madison—and it isn't like she's mine or anything, but I like watching her work, knowing that I brought her into this project. Delia keeps giving me weird looks as we take the tour and keep talking, and I start to wonder what exactly she thinks is going on here.

We wrap up after about two hours, Madison and Delia keeping up a steady stream of conversation the whole time. Ryan and Madison are both loaded up with tasks to complete and a full notebook of plans and ideas, and we bid our goodbyes after that, leaving Delia and I alone, standing in our future theatre.

"You picked the right team for this," Delia says. "I knew I could trust you; the investors are going to be very pleased."

I give her a half-smile. "I didn't get this far without knowing my shit," I tell her. "Thanks for bringing me in."

We go silent for a moment as we look around the space, my hands in my pockets and Delia's eyes darting around, always coming up with more ideas. I'm about to suggest that we call it and meet again to discuss when she interrupts me mid-thought.

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