Page 84 of Silver Fake

"Oh, is that a company you've worked with …" Her words trail off, and I watch as her face changes as realization kicks in. She brings up her hand and points at herself. "Wait, you said Thomas Barton?"

Smiling, I nod. "I did."

"My last name is Thomas."

I chuckle. "I know. That's why I chose it."

Her eyebrow lifts as she stares back at me. "You named your new management LLC after me?"

"Well," I say, "it's our management company, so yes, I did."

"Our company?" she says. "I think I'm missing something here."

She hasn't taken her hand away from me, so I take a risk and move my hands, taking her face between them. I dip my head so we are so close I can hear her breathing change with our close proximity. Her tongue slips out and runs along her bottom lip, and I have to repeat in my head a reminder that my parents are still in the room.

"Lisa, I love you. I know I messed things up between us because I couldn't stay out of my head and stop convincing myself any woman as good as you would want to leave me." I look over at my mom. "It took me finally realizing that I had one of the best women in the world as my mom all along, and she found me worthy." I meet Lisa's eyes again. "So maybe, if I could be good enough for her, I am good enough for you."

"You were always good enough," Lisa says. "I thought I was doing a good job of showing you that, but I can see I messed up, too. I shouldn't have kept the job to myself. I honestly got so swept up in this thing between us that I forgot I'd put in for it, and when Victor offered it to me, I should have told him no immediately, but I guess I was worried about him accusing me of wasting his time. And you and I had never talked about where our relationship was going. Instead of talking to you, I just kept stalling Victor. But I was going to tell him no. I just hadn't figured out how to turn him down professionally."

"I know," I say. "It was my knee-jerk reaction to Victor boasting about taking you away from me that made me act like an idiot."

My dad starts laughing behind Lisa, and I glare at him. He shakes his head. "Sorry, it just occurred to me that all of this happened because you were jealous of some old guy in a suit."

I just shake my head at him and look at Lisa, who's grinning and looks like she's about to lose her battle to join my dad in his laughing at me.

"Sorry," she says. "I just can't fathom any reason you could possibly be jealous of Victor."

"You're going to make fun of me, too?" I ask.

"No, it's just." She leans up on her toes and wraps her arms around my neck. "I love you, too. Just in case you missed that part the first time, I blurted it out. It wasn't our finest moment, so I want to make sure you really hear me."

I smile, brushing her hair behind her ear. "I hear you, and I love you, too."

"Good," she says, closing the distance between us and kissing me.

Pulling away, I smile down at her and look back at my parents. "There is one more thing," I say. "I didn't just name the Management company to get you to forgive me. I really want to do this. I want to move back here and take care of the hotel. Run it in a way I know will make my parents proud, and I want you to run it with me. I can't think of anyone who would be better at keeping this place on its toes and making sure all our customers are treated the very best."

Lisa drops her arms from around my neck and takes a step back. She looks between my parents and me with her mouth open in shock. "You all want me to help run this place?"

"Of course we do," Mom says, putting her hand on Lisa's arm and smiling at her. "Like I said at lunch. Like I said while we had our lunch. We can only really trust this place in the hands of family we know will love it and run it with heart the way we do. You are family."

Dad nods. "She's right. I wouldn't be able to bring myself to step away if it were anyone else, but I know you two will take care of this place and our guests just as we would."

"We know you two probably have a lot to talk about," Mom says. "We're going to go and let you sort out whatever you need to together." She hugs Lisa. "It's good to see you again. Hopefully, we'll see you around here a lot more now."

"It's good to see you, too," Lisa says, looking over her shoulder at me.

Dad takes Mom's hand, and they leave with Dad waving by to us both on the way out of the office. He even throws a thumbs up over her shoulder for me when Lisa isn't looking their way anymore.

Lisa is quiet, just absently looking around the room after they shut the door behind them. I can't take my eyes off her. I never knew I could miss someone so much in just a few weeks. Maybe it's because I spent the entire time thinking I might never get to talk to her or see her again.

"So, what do you think?" I ask her.

She spins back around on her heel to look at me. "I think you're crazy."

"That's not quite the reaction I was hoping for."

She sits in one of the chairs on the front side of the desk, and I sit in the other, and we turn to face each other.

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