“You’ve seen the way I act around him. I think we all know he’s not that stupid.” I glanced over at the clock and felt a rush of relief. “Listen, this has been a great pep talk...really. But...damn. Look at that. I’ve got to get over to the diner.”
“Oh, how convenient,” Angel huffed.
I bolted out of the shop, barely saying goodbye. Once I was caught between tables at the diner, running around on my feet all night, I wouldn’t have a chance to think about their pushy advice anymore. Or the rising fear that maybe Frank, no matter how unappealing, was my soulmate after all and that I was doomed to be alone forever as punishment for refusing the universe’s pre-selected man for me. Most important of all, the busy rush of the diner would keep my mind far away from all things Damon.
7
Damon
The guys were gathered in the lobby as I entered the office suite. I tried to ignore the fact that they all seemed to be waiting for me, and strolled in like it was any normal day. Because it was. So, I hooked up with Lizzy. So what? I hooked up with women all the time. That was exactly the kind of attitude I needed to maintain to survive whatever questioning I was about to be hit with.
“Here’s the man of the hour,” Nick said as I walked up. He slapped me on the shoulder, seeming pleased.
“I’m the man of every hour. Just not sure which occasion you’re referring to on this hour specifically.” My heart pounded, wondering if they already knew.
“That building you asked us to scope out,” Ben explained. “It’s a hit. Good eye, man. Come into my office and we’ll get into it.”
“Let’s go downstairs,” Joey suggested. “I could use a beer.”
I looked down at my watch. “It’s nine o’clock in the morning.”
“Hair of the dog,” he shrugged.
No one seemed to question it as we instinctively headed for the elevator going down. I passed on the beer, but did help myself to a seltzer water and a seat on the couch. I was eager to hear what Ben had to say. Truthfully, my pipe dream of opening my own club had been something I had been mulling around with him for a while. We decided if we could find the right venue, we’d strike. Moving to Cherry Falls had made that possibility all the more likely.
“The old warehouse you asked me to check out?” he continued. “It’s a steal. And I ran your numbers by one of my guys and he projects the returns to be killer.”
“I got a quote on a theoretical build-out for a space like that. It’s not a small investment,” I replied skeptically.
He simply smiled and slid a file across the table toward me. I opened it up with low expectations, but was blown away.
“Those are based on what the other clubs around here have been pulling in,” he added. “And they pale in comparison to what you had planned.”
I laughed in disbelief. The projected profits were astronomical. But running a club? Was I really ready to take that leap?
I ran my hand down my face, trying to keep my feet on the ground. “I don’t know, man. The labor costs alone. Not to mention the time.”
“Most of your projects are automated,” Nick pointed out. “You’re just raking those checks in, and whatever property-management labor you’re doing you could easily be paying someone else to do.”
I was hoping Nick would be against it. He was always the reasonable, logical one – never taking any risks. If he said no, I knew it was a bad idea. But if he said yes, I had no real reason to say no. He was right that most of what I was doing for the company in Cherry Falls was way under my paygrade. I had been hoping for a new challenge for a while, and now it seemed to be falling right into my lap. Not to mention, anything I didn’t feel like doing for the club, I could pass onto someone else. That was the whole goal of being a billionaire. To not have to do anything you didn’t want to.
I looked over to Joey who was leaning against the counter, sipping his hair-of-the-dog morning beer. “I wouldn’t do it without you, man. I mean, if there’s anyone I would need helping me with the security side of things, it’s you.”
“Why not?” he decided a little too quickly. “I don’t have anything better going on.”
Ben was reeling with the possibility. “How you feelin’?”
I laughed and shook my head. “I’m feeling like I may want that morning beer after all.”
“I’ve got something better.” Nick reached into the fridge and pulled out a bottle of champagne.
“Whoa, man. It’s a little early to celebrate. And I don’t mean early in the day. We should at least get the papers signed first. Ugh, then the build-out. You remember what a pain in the ass it was waiting on this place to come together? A club is a whole new beast.”
“Let’s call the current owners in!” Ben suggested. “They can have a glass with us. They drafted papers when I asked for the quote.”
Joey nodded. “Half the trouble of getting this place built was assembling the crews. We have all those contacts now and know the best guys for everything.”
It was true that we struggled knowing who to hire when we first moved to town. There were plenty of skilled laborers around, but none of the managers were experienced in luxury buildings. All those people had to be flown in. But now that we had a good roster of contractors to work with, it would be easy.
“Alright, fine. Let’s pop bottles. Call the guys. Let’s do it.” I sat back on the couch as Ben took off with his phone.
I couldn’t believe I had just decided to open my own club. Just like that. Joey said he had some calls to make, which left Nick and me alone. He sat down next to me and handed over a glass for a quick preliminary toast.
“Livin’ the dream, man,” he said with a tip of his glass. “You’ve been talking about your own club since high school.”
“Maybe even a whole fleet of them,” I suggested. “One here. One in Miami. New York. Los Angeles. And then once I’ve conquered the states, we go abroad.”
“The sky’s the limit. It’s not like you’ve got anyone besides us tying you down. But unlike a wife, we’re not going to bitch you out every time you have to go out of town.”
“I don’t think all wives do that,” I argued. And then, for no reason I could understand, Lizzy’s face popped into my head. Out of all moments, why did I have to think of her right then?
Nick, having known me for far too long, wasn’t oblivious to the subtle shift in my face. But he was way too smooth to put anything right out there. Instead he leaned back with a smile and let it simmer for a minute.
“So...did you have a good night last night?”
“Yeah,” I nodded casually. “Last night was good. Tell Del I said congrats again on the show. It was a big hit.”
“Mmm-hmm. Will do.” He let the awkward silence fall again. He was doing it on purpose, to let it sink in and break me down. “Where’d you run off to anyway? I looked for you when we got ready to leave, but you were long gone.”
I shrugged and scratched my chin, avoiding eye contact. “I just...went home. I was tired.”