Page 74 of Runaway Bride's Guide to Love

“For you it’s the same thing.”

“Can you not be dramatic?”

This earns me a haughty laugh from Charlie as she pours me a cup of coffee. “If you didn’t want dramatic, you should’ve never said yes to this partnership.”

She’s not wrong. I knew what I was getting into when I teamed up with Simon last year and left my cushy job at a high-end firm in Nashville. Usually I’m not one to wonder about what could be or to take the risk for more. I like stability. I had a well-paying job in a field I enjoyed. Sure, the pipe dream I once had about owning my own construction company was still there, but I wasn’t chomping at the bit to take the gamble on that when I had a six-figure job with a healthy retirement plan and bonuses.

Then I came into Rolling Hills one day, sat on this very stool, and met Mona, the original owner and namesake of this diner. I came to try to get her to sell to my firm, but something about the interaction felt different. I’d approached numerous people over the years asking if they’d be willing to sell. Hell, I was sent on those missions because I was good at getting people to say yes. But there was something about her, and this town, that made me not want to be the guy that my corporate bosses sent out on buying missions. I wanted more than just being the guy on the other side of the email when people needed something.

And then Simon Banks sat down next to me, and the rest is history. Before I knew it, Simon was buying this diner, I agreed to work for him, and a year later we’re growing Magnolia Properties on a daily basis.

And I get the perk of free coffee when I’m in town. I’ll take that any day of the week.

“So how was Florida?”

I feel my face instantly flush. I hurry and take a sip of coffee to try to hide any blush creeping in. I knew he’d ask me this. Ieven practiced what I was going to say. I just thought I’d have a better handle on my outward reactions.

“Good,” I say. “A much-needed break.”

Well done. The less words the better.

“A break? That’s it? That’s all you’re going to tell me?”

“What do you want to know? It was Destin. I worked. I played some golf. I laid on the beach. I went to a few bars. That’s it.”

Simon’s raised eyebrow means he doesn’t buy my half-ass, and half true, story. “Oh come on, you had to do more than that! You were gone for two weeks. I highly doubt it was because you suddenly found a love for the beach.”

I mean, I did, but not for the reasons he’s thinking.

“My guess is you met a woman,” he continues. “But Charlie thinks I’m crazy. And I know meeting a woman and spending time with her is a little out of the box thinking, but that’s how well I know you. I know when you go off script and meet a woman and have a sex vacation.”

I nearly choke on my coffee when he says the words “sex vacation.” Because essentially that’s what I had, even though it was much more than that.

“Oh my God, you did!” Simon yells. “Bug! Come here! I was right! Emmett got laid!”

Charlie responds to her nickname and walks over to us. “Emmett Collins! Did you have a vacation fling?”

“Change the subject,” I grunt before taking a sip of coffee. The two of them laugh at my expense, and I will myself to fix my face. I need this line of questioning to stop. Right now.

“Sorry,” Simon says as his laugher dies down. “Anyway. I’m glad you had fun. Got laid. Blew off some steam. And thanks again for checking in on Stella. I hope she didn’t bother you too much.”

“No problem,” I choke out. “Was happy to help. So what’s new with you?”

I say that answer a little too fast, which Simon doesn’t pickup on. He also doesn’t say anything to the fact that I rarely ask what’s new with him. Not that I don’t care. I do. Simon just has a tendency to ramble.

As he’s going on about what he’s been doing the past few weeks, and pulling up videos on his phone of his three-month old daughter, Lainey, I see Charlie giving me a questioning look. I try not to make eye contact to avoid the guilt that I’m sure is written all over my face, but I can tell she knows something’s up.

“So, you might be wondering why I asked you to meet me here,” Simon says.

“Not really.”

“Really? Not even an inkling?”

“Simon, you’re technically my boss. For starters, it’s Tuesday, and I always come here on Tuesdays. And a boss asking an employee to meet is one of the most basic tenants of a boss-employee relationship.”

“Huh, I guess so,” he says with a shrug. “Anyway, the reason I brought you down here today is because while I was on paternity leave, I had a chance to think about the future of Magnolia Properties. More specifically, how we can make this bigger than either of us imagined.”

This makes me sit up a little straighter. Simon might be a tad on the ridiculous scale. But when it comes to business, he doesn’t mess around.

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