Page 16 of Love and Loathing

“Also, video is all the rage right now with YouTube, Facebook Live, Instagram, and TikTok.”

Charlie laid out the other four containers and let Jessie pick one. She took the burger with onion rings, overlooking a salad completely. Alex’s heart gave one quick thud.

Charlie looked at him. “What do you think? It’s a great idea, isn’t it?”

Alex nodded and faced Jessie again. “But I’m curious. You’re not worried about this build?”

She shrugged her head side to side. “I was when Caroline first mentioned it. I worried you might come in, buy a bunch of land along the river, and leave nothing for the community. You see, a lot of the property by the river gets used by the townsfolk often during the summer, and people count on it for access to the river for their boats—plus there a few rickety docks that we love to use. But having talked with Charlie, I’m fine with it. Eight quality homes aren’t a lot, and they could be good for us. Besides, the town is growing whether we like it or not. At least in this way, and with my video, we can hopefully bring in people who will love this town as much as we do. We’re small and like it that way, but we have big aspirations.”

“So, are you in?” Charlie asked.

“Maybe,” Alex said. “Why don’t you write up a plan and bring it to me? In the meantime—” He turned to Charlie. “—you and I should explore some other options.”

Charlie put on his poker face. His poker face kind of stunk, though, so Alex knew exactly what he was thinking. He was thinking that Alex was a jerk and that he didn’t want to explore other options. He wanted to use his idea hands down.

Jessie’s gaze shot to Charlie. “I have a portfolio you can look at—”

Alex shook his head. “Charlie already looked at it?”

“Yes,” she said.

“I trust his judgment. I just want to be sure that you have a clear plan in mind.”

She blinked at him. “That I know what I’m doing?”

Alex cocked his head to the side. “Well, yes. Weddings aren’t the same thing as what you’d be doing for us.”

“I’ve done more than weddings,” she said. “Which you could see for yourself in my portfolio.”

He was tempted to repeat that it was not necessary, but he hated repeating himself. “If that’s the case, then you shouldn’t have a problem putting together a proper proposal.”

She opened her mouth, and Alex was almost certain she was about to snap at him, but instead she held her peace. He couldn’t imagine what he could’ve possibly said to upset her this time. He held her gaze, and they seemed to be in a battle of chicken to see who’d look away first. She did.

Charlie slammed one of the containers down and took a seat, drawing her attention. “I think I’ll go with the meatballs and mashed potatoes.”

Alex ignored his friend’s attempts to change the subject and leaned forward, placing his arms on the table. He made eye contact with Jessie. “I’m not saying that your idea is bad. In fact, I think it’s good. But this is business. So throw together that proposal and wow me, okay?”

A steely determination came over her.

He grinned. Couldn’t help it, really. “Now let’s eat.”

Chapter 7

“Look, there’s Charlie and Alex,” Caroline said, pointing to the back pew in the chapel. Their chapel was located off Maple, and it had two stories, one partially underground. The main hall had a podium at the front and a large white cross behind that. The roof was pitched and painted white, and there were three round stained-glass windows on both sides that streamed their colorful light through pictures of Bible stories and down onto the two rows of wooden pews, and hardwood floors.

Jessie glanced over her shoulder as the two men took their seats by Brandon Carroll. Charlie smiled at Brandon and introduced himself as they passed. Brandon shook his hand and smiled. Charlie was such a nice guy. The two men sat at the far end of the pew, and her gaze settled on Alex. When she’d had her meeting with him on Friday, he’d had a little stubble. Now he was cleanly shaved, and for some horrific reason, she had the urge to run her fingers over the smooth skin there. His gaze came up and meet hers. She scowled and turned around.

In a deep tone, she mimicked what he’d said to her in their meeting. “‘Throw that proposal together and wow me.’ I swear, that guy could piss off the pope.”

“Well, itisbusiness,” Caroline said.

Jessie turned her glare on her sister as stage whispers seemed to move their way forward like a wave. Small-town gossip wheel was in action, and people started glancing back at him. Great. That’s just what the man needed—a bigger ego.

Caroline smiled. “Oh, come on, his request wasn’t all that bad, was it?”

It wasn’t really, she supposed. It was just that Charlie had made it seem like it was in the bag and the men were supposed to be business partners. She didn’t like how he treated Charlie. He said he trusted Charlie’s judgment and that’s why he wouldn’t look at her portfolio, but then his actions said that he didn’t.

“It was the way he said it.” Jessie’s voice rose to barely above a whisper. “He’s so arrogant.”

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