Page 15 of In Your Dreams, Holden Rhodes

Her smile dropped. “Wow. Okay. Thanks, asshole.” She stood and picked up her bag. “Have a great life.”

My head snapped up to watch as she slid the glass door open, waved goodbye to Zara, and walked out.

My chest strained tight with regret, and I got to my feet to follow her. All I’d done was point out she also wasn’t married. She just suggested I marry a blow-up sex doll, for Christ’s sake.

She strode back into my office and my eyes widened as I took a step back. She gave me that cat-like, pretty smile and stared me down.

My brain went blank.

She held my gaze. “If you buy me out of the inn, I’ll find you a wife.”

I scoffed. “No.”

“I’m serious.” She flopped back into the chair and I relaxed a fraction.

“So am I.”

“Holden, you’re Googlinghow to find a wife. It’s obvious you have no idea what you’re doing.”

I hesitated, staring at my screen. I hated that she was right. “What makes you thinkyoucan find me someone?”

Especially when she thought I was so fucking ineligible fifteen years ago.

She brushed her long hair over her shoulder. “Easy. I’ve dated lots of assholes so I can coach you on how to hide that part of yourself.”

The side of my mouth twitched but I held it down.

“Dating is a numbers game, Holden. I can do the leg work of finding you women who want the same thing. I’ll help you plan the dates, give you ideas on gifts to buy them, come up with a pre-approved list of conversation topics for you to rely on.”

“I don’t need any of that.”

She gave me a wincing smile like she didn’t believe me. “Sure. The only thing I won’t do? Hide the body when you get sick of her.”

I glared at her and she winked. “Just kidding. I’ll totally help you with that.” Her shoulders bounced again. “I’m very motivated.”

“Why?” My eyes narrowed.

Something dimmed behind her eyes but she blinked it away. “Because I need the money.”

“Why?”

She cleared her throat and studied her hands. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

I watched her for a long moment. There was something under the surface with her. Something hurt.

“What’s with the sketchbook?”

“Oh.” The weird look disappeared and she dropped the book onto my desk before flipping it open. “Just some design ideas I had for the inn.”

It was the floor plan of the inn. I shifted the book closer to study her sketch. She had hatched out the wall separating the front foyer and the sitting room.

I raised an eyebrow at her. “You want to knock a wall out?”

She shrugged. “It would open the space up, make it seem bigger and more welcoming.”

I turned back to the sketch. She had hatched out the wall between the dining room and storage room and labeled the new roomlibrarybut the door had been removed.

She leaned forward and her hair fell onto my arm. I jerked back. She gave me a strange look and tapped the bookcase to the sitting room.

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