Page 16 of In Your Dreams, Holden Rhodes

“The entry to the library is through the bookcase.” She bit her lip and her eyes sparkled. “A secret library would be cool. I read about this one in an old mansion back in Toronto, there was a latch under a shelf and then the whole bookcase swung out.” Her hands moved as she talked.

When she was excited like this, her whole face lit up. She met my gaze before leaning over to turn the page.

It was a rendering of one of the upstairs bedrooms, wallpaper removed and different furniture. “I’ve drawn it to scale, so you can see how different the room looks when you have more appropriate-sized furniture.”

I flipped to the next image. The bathroom, redone in modern tile with a glass shower and new vanity.

These sketches looked professional. We worked with designers on homes all the time, and she was just as good as they were.

“Two shower heads?” I raised an eyebrow at her.

“For shower sex,” she explained, and I choked. “People have a ton of sex on vacation, Holden.”

The image of us in the shower flashed into my head and my cock stirred.

I cleared my throat. “Yep, thanks.” I snapped the book closed and shoved it back to her. “Designers work in Autocad.”

She nodded. “For clients, I always start with initial hand sketches and sometimes watercolor paintings. I think while I draw and paint. Then, I do it in Autocad.”

A memory of Katherine teaching her how to paint on the porch trickled into my head. “Why did you do these?”

Her mouth pulled to the side and her eyebrows pinched together. “I don’t know. I started getting ideas last night. I always said I’d help redesign her inn and I never did.”

I sat back in my chair and studied Sadie. She shifted under my gaze, fiddling with her hair. I took a long breath in and out.

Promise me you’ll try, Katherine had said.

Did I actually think Sadie could find me someone? No. Not a chance. You can’t sell a product you don’t believe in.

But letting her try would fulfill Katherine’s wish, even if Sadie did fail. It was worth a shot.

A tiny sliver of me wanted Sadie to stick around for a bit. I couldn’t help myself.

In the chair across from my desk, her expression was strangely vulnerable and exposed, like she revealed a piece of herself she wanted to keep hidden, and my heart twisted.

“Okay,” I said.

Her eyebrows shot up. “Okay, what?”

“Okay to your offer.”

Her eyes lit up and she sat up straight. “Really?” she whispered, like she couldn’t believe it.

I crossed my arms over my chest. “A couple conditions.”

She chewed her lip, waiting.

I didn’t know why, but it was important Sadie still owned the inn. It was the responsible thing to do. Katherine wanted her to have it, and she was clearly in trouble. Her being here stirred up old feelings but I couldn’t screw her over.

She was Katherine’s niece. She’d want me to help her out.

“I’ll pay you two hundred grand and based on the current assessed price, we’ll transfer that fraction of ownership to me. You’ll still own part of the inn, just not fifty percent.”

She frowned. “Why do I feel like there’s a major catch?”

My gaze dropped to the sketch in front of me, of a bathroom full of emerald green tiles and sunlight. “You’re going to lead the inn renovation.”

She froze. “Holden, these are just sketches.”

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