Page 135 of Tempting Me

I don’t think he would either, but right now, it’s a risk I'm willing to take.

Ruby and I brainstorm ideas, leaving me to decide what I should do. When she leaves, I start to clean up my desk.

That’s when I find a letter from my mom.

Shay,

I have no words to tell you how amazing The Marina looks. You put your heart into bringing it back to a place people can love and make memories. Business is good—we love that. We just don’t love the idea of you putting in all the work on your own and running the business alone. The sale is happening tomorrow, and we need to do this as a family. Please be at the reality office at 3:00 p.m. as we say goodbye.

Love, Mom and Dad

They’re joking,right?

How did they find a buyer already? I thought it wasn’t going on the market till next week.

This moved much faster than I wanted.

And now they want me there.

I’m not going.

I refuse to watch my dream handed over to someone who won’t cherish it the way that I do.

As for my other dream, a life with Luca?

That, I can do something about.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

LUCA

I’ve never been so nervous in my entire life.

I don’t know how the whole grand gesture thing works, but buying The Marina so that the woman I love and I can run it together seems like a pretty damn good place to start.

Which is how I ended up sitting in the Collins Reality office a couple of days later.

“She said she would show up?” I ask and look at Shay’s parents and brother.

Her mom and dad share a look, and then her mom says, “I left her a note.”

“A note?”

Her mother nods.

“Did she by chance respond to this note?”

“No, but she’ll come.”

“I’m not so sure she will,” I admit and stand.

I glance at her dad, who smirks with a nod to the door.

I don’t give anyone time to ask me where I’m going before I run out of the building and jump into my truck.

Thankfully, the roads aren’t busy today, because I’m definitely speeding as I head toward Shay.

I thought it would be a cool surprise when she got to the sale and saw me. I’d confess how stubborn I was and how I’m buying The Marina so that we can run it together, but hell, I should have just gone to her and told her.

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