Page 21 of She Likes It, Hey Micah
She offers a bright smile to us both, and I hate that jealousy rises up knowing Grant gets the same smile as me. It’s so stupid, how much she pulls me in. “Nope. I’ll be in contact if any other decisions are made today. Be sure to let me know if you need anything from us, Mr. Bradley.”
Grant barely acknowledges her—impressive, considering she’s very much his usual type—and leads the way to the elevator. It’s only when the doors shut on us that he speaks. “You sure that’s a good idea?”
He’s talking about the contract. Hopefully. If not, he’s talking about my attraction to Micah, but I doubt he’s that observant. “This is about as innocent as contracts get,” I tell him. “There’s no money involved, and his agent wants to ensure we don’t expect anything outrageous. Just an appearance.”
He folds his arms, tapping his foot as the elevator takes us down. “You thought the last contract was innocent.”
“I didn’t read the last contract all the way through,” I counter. “I made a mistake.”
“Your business partner stole everything from your clients and tried to pin it on you because of that mistake.”
My heart feels like it’s being squeezed in someone’s fist as I try to keep breathing in this metal box. I didn’t need the reminder. I’m well aware of what Miranda did to me and the nightmare she turned my life into. I’m inordinately lucky that my lawyer was worth the arm and leg I paid for him and was able to help me avoid jail time. Technically, the contract that doomed me also saved me in the end because it proved Miranda was the beneficiary instead of me, but I still signed the thing. I lost people millions of dollars. Their livelihoods. Emergency savings, college funds, nest eggs. All gone.
How am I supposed to come back from that?
“Fischer.” As the elevator doors open, Grant puts his hand on my shoulder. His touch is steadying. Grounding. He waits until I look at him, and then he gives me a grim smile. “I just want you to be careful. You trust too easily.”
“Not anymore,” I mutter. Except, I’m trusting that Micah knows what she’s doing as she flies under the radar and changes everything that her boss is trying to accomplish. What if she’s wrong? What if Lila really does have the better ideas and this whole thing is going to blow up in my face because my heart is too prone to listen to a beautiful woman who claims to have my best interest at heart? It wouldn’t be the first time.
“Grant,” I say, stopping just outside the elevator because I need a distraction. “What are you hoping for with this reopening? What kind of event do you want Ember to plan?”
He rolls his eyes, back to being his usual dismissive self as he continues toward the car as if he wasn’t decent just then. “If you had been in that meeting with Lila instead of flirting with the pretty assistant, you might have—”
“That’s not an answer, and I wasn’t flirting. I was making sure Ember doesn’t screw this up. You and I both have a lot riding on this project going well.”
I haven’t unlocked the car door, which means he’s stuck having this conversation unless he wants to wrestle the keys away from me. With the way he’s looking at them, that’s more likely than I would prefer.
“I want people to be inspired,” he says eventually, and I can tell he’s been thinking about this a lot. “The Greenwood used to be a place where people would go to escape their mundane lives and find a spark again. That’s what I want.”
I hit the unlock button, and he slips into the car like it’s the only way to escape those words he just spoke. Yeah, he was talking about the lodge, but I have a feeling he was talking about his own life too. Sometimes I’ve wondered if he’s even trying to get his life back together, but now I know. Grant is drowning just as much as I am, and we’re going to have to work together if we want to survive.
And, as much as it terrifies me, we’re going to need Micah to help. She might be the only person in the world who has spark to spare.
Chapter Six
Micah
October 9
“I knew it!”
Chad groans, and I can picture him sitting on his porch with a mug of decaf while his perfect dog runs around the yard in the sunset. I haven’t actually been to his vacation house in Laketown since he finished the remodel, but I saw it when he bought it. It’s nestled up against the forest, like a perfect mountain getaway away from the world.
“You’re not going to let this go,” he says, and it isn’t a question. He knows me too well for that.
I switch to speakerphone so I can properly stir this brownie batter. “Chad, you went up to Laketown to get away from people for a few weeks, and in less than a day, you have had a newsingleneighbor move in right next door when that house has been empty for, like, ever. It’s fate!”
“It’s a problem,” he argues.
“How in the world are we related?” I ask, rolling my eyes. My big brother is the biggest homebody I know, which is ridiculous because he also wants a family more than anything. He’s not going to find love if he shuts himself up in his house all day, and this move to the tiny town of Laketown isn’t going to help anything.
Still, the fact that he even mentioned a woman moving in has me wondering if there might be something there. As a private investigator, Chad reads people a little too well, so he’s always quick to find the red flags. I’m pretty sure that has put the kibosh on any dating possibilities over the last six months since he got dumped. (Okay, so maybe he’s not fully over Mercedes yet, even though his girlfriend was theliteral worst.)
“What’s her name?” I ask as casually as I can.
Chad sees right through me. “Nope. I’m not letting you turn this into more than it is. She’s not an option.”
“But you’re looking for options?”
