Page 24 of Masters of the Game: Colton
“You invited me to lunch when you could have slept in late,” she said.
“I did sleep in late,” Colton said, although he hadn’t exactly been sleeping. He had awakened early that morning with thoughts of her in the room right next door. He could swear her scent had permeated the walls. “I slept in as long as I wanted to. I’m used to getting up early.”
“I heard.”
He lifted a brow, and from the sheepish way she was looking, he figured her comment was an obvious slip. “And how did you hear?”
She shrugged. “From Alvie. She mentioned you liked going to the fitness center every morning.”
“I do. My dad had a heart attack when I was in college because he didn’t take care of himself. Luckily, he survived and was forced to change his eating habits. Mom, Tez, Cobra, and I did so, as well. We decided to take better care of ourselves.”
“My mom is into physical fitness, too,” she said. “I go to the fitness center near my apartment whenever I can. It’s not at the top of my list, though. I never seem to find the time.”
“It’s one of those things that you need to make time for, Kelly. One of the first things I plan to do when I buy a house is to make sure I have space for a fitness room.”
“You’re thinking of buying a house?”
“Yes, another one. I purchased one already in Savannah a couple of years ago. It’s a fixer-upper that I renovate whenever I go home.” There was no need to tell her that working on that house had pretty much kept him busy so thoughts of her couldn’t dominate his mind.
“However,” he continued, “I don’t plan on living in the executive suite at the St. Laurent--Boston forever. It’s nice, but I enjoy having my space and privacy. You don’t get that when your neighbors are your employees or business associates. So I’m looking at places nearby.”
She closed her menu. “I can understand your position. And, to answer your question, one thing you probably don’t know about me is that I’ll be apartment shopping the first of the year.”
That wasn’t the kind of information he sought, but he would take anything she wanted to share. “Why?”
“Right now, I have a one-bedroom, which is okay. However, I want a bigger space, with a second bedroom I can convert into an office.”
“You work at home, too?”
“Do I have a choice?”
“Yes. Remember when I mentioned the rules? Lake and I both prefer our employees not to make it a habit of working past office hours. You truly do need to learn how to incorporate more downtime into your life.”
“I’ve heard that before from all three of my siblings. Hanson can’t talk since he always brings work home. You never know when he’s operating as an undercover agent or something. So, it’s best never to just drop in.”
Colton chuckled. “I heard that.”
The waitress returned to take their order. When that was done, he said, “Regarding our meeting at two, I intend to let you take the lead, of course. My main interest is finding locations suitable for our needs and future expansion.”
“Would you consider Harlem?” she asked.
“Most definitely.”
“Good. I’ve already checked out some real estate that I think would be advantageous.”
He nodded, then asked, “What are your plans for later?”
She tilted her head to glance at him, seemingly confused by his question. “My plans for later?”
“Yes, later. Like dinner.”
“To provide my thoughts on today’s meeting?” she inquired.
“No, to fill your body with nourishment. I’m inviting you to dine with me at seven and then join me in seeing a Broadway show at nine.” And because he didn’t want her to consider it a date, he said, “I invited Cobra to join us, but he’s already made other plans. He did say he would try to hook up with us at some point in time while we’re here, and asked that we keep Wednesday evening free.”
She didn’t say anything for a moment. Then she asked, “What’s the show?”
“Aladdin.”
