Page 75 of Beautiful Desire
Me: …? Is everything okay?
Grace: Oh my gosh, yes! Sorry. I just want to hear how it goes!
Shoving my phone in my bag, I head inside the store and walk over to the register, where Hazel is training the new girl. “Hey, ladies,” I murmur as they both look up at me and smile. “I’m expecting somebody in the next few minutes. His name is Alden. He’ll most likely be wearing a suit that probably costs more than my mortgage, and he’ll look really out of place in here. Can you show him to my office when he arrives, please?”
Hazel snorts. “Sure thing, boss.”
Alden and I are finally signing the paperwork today that’ll make this building officially mine. We were supposed to take care of this two weeks ago when I got back from Charleston, butsomething with work came up for him, so he asked to push it to today instead. I won’t lie; part of me thought he was trying to back out of the deal, but he emailed me last night to confirm the time, so I guess it’s really happening.
I’m more nervous than I thought I’d be, but I’m not sure why. This deal was mademonthsago, so it’s not like I haven’t had time to prepare. Not to mention, it’s what I wanted, so what is there for me to be anxious about?
A moment later, as I’m scrolling through my emails and trying to calm the jitters bouncing around inside me, a knock sounds at my door. Glancing up, I watch Hazel usher Alden and another man about Fletcher’s age into the office. She gives me a wide smile and a thumbs-up before leaving.
“Alden.” Standing up, I shake his hand before doing the same to the other guy. “I’m Georgia. I don’t think we’ve met before.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Georgia,” he says with a warm smile. “I’m Reese, the St. James’ attorney and Fletcher’s friend.”
Ah, yes. I don’t know why it never crossed my mind that Alden would bring his attorney. The documents obviously have to be notarized.
“It’s nice to meet you too, Reese.” Gesturing at the chairs in front of my desk. “Please, have a seat, you two. How are you?”
“Livin’ the dream,” Reese offers.
“I’m doing well,” Alden states matter of factly. “How are you?”
“Doing pretty good.”
Fletcher told me that his father now knows about us, and while I don’t see somebody like Alden bringing it up, it’s still awkward. Aside from my sisters—and well, now him—we haven’t explicitly told anyone else in our family. I’m still not sold that my dad and his mom don’t know, though. It’s still so new, and with him being in Charleston and me being here, it didn’t make sense to have that conversation without him by my side.He’s supposed to be coming to town this weekend, so we have a loose plan to do it then.
Really looking forward tothatconversation.
“Wonderful,” Alden says, tone completely unenthusiastic. “Shall we get started?”
“Ready when you are,” I chirp, glancing from Alden to Reese.
Setting a stack of documents on the desk, Reese walks us through each one, explaining what we’re signing. The whole process doesn’t take very long because there are far fewer documents than when I bought my house, but once I sign the last one, my shoulders relax. It feels so good knowing this building is mine, and I don’t have to worry about it being taken from me ever again.
As they’re packing up and getting ready to leave, Reese gives Alden alookthat I can’t decipher. His lips tug into a barely-there grin and his eyebrows lift underneath his dark-framed glasses, but no words are spoken between them.Odd.Then, when they get to the door, Alden clears his throat and glances over at me. “Georgia, would you like to come with us next door? I’d like to show you the plans I have for that space, just so you know.
Confusion furrows my brow. “Uh, should I be concerned with what’s going over there?” I ask. “It’s not another bookstore, is it?”
Reese snickers. “It’s nothing like that.”
There’s about a dozen things I need to be doing, and none of them are going on a tour with Alden St. James and his attorney, but what the hell. “Sure, why not?” Standing from my chair, I follow them through my store and out on the sidewalk. I knew he bought most of the buildings on this side of the street, but I’ve never considered what he planned to do with them. As long as my store remained as-is, I wasn’t too concerned. Especially since most of the other buildings are vacant.
Reese holds the door open for Alden and me, and I spot Conway and his crew as we walk in. Grace’s man owns the only contracting company in town, so it’s not surprising to see he’s working on the renovation for whateverthisis. Conway nods as we pass him, and I don’t miss the slight twitch of his mouth, like he’s biting back a grin.
The two men lead me through the space, my heart suddenly in my throat. First, the look Reese gave Alden back in my office, and now Conway.What is going on?When they take a left into one of the rooms, anxiety flutters around in my stomach at what they’re about to show me, but as I walk in behind them, my breath catches in my throat as my gaze lands on the very last person I expected to be here.
“Hey, Peach.” Fletcher’s watches me with a wide, toothy grin as he sits on the edge of a desk in the far corner of the room.
“What are you doing here?” Flicking my gaze over to Alden and Reese, they’re both wearing matching smiles. Which is odd for Alden. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him look so…happy? “What’s going on?”
“Remember that business plan I created for my capstone project?” Fletcher asks.
“Yeah… What about it?”
“Well, I decided to tweak it a little and make a real plan.” He pauses for a moment, eyes on mine, and my heart beats a mile a minute. “I knew St. James Properties had purchased this building, and I knew there has been discussions over the last few years about expanding the company, and this seemed like it could be the perfect location to finally open up a second office,” he goes on, sauntering over to me.
