Page 70 of Building Romance
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Fletch
She wasn’t at the café. She’s not answering my calls or emails. What the fuck?
We made love last night. I’ve all but confessed that I’m falling in love with her. Everything was great. And now, she’s ghosting me? I don’t understand.
I knock on her door and Drew opens it. I step back because this man looks like he’s about to rearrange my face.
I put my hands up in defense. “I don’t know what’s going on, but I swear I didn’t intentionally do anything to hurt her,” I start.
He snarls at me. “Really? Is that so?” Drew asks, crossing his arms. His biceps bulge and for a split second I want to ask what gym the guys in this building go to because they all look like they could take down the most hardened criminal. And I have a feeling Drew might try his left hook on me if I don’t figure out how to explain whatever it is that he thinks I did, that apparently Camryn thinks I did.
“I have no idea what’s going on. Everything was going great and then she left this morning and took all her stuff,” I explain.
Drew sighs. “You are sort of an idiot, you know that?” he asks as he steps aside and motions for me to come into the apartment.
I look around him to make sure I’m not going to get ambushed, but he appears to be alone.
I hesitantly step inside, and he shuts the door.
“Did you get what you needed from her?” he asks as he leans with his back against a wall.
“Get what from her? I don’t understand. Whatever rivalry we had, it’s done, over,” I state.
He raises an eyebrow. “Over? Really,” he says, his voice laced with sarcasm.
“Listen, are you going to explain what’s happening here or am I going to have to park myself on your sofa until Camryn comes here to tell me herself,” I say with a challenging raise of my eyebrow.
“You fucking plotted with your brothers to get intel on her café so you could figure out how to take her customers and drive her out of business. And then you just failed to mention that to her after you called a truce?” he asks, waving a hand in the air as if to say, see.
“I-I was, but…that was weeks ago, before we won the competition. Before I…” I trail off, not wanting to put all my cards on the table for Drew to see.
“Before you what?” Drew asks, narrowing his eyes.
I sigh and turn to the window, looking out at her café. The lights are off now. I look at the business next door, the one I just bought, the one I was secretly hoping to use to add to the café’s size. My plan, the one I’ve spent two weeks trying to work out is to sell the McDowell’s current spot to a chef friend of mine and instead act as a silent minority partner in Cam’s Café. My concept is that McDowell’s can partner with smaller bakeries and cafés to broaden our portfolio while helping small businesses. I’d be Cam’s partner, not her enemy. I could fund all the great ideas she’s talked about as we lie in bed at night. We could make the greatest neighborhood café ever. And if my family vetoes the idea, then I’m prepared to step away from it all and invest my own money in the café. I’ve already used my own funds to buy the place next door and I’m prepared to buy out the building leasing the café space. We could own the whole thing. I know with the show starting next week, Cam’s Café is going to see a huge uptick in its business. It’s the perfect time to invest. If I don’t, I bet someone else will. And no one is going to care more about helping her than me.
I put my thumbs in my pockets. Fuck it! I’ll put all my cards on the table. If anyone can talk sense into my woman, it’s Drew.
“Before I fell in love with her,” I admit, not turning around to see his reaction.
But I hear it. A single sharp intake of breath.
“You love her?” he repeats.
I nod. “I don’t know when it happened. She pissed me the hell off. She drove me nuts. And then…somewhere between saving her from a spider at the hotel and taking her on a real date, I fell for her. I don’t want to shut down the café,” I state as I turn to Drew. “I want to expand it.” I let out a long breath. I haven’t even told my family yet, but I have to tell him or he won’t believe me. “I bought the building next door and I offered to buy the building where the café is located. The dry cleaners was going out of business and the building’s owner wanted to sell. So, I bought it. I want to be a silent minority partner in Cam’s company. I want to invest capital, let her do all the great ideas she has. I believe in her business. I want to see it grow. I’ve already talked to a chef friend who wants to buy the McDowell property for a sandwich shop. I think it’ll do really well in this neighborhood,” I explain. I meet his gaze. He’s eyeing me with suspicion. I can see him warring over whether he should trust me or not.
I put my hands up in surrender. “I love her, Drew. I don’t want to hurt her. I’m not sure what she saw to think I want to ruin her business, but that’s not how I feel any longer. She even admitted to essentially spying on me to get intel. We were doing the same thing,” I offer.
He rolls his eyes. “Yeah, but she admitted it and you never said fuck all.”
I grimace. He’s right. I just felt stupid at that point. “You’re right. I should have told her. I just figured…it’s water under the bridge. What’s the point of telling her something that I sort of figured she’d already know.”
“You sort of figured wrong, bro,” Drew says deadpan.
“Yeah, I see that now. I’m an idiot, but I’m an idiot that’s fucking head over heels in love with her,” I lament.
I pull an envelope from my pocket. I had grabbed it this morning. I wanted to show it to her in person.
