Page 7 of The Activist and Her Billionaire

“Come with me,” I say.

“Okay,” he warns me. “Just a quick walk. I don’t have time to look at all of it. It’s huge. But just enough to get an idea.”

I am so deranged about saving this wonderful inn that I think each new idea I get is going to be the one that saves the day. We dance up the stairs to the front porch, past the chains and handcuffs, right in through the front door. I flip on the lights. Even in the middle of the day, the place needs more than sunlight.

I am so proud of this place. I keep it neat as a pin. It is not cluttered at all like some of the mansions in Dove Point were. I stop mid-stride as I realize Jack is not following me. He had a look on his face that told me another lecture was coming my way.

“What?” I ask. “You said you would look around.”

“You have a lot of stuff here,” he rasps.

He is clearly frustrated.

“Yeah,” I struggle to reply.

Emotions are high, and my throat is tight.

“You were given a notice to vacate. I am not playing Brynne. I want you out of here. I won’t tear it down, but I want this cleared.”

Tears drizzle down my cheeks.

“How?” I ask. “Where is it going to go?”

“Do you not have any of the money from the sale?”

I do, and I can easily afford to put this stuff in storage. I just don’t think it belongs there.

His phone rings. He looks at it and rolls his eyes. He doesn’t take the call.

“I am going to give you a punch list,” he says. “And I will help you work through it. Or someone on my team will. But I want you out of here. You can’t sleep here anymore. The Calypso Inn is my property, and I am liable for you if you are here.”

His phone rings again.

“God damn it,” he says under his breath. “I do not need this shit.”

“Sorry,” I say. “It’s just my life.”

“I am not talking about you,” he says with a tense apology. “I am not unsympathetic. Give me some credit. Why else would I have thrown away the cash I did today by stopping the demo? Red Hawk Realty will even put you up in a hotel. There are beautiful places to stay in Malibu.”

“So, I can stay in a hotel, but not here?” I ask. “I could watch over the place so no one vandalizes it.”

He drops his gorgeous mug at me, arching his brow. With a look, he challenges me.

“Are you kidding?” he asks. “It’s going to be torn down eventually – just not today or tomorrow.”

“Are you sure you are not just trying to get me out? Please don’t hurt my stuff.

“I’ll be straight with you if you are straight with me,” he says. “Now, go pack a bag.”

His phone rings yet again.

“I can show you how to silence that,” I say. “I know sometimes older people are technically challenged.”

He laughs. I joined in. I don’t think of him as old. I think of him as fine.

“It’s my lawyer; he’s coming here,” Jack says.

“I don’t like him,” I say as I dash up the curving staircase. “He’s the one who turned my uncle’s head.”

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