Total pages in book: 66
Estimated words: 66387 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 332(@200wpm)___ 266(@250wpm)___ 221(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 66387 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 332(@200wpm)___ 266(@250wpm)___ 221(@300wpm)
I raise an eyebrow.
Here we go.
“Of course, you can come and go as you please. I just ask that at least one of us be with you at all times.”
I want to reply with something snarky, but Sebastian squeezes my hand.
“We’ll discuss the rest as we go,” Liam continues. “I’m available 24/7. My apartment is in the guest house.”
“Thank you,” I say at last and then turn to Sebastian. “Thank you so much for this. You didn’t have to go to all this trouble.”
“It’s no trouble,” he says.
“And you bought it furnished.”
“Max left everything, yes, and it’s fine for now, but I’m sure you’ll want to change everything. You can do it room by room, or in one big swoop, it doesn’t matter to me.”
“This is going to be a lot of work.”
“I’m happy to hire someone if you’d rather not—”
“Oh, no. This is all me. I’m so excited to dig into it. Thank you.” I leap into his arms and glance around, pleased to see that the men have all discreetly left the room. I kiss Sebastian hard. “This is the best present anyone has ever given me.”
“I’m glad.” He hugs me tight. “I was worried you’d be angry. That you’d want to choose it yourself.”
“I did. I told you I liked it. But, I also don’t want to sell my other place, Sebastian. I’m sorry if it sounds like I’m being stubborn.”
“It doesn’t,” he assures me. “Like I said before, you can do whatever you like with it. Perhaps you could ask Jenna if she’d be willing to manage it as a rental for you.”
“That’s actually a really good idea. There’s no way the security team would approve it for family when they visit.”
“It would be unlikely,” he agrees. “They’d just run into the same security concerns.”
I nod, thinking it over. “I guess using it as an income property is a smart way to go for now. I’ll call Jenna about it later. Do they know we’ve arrived?”
“I texted your brother when we landed,” he confirms. “They’re coming over later for dinner.”
“Perfect.”
I’m exhausted. When we landed, I wanted nothing more than a nap and maybe a snack. But now, my adrenaline is up, and I want to research all of the different ways I can decorate this gorgeous house.
“I should give you a tour of our new house,” I say. “I just realized you’ve never been here.”
“I’m all yours, darling.”
“Wait until you see the movie theater. We’ll have to have sex in there later. I’ve always wanted to have sex in a theater, I don’t know why.”
“You’re a bit of an exhibitionist.”
“Nah, I just like movies.”
Chapter Fifteen
Sebastian
“WHEN DO THEY eat? Have coffee? You know, be normal people?” Nina’s eyes are narrowed thoughtfully as she blows on her hot coffee and then takes a sip.
“Who?”
“The security guys,” she says. We’re sitting in Drips & Sips, enjoying some morning coffee and conversation. We haven’t even been in town for twenty-four hours, but we’ve managed to see family and visit her favorite coffee shop already.
She’s glowing.
“They eat and drink coffee when they aren’t on duty,” I reply.
“But they’re always on duty.”
“Not always. There is downtime.” I reach over and hold her hand. She’s watching the ladies manning the espresso machine, and the people coming and going.
“I’m buying two of these Drips & Sips mugs while we’re here to take back to London,” she says. “And, am I mistaken, or did I see a For Sale sign in the window?”
“I saw it, too,” I reply.
“Okay, we have two egg and bacon sandwiches.” The server puts our food in front of us and smiles. “What else can I get you?”
“This looks great,” Nina says. “But can I ask a question?”
“Sure.”
“Why is Anna selling this place?”
“Oh, she wants to move to California to be closer to her grandkids. I’m Aspen. Just let me know if I can get you anything else.”
She bustles away, and Nina frowns.
“What’s wrong?”
“I don’t want someone to come in here, buy the place, and change everything. Drips & Sips is one of the best parts of the town.” She takes a bite of her breakfast, then wipes her mouth. “I’m buying it.”
“We should discuss this. It’s not exactly convenient to own a business.”
“Am I not allowed to?”
I frown. “Of course, you’re allowed to.”
“Well, I can hire a manager, and I won’t have to be hands-on. I can just make sure that it stays the way it is now.”
She walks to the front of the store, takes a picture of the sign, and then returns to the table.
“I think you just about gave Nick a heart attack just now,” I say, watching as Nick’s eyes narrow on Nina. “When you made a run for the door, I thought he was going to run after you.”
“Oh. Right. Sorry, Nick.”
He nods once, and Nina returns to the task at hand.