Total pages in book: 47
Estimated words: 45045 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 225(@200wpm)___ 180(@250wpm)___ 150(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 45045 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 225(@200wpm)___ 180(@250wpm)___ 150(@300wpm)
The office door opened.
“It’s time for the meet—oh, shit…”
I jerked away from Eli to find Gus standing in the doorway. He wore a strange expression. Not upset or angry, exactly. I’d have said he was pleased if he didn’t look so uncomfortable.
“Give us a few?” Eli asked, his voice husky.
“Yeah,” the old man said, glancing back down the hall. “You got ten minutes. People still need drinks, and I’ll take my time pouring them. Join us after you put her in her car. She shouldn’t be here tonight.”
Gus shut the door, leaving Eli and me sitting next to each other. I felt stunned. Almost raw. I’d come here to make Gus an offer on the bar. Not to do…this.
“I don’t suppose you want to pick up where we left off for another eight minutes or so?” Eli asked, trying to lighten the mood. I reached up and touched his face.
Remembering.
“You hurt me,” I said after a long pause, forcing myself to drop my defenses. “You really hurt me, Eli. And setting whatever was between us aside, I could’ve saved your ass. You wouldn’t let me, and you still won’t tell me why. How can you not see how fucked-up that is?”
He swallowed.
“Yes, I did,” he replied, and his voice was more serious than I’d ever heard it. “It was a shitty thing to do to you. Not to mention, stupid as hell. I’d give anything to go back to that night and change things. Wasn’t like I planned it, Peaches. Nobody ever thought it would go that far.”
His eyes were dark. Haunted, even. He was telling the truth.
“So, now what?” I asked.
“That’s up to you,” he said. “We can keep fighting. Try to run the bar together. Probably go crazy until you end up slitting my throat for real. Either that, or I’ll lose my shit and fire you. Regardless, it’ll get ugly.”
“And what’s the alternative?” I asked. “Let me guess. I walk away from the Starkwood?”
He gave a short, dark laugh.
“Yeah, like that’s gonna happen.”
Fair enough.
“We could try making peace,” he said. “For real. Neither of us has to give up on our dreams if we work together. It doesn’t matter whose name is on the deed, Peaches. We can be partners.”
For an instant, something melted inside of me. If we were partners, then I wouldn’t have to be on guard all the time. He drove me crazy, but it always left me feeling more alive.
What would it be like to truly work together?
Wait.
“It doesn’t matter whose name is on the deed?” I asked, forcing myself to think things through.
“Not really,” Eli said, catching my hand. Tingles danced across my skin where he touched me. I forced myself to ignore them.
“So why does it have to be your name?” I continued, keeping my tone casual. Eli raised a brow. “If it doesn’t matter, I mean?”
“Um, because I have the money to buy it?” he said.
“How much?”
“How much, what?” he asked, and I caught the first hint of suspicion in his eyes.
“How much money did you get from your dad’s settlement?” I asked, pulling away from him. “And how much is Gus charging you?”
Eli frowned. “Where are you going with this?”
“Let’s just say, for the sake of argument, that I have enough money to buy the bar from Gus,” I said slowly. “Do you think he’d sell it to me? If I could beat your price, I mean? Seeing as it doesn’t really matter whose name is on the deed…”
Eli studied me.
“You’ve got money from somewhere, don’t you?”
I took a deep breath, hoping I wasn’t ruining everything. Eli was right. We couldn’t go back and undo what’d happened in the past. But if we could make peace now… I thought about that kiss again, and how good it’d felt to be open with him.
“Yeah,” I said slowly. “I’ve got money. I’m going to make Gus a cash offer. You say you want to be partners. Prove it. Tell me what you’re paying him, and I’ll tell you if I can beat it.”
Chapter Seven
~Peaches~
Eli didn’t answer. He looked away from me, then sighed and shook his head.
“I knew it,” I told him. “You’re so full of shit, Eli King.”
“It’s more complicated than that.”
“No, it’s not. Tell me what you’re paying, and I’ll see if I can beat it. Put up or shut up.”
He wouldn’t look at me. “You don’t want to do this.”
“You don’t get to decide what I want,” I said. “I’m twenty-nine years old, but you and Gus still treat me like I’m a child.”
“That’s not true.”
“He just told you to put me in my car,” I said, feeling my temper rise. I reached out and caught his chin, forcing him to look me in the eye. “I was sitting right here. Next to you. But when he wanted me to do something, he told you to do it. Like I’m your dog or something. It’s getting a little bit old. Let me make my own fucking choices for once.”