Series: The Laws of Opposite Attract Series by Vi Keeland
Total pages in book: 101
Estimated words: 98878 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 494(@200wpm)___ 396(@250wpm)___ 330(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 98878 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 494(@200wpm)___ 396(@250wpm)___ 330(@300wpm)
“This is my city. I’m supposed to be showing you around.”
Almost as soon as he’d said it, Owen appeared, walking toward us. Brayden’s face lit up in surprise. “Hey, man. What are you doing in this neck of the woods?” he asked.
“Alex asked me to come.”
Brayden’s eyes filled with suspicion. “Did she now?”
Just then a car pulled up, and none other than Wells exited the vehicle.
Brayden’s brows knitted. “What the hell are you doing here?”
“I missed your pretty face.”
“Besides that…”
Wells put his hands on his hips and turned to me. “Did you tell him yet?”
Brayden looked back and forth between Wells and me. “Tell me what?”
Owen took out a set of keys and led the way to the building. “Let’s step inside, shall we?”
“What is this place?” Brayden asked.
“It’s a space that’s for lease,” I finally said.
“Yeah, I kind of got that.”
“Wells and I have been talking about taking over one of the medi-spas here in the City for some time,” I began.
“Alex never wanted to bite the bullet until recently,” Wells added. “Any reason you can think of that she might’ve had a change of heart?”
“You’re thinking of opening a business here?” Brayden asked, shock on his face. “What about the Connecticut spa?”
“Wells and I have decided to sell it and use the money toward this acquisition,” I explained. “We’ll be taking over all of the New York spa’s existing services and staff and adding some of our own in this new location. It’s going to be a win-win for their clients, and a win-win for me because I’ll get to be in the City with you full time.” I could see the information hitting him in waves.
“Holy shit. You’re moving here? I can’t believe you’ve been keeping this from me.”
“Well, I wanted to surprise you. I hope it’s a good surprise?”
“Um…yes! You’ve given me everything I could ever ask for. No wonder you’ve been wishy-washy about me moving my stuff to Connecticut, telling me to take my time. Here I was thinking you might’ve been having doubts about me invading your space.”
I grinned. “Not at all. Instead, I’ll be invading yours. I know you didn’t want to move. You were doing it for me. And I so appreciate that. But it will be a good change for me to be here. Living with you in the house Richard and I built never quite felt right. It’s time for me to move to a new chapter in my life.”
Brayden shook his head. “I can’t believe this.”
Wells smacked Brayden on the back. “Believe it, loverboy.”
“Let’s look around,” Owen said, beaming.
After we toured the space, we sat down with Owen, who ran specs for commercial properties that had been recently leased in this area. Since there were several other interested parties, we wanted to move fast, so we ended the afternoon by signing a preliminary agreement to lease the space.
***
Later that evening, Brayden, Wells, and I met Colby and Billie for dinner to celebrate.
“I’m so happy for you guys,” Billie said. “Here I thought we were gonna be losing Brayden, but we’re gaining Alex instead.”
I looked at Billie and Colby across the table. “I can’t thank you enough for being so welcoming to me.”
Colby poured some of the celebratory champagne Brayden had ordered for the table. “Thank you for making my buddy so happy.”
“Thank you for making my girl feel at home,” Wells added. “Any apartments open in the building for me, by the way?”
Colby scratched his chin. “Nothing at the moment, but we can put you first on the list.”
“I’d appreciate that.” Wells grinned.
“Are you moving into Brayden’s apartment, or are you guys thinking of getting a different place?” Billie asked.
I turned to Brayden. “His apartment is big enough for the two of us. It just needs a little tender loving care, maybe some art on the wall.”
“If you look up bachelor pad in the dictionary, I’m pretty sure Brayden’s apartment comes up,” Colby teased.
Brayden shrugged. “Hey, at least I gave her a blank slate to work with, right?”
I brushed a piece of his hair off his forehead. “You’re so thoughtful.”
“Correction,” Wells said. “You gave me a blank slate to work with, Brayden.” He turned to me. “Kitten, we need to rectify this fast. I can’t wait to decorate.”
As dinner began to wind down, I leaned over to Billie. “I was thinking of taking you up on your offer to ink me, if that’s something you have time for.”
“I’ll make time for you. You have no idea how exciting it is for me to give someone their first tattoo. You know what you want?”
“I do, actually. It’s simple, and you’ll probably think it’s boring, but I have to start somewhere.”
“What is it?” Brayden asked.
“You’ll have to wait and find out,” I told him.
Billie slapped her cloth napkin down on the table. “Well, hopefully not too long. Let’s go over to the shop after dinner.”