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“Why does everyone keep saying that?” he said with a laugh. “I don’t want to own the town. I want to own the most lucrative businesses in the town.”

“Uh-huh.” I took another sip. It really was good wine. “And with the Monticello off the table, you’ve got your eye set on…”

He smiled. “I’ve got my eye set on image rehabilitation. I feel the good people of New Elwood and I have gotten off on the wrong foot.”

“Theo. I’m a real estate agent, not a mediator. Just tell me what you want, and I’ll tell you if I can help you.”

“The strip mall south of the New Elwood Museum. I want to buy it, clean it up, and set it up as a hub for some of the businesses here in town.”

I leaned back. “Interesting.”

Theo grimaced. “Problem is, the woman who owns it won’t even look at me.”

That was no surprise. She was rumored to have killed atleast two of her three ex-husbands. Evelyn Blanchard was as terrifying as she was rich, and I didn’t think she thought much of Theo Sinclair and his image rehabilitation plans. I would know; I spent the evening with her every two weeks.

“I’ve heard that you might know her personally,” Theo said, eyeing me.

“I do.”

Theo leaned forward. The low light of the bar kissed his cheekbones, his clean-cut jaw. It glinted off the golden strands of hair perfectly styled on his head. He looked like a storybook prince—except for the sly look in his eyes. “If you were to put in a good word for me, I would see it as a personal favor, and I would repay it in kind.”

“Ha,” I said. “I’m not too big on tit-for-tat favors at the moment.”

“One of the vacant offices in the strip mall would make a great realty office, if someone in town felt like opening their own real estate agency.”

I laughed. In one fell swoop, Theo Sinclair had cut straight to the heart of me. I would love to start my own agency. The problem was, I messed everything up.

But if I had a space…maybe…

“I would give you the space, a great deal on rent.AndI would owe you a favor,” Theo said, sweetening the deal.

“All this for me to put in a good word with Evelyn for you?”

“I want that strip mall.”

I finished my glass of wine in one gulp. “Let me think about it,” I said, then I got up and walked out of the bar.

The air outside was fresh, carrying the first hint of fall coolness. I inhaled deeply, andexcitement sparked in my gut.

My own real estate agency. My name on the sign. That was something a reckless, foolhardy woman could never achieve.

But if Theo opened the door, could I really step through?

As I drove home, I tried to dampen the excitement in my gut. Partnering up with Theo—and trying to talk Evelyn intoanythingshe didn’t want to do—was a bad idea.

Then Rex’s words popped into my head.You’re the only one who can pull this off, he’d told me. He was talking about the wedding.

But he’d believed in me. Would it be so hard to believe in myself?

I walked over to the spare room where I’d left Winston. Cracking the door open wide enough to slip inside, I called out my cat’s name and then took a seat on the carpet in the middle of the room.

Winston watched me from his perch on the windowsill.

“Hey,” I told the cat, leaning back on my palms. “I want to run something by you, and tell me if you think I’m insane for considering it.”

SEVEN

REX