Page 7 of Bargain With The Boss (Crescent Cove: The Moguls #2)
Xavier
I wasn’t sure where she went, but Syd had definitely gone on a journey walking around our office. Gavin’s desk was nearly empty. Just a high-end desk and chair with a single photo on his desk of a woman he never talks about.
I didn’t know if it was his sister, an old girlfriend, or someone else.
Sydney trailed her finger over the frame before wandering to the window.
“Do you want to see the blueprints?”
She turned around, sunlight backlighting her windblown hair.
Something about her here, versus the smooth, buttoned-up woman, tugged at me.
She nodded. “That would be great.”
I waved her over to the massive counter we’d built into the far side of the room. Blueprints were rolled up in cubbies underneath the well-used cement top. It exactly matched the stone of the walls.
She tipped her head. “Do I want to know how you got that massive thing up those stairs?”
I laughed and pointed over my shoulder with my thumb. “We built those windows to come off. Way easier.”
Her mouth tipped into an almost smile.
“What?”
“Wish I’d thought of that for a project.”
“That’s us. All about innovation and oversized furniture.”
She huffed out a laugh as I unrolled our very first plan. It had been revised a few times, but we kept each iteration together in the same tube of blueprints. I pinned the corners down with a bunch of heavy crystals my sister had gifted me when I built her house.
Sydney, I was learning, was very tactile. She lightly coasted her fingers over the various facets of the clear quartz before focusing on the image.
I wondered what it would feel like for her to take that kind of care on my body, then swallowed a groan.
Enough of that thinking.
When her warm garden scent drifted over to me, I had to lock it down and concentrate.
She leaned over the blueprints. “So, you want to extend the shop to the hill?”
I nodded. “Yes, we want to make sure that it is incorporated with the land. A touch of exclusivity because of the beach but still accessible.” I pointed to the terrace that was the entire length of the four shops.
We had enough room to bump out the gallery to become a cool corner delicatessen and still have room for three individual shops depending on who decides to lease with us. ”
“Classy as you said before. Clean lines and just enough embellishments. Are these the finals?”
“For now. Unless we find something crazy on the build.” I pulled out a list of wants that we were targeting for the budget. “The apartments above would be soundproofed and elevated to utilize the view for maximum income.”
“Good points to overcome the retail spaces below.”
I grinned. “Exactly. And I don’t know about you, but the scent of Italian is a plus.”
“Perhaps.” She straightened, almost tucking a piece of her away as her excitement suddenly banked. “Still quite a gamble. What kind of capital do you have to support all of this?”
I folded my arms, then named a number.
Her auburn brows shot up. “How?”
I nodded to the bit of neon on my shelves. “Three guys with a lot of financial know how.” I’d had FHK Property Group made into a neon sign soon after we’d become official. Something that I was directly a part of—something that wasn’t part of my family.
Well, for the most part.
I knew that my family money was a major boon in creating this new company. I may have made the money, but I was well aware that my status as a Hastings made it possible a whole helluva lot easier than Gavin’s path. He’d come from nothing and worked harder than anyone I knew.
She moved away from the blueprints and back to Jude’s desk. Her focus seemed to be on the photos of Jude, Maddie, and the kids. Her long fingers touched the filigreed edge of the frame before curling into her palm.
“Jude’s happy, you know.”
“I’m well aware,” she said softly. “He made himself at home here in New York faster than I realized.”
I followed her over and sat at the corner of his desk. “Because he found his person. Maddie comes from a great family. Jude was a little overwhelmed at first, but between the Mastersons and the Hamiltons, he has stopped being such a tight ass.”
Her fingers fisted at her sides before she slowly relaxed.
I stood and placed a hand on her shoulder. “It’s part of finding your person. Not a replacement.”
“Don’t worry about my feelings, Xavier.” She shook me off and walked away from me, back to the blueprints.
I sighed. “Someone should.”
She glanced over her shoulder. “And why would it be you?”
“Because I understand shitty family dynamics. I just got my sister back in my life after a whole lot of years without her.” Not all of them her fault. None of them, actually. Luna being a very different kind of Hastings was the first step in changing me too.
“Yes, well, that’s not what this is about. I’m here to help Jude, that’s all.”
“Right. Then let’s get some specifics down for the demolition days.”
“That’s a very good idea.” She pulled the budget pages in front of her.
The next few hours were all about nailing down specifics.
She had a fascinating brain and was far more talented in the building arena.
I left a lot of that to Gavin since he was our architect for all intents and purposes.
He hid most of his talent with his tool belt and quiet efficiency, but he was the one who’d written up the plans.
I came up with money and ideas—between him and Jude the specifics got nailed down.
We ordered in food—Italian, naturally—and by the time the sun was setting she’d come up with a lot more ideas for the retail portion of things. Some specifics that none of us had thought of like seasonal businesses versus all year round thanks to the weather off the lake.
Crescent Cove got quite intense with the winters.
Not quite as bad as it used to be when I was a kid, but the lake effect dumped a shit ton of snow on us.
We’d need to think about snow removal for the apartments as well as shops that would survive that kind of environment or perhaps different kinds for each season.
Her retail background came in clutch there.
As we were cleaning up our chicken parm and lasagna in our small kitchenette, I asked her about where she was staying.
She dried off her hands and seemed to be choosing her words. “Jude wanted me to stay at his place, but I’d like to find a temporary apartment.”
“Hard being the third wheel.”
She glanced up, her face soft with relief. “Truly.”
I laughed. “Well, you do happen to have access to quite a few places thanks to us. I think we can find you something.”
“I’d appreciate that.”
“I have a big house if you want to bunk with me tonight.”
Her eyebrow arched. “I think I’ll manage at the place I have my reservations.”
I grinned. “The Hummingbird?”
Her eyes cooled. “The Sherman.”
So the Hamiltons were definitely a sore spot. Interesting.
“Then, I’ll get you over there if you want.”
She nodded. “That would be ideal.”
I held an arm out for her to go ahead of me. “Okay, then let’s go.”
I followed her out and down the stairs to the main floor. Gavin was downstairs, asleep on one of the couches in our meeting room.
Sydney glanced over at me. “Should we wake him?”
I shook my head and pitched my voice low. “Gavin crashes here a lot. Mostly because he refuses to stop working until his body does it for him.”
“Been there.” She grabbed her bag from one of the chairs on the way to the French doors.
The ride to the Sherman Inn was quiet. I didn’t even turn on music. Instead, we both rolled our windows down and the night song from the trees suited us both.
I pulled into the parking lot, but she shook her head. “Just let me off. I’m already checked in.”
“All right.”
With a murmured thanks, she slipped out and disappeared up the steps and through the dark doors.
I put the top back down to drive out to my house. I’d inherited the lake house from my grandparents. I also had a small apartment in town for when I was too tired to make the big drive. Crescent Lake was deceptively large, but tonight I was glad for the thirty minute drive.
The Hastings and Hamilton lands were close together.
I’d secretly bought the ten acres that overlapped between us so Maitland couldn’t get his greedy hands on it.
Especially since I didn’t trust my father when it came to this spa idea Arthur had.
When my father saw dollar signs, he forgot about things like ethics.
Sometimes it felt like I was one of the last of the founding families who cared about this damn town.
When Arthur Maitland had lost bids because of us, he’d changed tactics to urge the town council to see the big picture. The shitty part was that a lot of them were listening to him.
I pulled up my winding drive and sat in front of my house, staring up at the star strewn sky.
The quiet of the lake was broken only by the tree frogs and summer insects. I shut my eyes and heard owls on the prowl as well as the lapping water at my dock. These were the things that made living on the lake exactly what I needed.
And what I was fighting for.
I had a new ally in this project. Maybe with Sydney’s expertise, we could actually do this.