Page 20 of Bargain With the Boss

I nodded and followed him across the hardwood to the spiral staircase. It wasn’t practical in any way, but I had a feeling that the office space on the first floor was for dreams.

As I got to the next floor, there was the male flavor I’d been expecting. It was a wide open floorplan with a desk for each of the guys in front of one of the massive windows.

I could guess which one was Xavier’s. It looked like a fourteen year old was let loose with adult money. Captain America wasn’t just for shirts when it came to his desk either. On either side of the arched window was a bookcase withmemorabilia mixed with awards and child drawings all given equal billing.

In fact, the kid drawings might have actually gotten center stage on a few of the shelves. A photo of an ethereal blond and an all-American looking guy with a baby cuddled between them was beside another of just the little boy. Jude, Owen, and Maddie were in another frame with a drawing of a family with a few bonus guys which I guessed were Xavier and Gavin.

On the far side of the room was an executive desk that could only be Jude’s. It was dark and topped with a leather blotter and more family photos. My chest ached when I saw I’d been included in the family photos. Ever since Jude had done the deep dive on the Hamiltons, it seemed like he’d left me behind.

Had I been so wrong?

Chapter 6

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?”