Page 18 of Forbidden Kisses

"Yes," Chase said. That was to be expected. He was a genius and always had great concepts. “Ever since that whole debacle with Hannah’s inn, I've taken an interest in the hotel business.”

Debaclewas putting it mildly. His fiancée had needed funds to invest in it but refused to take money from him, so he tried to pose as an investor.

"You saw an investment opportunity?” Wyatt asked, straightening up.

"Yeah, it's a chain that made Hannah an offer recently. She turned it down because they don’t actually focus on B&Bs but rather luxury hotels. But it got me thinking that we could invest in the chain itself. I'm going to work on a proposal this week if you all agree to it. I don't want to waste my time otherwise."

There was a murmur of agreement around the room.

"I, for one, thought the hotel business was a good deal ever since we tried to fake-invest in Hannah's inn," Finn said with a grin.

Chase groaned.

"No, we’re never going to let you live that down," I said.

Hannah had had financial troubles when she took over her grandmother's inn, and my brother had this idea to set up a shell company to pose as an investor in order to buy shares in her company. I told him I wasn't going to be part of it. I was low-key still annoyed at the rest of my brothers for not taking my side in wanting to talk him out of it. Of course, Hannah found out eventually, but she ultimately forgave him.

"All right, we have two very clear directions," Griffin said. "It makes no sense to continue brainstorming. Let's look into both these things and regroup next week. And if we really want to pursue them, we'll hit the ground running."

"I agree," I said. "But in the meantime, we could also make a plan to help our parents. I can even drop by with Jeremy. He likes when I show him construction things."

"Here's a thought: why don't you drop by with Riley too?" Knox asked.

"Why would I do that?"

He shrugged. "Is she attractive? If one of us asks her out, you’ll resist temptation more easily.”

"Now, you listen to me. Riley is completely off-limits to every single one of you bozos."

Chase was fighting laughter.

"What?" I asked him.

"Take it from a guy who was sitting where you were only a few months ago—being completely professional won't pan out."

"You have no idea what you're talking about," I replied.

"I actually do. You were pissed at me for creating that shell company to help out Hannah. But when you're crazy about a woman, you do crazy things. I suspect that you're about to find that out for yourself."

I scoffed at the idea. I knew I was stronger than that—and was determined to prove them all wrong.

CHAPTER SEVEN

Riley

I barely resisted the urge to pinch myself. I couldn't believe this was my life. Jeremy and I were spending another afternoon at the pool, which was hands down my favorite place in the whole city. There were only few other residents here, either sitting on lounge chairs or swimming in the water.

I couldn't understand why this place wasn't chock-full of people. If I lived in this complex, I’d probably never leave the pool. I'd even bring my laptop here and a pair of headphones and do all my meetings from my lounge chair. I felt like I was on a vacation while the slides kept Jeremy very entertained.

He was old enough that he didn't need me to go down with him. I'd asked him in the beginning if he wanted me to, and he vehemently said no. I was waiting for him in the pool in case he needed help. The last thing I wanted was to embarrass him. He slid right down and dunked under the water. He resurfaced seconds later, giggling and spitting water everywhere.

"What did I tell you? You need to keep your mouth closed."

"I know, but I thought I could keep my head afloat. Maybe next time. Can I go again?" he asked me eagerly.

"Let's take a short break." He'd been going at it for almost two hours, and I learned that when he got tired, he was more careless. I didn't want him to hurt himself.

"Can we eat the snack you made?"