Page 36 of Ten Day Affair

"Most people interpret that as eight-fifteen. Maybe."

"Not me. Are you always fashionably late?"

"I try to be on time. But I’ve been told I cram too much into a time slot, so I tend to show up running hot. At 8:05, I call that early."

"I like that overachiever math."

She leans back, studying me for a second too long. "So… is this neighborly small talk, or are we going to talk about the hospital? I have a lot of questions."

Shit. So much for keeping business and pleasure separate.

"Looks like you're skipping the small talk with a lede like that. What exactly do you want to know?"

She laughs. It's soft, but sharp. "Let’s start with wine and see how honest we feel after that."

"Fair enough. Tell me about Palm Beach. This home for you?"

"Yeah. I went to med school in Gainesville, so I got out for a bit. But my mom got sick before I finished, so I came back here for residency to be with my dad."

"It’s not a bad place to end up."

"It has its quirks. But I like being close to home, I guess. It makes me feel close to her."

"So you'll stay, then? Assuming a surgical position opens up at Good Samaritan?"

"I thought we were going for small talk," she says with a laugh, but I can tell I’m getting a little too close.

"Just trying to get to know Dr. Samantha E. Taylor."

She gives me a long look. “Honestly, I don’t know. Leaving would be hard. This place still breathes my mother. But I’ve got two more years to figure it out. I go between staying here, continuing the Taylor name, and branching out, starting from scratch.”

"I can tell you're a thinker. It will serve you well."

"What about you? Let me get to know Cole Houston. You said you live in New York, right?"

“I do. Manhattan mostly.”

She tips her head. “So what brings you to Palm Beach?"

"Like I said, I have a staff that tracks real estate developments all over the country. This one looked like a good investment opportunity, and it happened to coincide with the board appointment, so I jumped on it."

That isn't entirely untrue, although the order of events might have been a little different than how I'm presenting them.

"Nothing like a multi-million-dollar whim."

"You know it was in foreclosure, right?"

"Shrewd. I’d heard the builder was underwater, but I don’t keep up with how that works. You're here for the board meetings this time?”

“I’ll be here until the end of next week.” I pause, letting my fingers slide along the base of my glass. “I'll be here longer than I usually stay anywhere.”

“A beachfront vacation sounds nice.”

“It’s a working vacation, technically. I don't do vacations. But, I might as well enjoy the house before I flip it.”

Her brows lift. “I guess that's what real estate investors do?”

“That’s part of it.” I offer a half-smile. “I started in building and development. I still do that, but I've also moved into acquisitions. I buy undervalued assets, improve performance, and sell for a profit.”