Page 33 of The Last Goodbye

It was a seven-day close. We’d agreed to pay cash and wave contingencies, since time was the biggest challenge at the moment.

But my father was happy, as was Denton, and it felt damn good to have a win.

I’d just picked up the keys to give to Bass, and Steven was flying in today to go over the hotel plans. He’d agreed to walk the property with me at the new restaurant, just to provide a second set of eyes on how to maximize the space. We weren’t going to do a formal architecture plan, since time didn’t allow for that, nor was it something we needed. The place had been a restaurant many years ago. We’d use a similar layout, but we’d just get some insight into how best to use the square footage.

I’d also already met with Cutler Heart, who’d given me his input on the layout as well. He was unexpectedly warm and eager to get started on the project. My friendship with Gracie no doubt played a part in that.

But he’d impressed the hell out of me. He’d also already reserved several subcontractors, and he felt confident that we could get this job done quickly.

I was heading to the new location, where I’d asked both Steven and Bass to meet me so we could walk the property and I could give Bass the keys to his new restaurant.

The front door was wide open when I arrived, and I shook my head with disbelief and stepped inside. “Hello?”

“Hey.” Bass walked around the corner, his long legs closing the distance between us before he came to a stop in front of me.

“I see you broke into the place again?” I asked, rolling my eyes.

“I own the place. You can’t break into your own restaurant, can you?”

“Congrats, McGrumpy. I’d love to say it’s been a pleasure doing business with you, but I’ve never been a good liar. You’ve made this as painful as humanly possible, so I’ll just leave it at ‘congrats.’” I held the key out that I’d had made for him, and he wrapped his large hand over mine, holding it there longer than necessary.

My breath hitched in my throat at the contact.

He slid his hand slowly across my palm, taking the key with him. “The feeling’s mutual, Magpie. Nothing pleasant about it, but it was worth it now.”

I bit my bottom lip. “I guess you’re right. And you do owe me a drink, if memory serves.”

Did I really just say that?

I could feel my cheeks heat. My lack of professionalism around this man was mortifying.

His heated gaze took me in as my heart pounded in my chest. “I guess I do.”

“Hello! Briar, are you here?” a deep voice called out from the front door.

I whipped around to see Steven walking toward me.

“Hey, yes. We just got here.” I extended a hand. “Nice to finally meet you in person.”

But he surprised me when he chuckled and pulled me in for a hug. “You don’t need to be so formal with me.”

Steven was probably in his mid-thirties, blond hair, green eyes, and a muscular build.

I stepped back and turned to Bass, who was glaring in our direction.

We were just celebrating the fact that we’d closed this deal, but here he was all pissed off once again.

The man was so hot and cold, it was exhausting.

“Steven, this is Bass Bennett. He owns the restaurant.” I motioned between them. “Bass, this is Steven Hansen, one of the architects the company uses on our projects. He’s here to go over the hotel plans with me, but I wanted him to walk this space with us to see if he had any good insights before we begin renovations next week.”

Steven extended a hand, and Bass returned the gesture, but all remnants of a smile were long gone.

“Cutler already walked the space.” Bass crossed his arms over his chest, hostility radiating from him.

“I’m aware. But he’s here, so I just thought another set of eyes is never a bad thing.” I shook my head, because he was being an asshole and he knew it.

“Bass, I heard you gave our girl a hard time getting this deal closed,” Steven said. He’d obviously heard the details from either my brother or my father, which I didn’t appreciate at all.