Page 29 of Go Back to December

That matter-of-fact tone doesn’t match the intensity of his stare.

Everyone’s position at Blackhart & Steele is at risk with this merger. Baz won’t cash in his capital, risk his own hide to save his favorite breakfast spot, without some other incentive.

I almost want to accept his offer just to find out why.

“When the partners vote in January, the café needs to be on the list of resources they’re keeping,” Baz says. “Right now, all they care about is the bottom line. Make them care about the café. The best way to do that is to show them there’s other interest. Blackhart & Steele can’t be the sole investor if you want the café to stay afloat.”

Raise investor interest and capital, which Lacy insisted we could secure. But it will take months, and we only have weeks to pull it off.

“I can connect you to donor networks, open a few doors.” His mouth twitches. “And your hustle needs work. I can help with that too.”

Prick. He was probably taking notes while I choked in front of Alicia. “I will not be your Fair Lady.”

“Easy, Doolittle. No one’s talking about some extreme glow-up. I’m suggesting that you cultivate some new skills.”

“There are no guarantees with any of that, and it’s certainly not worth the cost of having to spend Christmas as your personal nurse, lying to your family.”

“Not even if it gets you the Lightman?”

This is why Baz is a brilliant negotiator. He understands exactly how to find someone’s pressure points and expose them for his own leverage.

I should have pretended I didn’t hear him the other day. A threat from Baz is too dangerous to ignore.

“Please don’t say anything about the fellowship,” I whisper. “It could make everything worse if the partners knew I was thinking of leaving.”

I can’t dream of it until the café is safe.

He holds up his hands in defense. “I won’t. But you don’t qualify for the Lightman without the café. And with my help, you have a shot at saving it.”

It’s true, and I should hate that he’s right, but I’m falling under the spell of his pretty promises of success. I can’t fail my staff. I won’t fail myself again, and Baz’s offer is enticing. All he’s asking in exchange is for me to spend a few nights at his place and strap him into those boots, which will be no chore. Honestly, I’d probably pay good money for the privilege.

But I can’t do it. I don’t want to owe Baz, and I can’t trust myself alone with him.

“Do we have a deal?”

Shouts sound from the corridor, and the words discharge and caregiver echo over the rattle and hum of wheeled machines as a nurse says, “Who’s taking Baz home?”

Tension threads across his face. The prospect of spending the holidays with his family scares him more than being held up by a knife-bearing meth-head.

“I need you, Melody,” he rasps. “Please.”

In two years, I don’t think he’s ever spoken that word to me.

A slight ache pulls at the space beneath my ribs as I draw a breath.

The agreement falls from my lips as softly and easily as snow. “We have a deal.”

Chapter Nine

Lacy Shore

I’m not forgiving you for EMAILING to tell me someone mugged you.

At least signal you’re unharmed by answering one of my texts.

I haven’t responded to Lacy’s thirty-nine messages because I’ve wasted the better part of an hour shouting on the phone to my mother to compensate for seaside background noise while I assure her she and Ira shouldn’t cancel their holiday plans to come to my aid.

Mom only calmed down after I told her I’m spending Christmas Eve with Baz’s family.