by Lauren Layne
“There’s a catch.”
She tried not to let her deflation become visible. Of course there was a catch. There always was.
“I don’t want to just offer you a loan. I want to be part owner. Fifty percent.”
She was already shaking her head. “That’s not in the plan. It’s my business.”
He smiled. “That won’t change. I won’t tell you how to run it. You’ll do things your way. But this business plan is legit, and I want to be a part of it.”
“I’d pay you back every penny with interest,” she said. “I expect I can be profitable in two years, I already have a handful of socialite connections, all engaged or almost engaged, and—”
“No deal,” he said. “I own fifty percent or I’m not involved at all.”
Fifty percent.
This complete stranger wanted to own fifty percent of her business. Fifty percent of her dream.
She shook her head. “I can’t. Thank you, but no.”
His gaze shuttered just for a moment before his smile returned, just slightly more restrained than before. “Fair enough.”
Logan shifted his weight, and she felt a little bite of disappointment when he pulled his wallet out of his back pocket. He was leaving.
The urge to tell him to stay was strong, and for the life of her, she couldn’t figure out if it was for personal or professional reasons. She didn’t know what she wanted from Logan Harris, but she wanted something.
The thought scared her, and was exactly what had her biting her tongue.
She watched as he put several bills on the counter, saw immediately that it was more than enough to cover all of the food, plus her drinks and a hefty tip.
“No, Logan, please.” She reached forward to pick up some of the bills and return them to him, but he caught her hand.
Alexis gasped at the contact. His thumb found the center of her palm, his long, strong fingers closing around the back of her hand.
“Let me, Alexis.” It was a command.
Her first instinct was to scratch back at his high-handedness, but she couldn’t seem to think when he was touching her, didn’t want to do anything other than what he wanted her to do.
Not like her at all.
No doubt about it, this was a man she needed to guard herself against.
She slowly nodded. “Okay. Thank you.”
“There,” he said softly. “That wasn’t so hard, now, was it?”
“Actually, it nearly killed me,” she grumbled.
His smile was slow and intimate. “I know.”
Logan’s gaze dropped to their joined hands, and his thumb brushed against her palm, lingering as though reluctant to release her, before he finally let go.
He pulled something else out of his wallet, set it purposely in front of her. A business card. His business card.
“You’ll call me if you change your mind.” Again, it was a command. She was starting to gather that beneath the quiet smile and charming accent was a man accustomed to exercising control in all things. Much like her.
Alexis picked up the card. It was heavy white card stock with nothing but his name, phone number, and email. The card suited him. Simple and to the point, but the midnight-blue font rather than the expected black belied just a hint of unconventional that appealed to her far too much.
“I can’t,” she whispered again, eyes locked on his card.
She felt his gaze on her profile but didn’t meet his eyes, and he finally gave up, pulling on his heavy wool coat.
“It was lovely meeting you, Alexis.”
She finally looked up, met his piercing gaze. “You, too.”
He opened his mouth as though to say something but then shook his head and slowly started to walk away. Alexis felt something twist inside her at the thought of him leaving, and she gave in to the urge.
“Logan.”
He turned around, hands shoved into his pockets, eyes unreadable.
“Why?” she asked, lifting his business card slightly. “Why would you offer this?”
He jerked his head in the direction of her folder. “It’s a good plan. Worth the risk.”
She shook her head slowly, searching his face. “No, it’s something more than that. Another reason. I’d like to know what.”
The outer corners of his eyes crinkled a bit, and he gave a fleeting smile before walking back to her, crowding her against the bar.
For a moment she feared—hoped?—that he would kiss her, and from the way his mouth dropped to just inches from hers, she thought maybe he wanted to.
Then his face turned, his lips brushing against her cheek instead. “Say yes to my proposal, Alexis. Say yes, and maybe someday I’ll tell you the other reason.”
Logan pulled away, held her gaze for a heartbeat.
Then he stepped back, gave her a sly wink, and walked away without a backward glance.
Alexis sat there for a long time after, his card in her fingers, her heart in her throat, and her life in the hands of a stranger who somehow didn’t feel like a stranger at all.
Photograph by Anthony LeDonne
LAUREN LAYNE is the USA Today bestselling author of the Sex, Love, and Stiletto contemporary romances and the all-new Pocket Books series The Wedding Belles. She lives in New York with her husband and spoiled Pomeranian
FOR MORE ON THIS AUTHOR: Authors.SimonandSchuster.com/Lauren-Layne
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ALSO IN THE WEDDING BELLES SERIES
BY LAUREN LAYNE
To Have and to Hold
From This Day Forward
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Interior design by Devan Norman
Cover design by Janet Perr
Cover image © Tom Merton/Getty Images
ISBN 978-1-5011-3515-6
ISBN 978-1-5011-3516-3 (ebook)
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