“Are you talking about Tiffany’s?” I breathe, my heart hammering in my chest and butterflies flapping around in my stomach. She nods and I press my hand to my heart. Oh my God. It’s so major that I can’t even wrap my mind around how much I’ve been able to accomplish in the five years I lost. “That’s crazy.”
“You should have heard your voice when you called to tell me. You could barely get the words out and you were crying. I was so proud of you.”
I grin as the elevator doors slide open, revealing a sleek lobby just like the one below us. Beyond that is a set of glass doors that lead into a wide open space. Mercedes guides me over to the doors and pulls them open.
“Right now, you just have this huge open room but you can do whatever you need to do to make it work for you. I know you need room for shipping and that might be the only thing we can’t accommodate here but I can help you look into other properties that might work for that.”
Staring around the room, a vision starts to unfold in front of me and I can see exactly how I can make this space work. Turning back to Mercedes, I smile.
“How much?”
“For you? Three thousand a month.”
My grin widens. “I’ll take it.”
“Yay!” she exclaims, clapping her hands together. “I’m so excited that you’re going to be working in the same building as me.”
“Me, too. I’m so ready to start building a life here.”
“So, that’s it, then? You’re not going back to Miami.”
I shrug. “I don’t see why I would. It’s not like there is anything left for me there, you know?”
“Besides Gavin,” she says as she links her arm through mine and we start back for the elevator. I shake my head.
“Obviously, I can’t say this for certain since my memory still hasn’t come back but I don’t think it matters. This feels like home and what I feel with Sawyer… it’s…”
“Epic,” she supplies, arching a brow as we reach the elevator and she presses the button. I laugh.
“Yeah, maybe.”
The doors open and as we step inside, she releases my arm to pull her phone out. “I’m writing myself a note to call the lawyer and I’ll get the rental agreement sent over to you as soon as possible. What are you thinking on term?”
“Let’s go month to month for now and see what happens.”
“Smart. You might hate renting from me.”
I laugh. “Or I might be a terrible tenant and you’ll be itching to kick me out.”
“Hey, anything is possible.”
We’re both giggling as the doors slide open and we walk into the lobby where she wraps me up in a hug.
“Okay, I really need to get back to work but I’ll let you know when all this is ready and let’s do lunch again soon.”
I nod as I pull away. “You got it.”
“Love you.”
“Love you, too.”
She waves as she turns to head back to her office and I watch her disappear before I turn toward the door and pull my phone out of my pocket. I dial Nico’s number and step outside.
“Jules!” she yells into the phone. “Where are you? Are you okay?”
“Are you with Gavin?” I ask, stopping and leaning back against the building.
“No… Why?”
I sigh. “I assume you’ve spoken to him though?”
“Yeah, of course. He told me that you went missing.”
I pinch the bridge of my nose and suck in a breath. “That’s not exactly what happened. I left him.”
“Why?” she gasps.
“Because I need to figure things out and I couldn’t do that in Miami.”
“Oh,” she whispers, understanding in her voice. “You’re in Baton Rouge.”
I nod. “I am but you can’t tell anyone.”
“Of course, Jules. I’ll keep my lips sealed.”
I push off the wall and begin walking away from the building. “I also wanted to ask you how open you are to the idea of moving.”
“Uh… I’m open to it, I guess. Are you not coming back to Miami?”
“I just don’t think it’s for me anymore. I feel really good here and I think this is where I want to build my life.”
She’s quiet for a moment and my belly flips as I wait for her response.
“But what if you change your mind once your memory comes back?”
“Well, I’m only doing month to month on my rental so if something happens, we can readjust but for now, I’d like to have you here with me to set everything up.”
She sucks in a breath and slowly lets it out. “Okay. Let me wrap up a few things around here and set everyone else up to run without us for a while and then I’ll be down there.”
“Thank you, Nico.”
“Of course.”
“And please, please don’t say anything to Gavin. I know he’s hurting but I ended things. I’ve asked him to move on and he’s choosing not to.”
She sighs. “I promise I won’t say a word and if he calls me again, I’ll tell him to let it go.”
I thank her again and she promises to get in touch soon to let me know when she will get to town before we say good-bye. Releasing a sigh, I slip my phone back into my pocket and glance up as I turn to where I parked Sawyer’s truck. A large man in a black SUV catches my attention as he pulls a camera away from his face. Even behind the sunglasses, I can feel his eyes boring into me and my belly flips as my heart rate quickens.
Shit.
Did Gavin find me already?
I have no idea what the new me would do in this situation but the old me, the girl I remember, would never take something like this laying down. Sucking in a breath, I march up to his car and arch a brow.
“Can I help you with something?”
He shakes his head, completely unfazed. “Nope. I was just waiting for someone.”
“Then why the hell are you taking pictures of me?”
“I wasn’t.”
I point to the camera in his lap. “I saw you.”
“I was taking pictures of the city. Not you.” There is something sketchy about him and I don’t believe him for a second but without proof, what else can I do? I suppose I could demand to see his camera but that is a little too much for me. Sucking in a breath, I take a step back and nod.
“Sorry.”
He flashes me a grin. “No problem.”
I back up and turn away from the car with my cheeks burning, my stomach sinking like a stone and hoping against hope that my time isn’t up.
Chapter Fourteen
Sawyer
“Heard you ended things with Tawny,” Storm, the club’s VP, says as he plops down on the couch across from me with a bottle of beer in his hand. I take a sip of my own as I nod.
“Yeah. She’s not getting the message, though.”
He arches a brow and a shit eating grin spreads across his face. “Oh? We got another Hysterical Hoover situation on our hands?”
“For the love of God,” I growl, shaking my head and clenching my fist. “Y’all need to stop bringing that shit up and no. I can handle her.”