Chapter 27 Ewan
EWAN
The door clicks behind me, but I barely hear it. All of the blood rushes through my veins, punctuated by the thrum of my pulse filling my ears, erasing my brain of everything. Except one thing.
Maisey.
Maisey is here. And she wants to buy The Booby Trap?
“You’re not Seth Jennings…”
Maisey’s brow furrows, a giggle escaping her pretty pink lips. “Not the reaction I was expecting. Although, I’m going to choose to accept it as a compliment.”
Pushing out of her chair, she walks over to me, so light and smooth she might as well be floating on air. The concrete blocks my feet have turned into won’t move for all the world, keeping me solidly in this spot.
Maisey…
I continue to blink rapidly, convinced that my eyes and brain are deceiving me. That I have entered the upside down or the inside out or opposite land…or something. Some place where everything isn’t as it seems.
“Hi.”
She presses her lips to mine, gently, softly. Almost as soft as her greeting. My heart wants to burst, my hands gingerly resting on her hips, afraid that if I make any kind of move that I’m going to end up like Lennie in Of Mice and Men, my strength taking over when I don’t mean it to.
“Hi.”
I try to mirror her softness, but it comes out gruff and suspicious. Like I don’t trust why she’s here. There’s no denying that I’m curious. That my mind is running wild. But no part of me hates it.
“Would you like to hear my proposition?”
Oh, would I ever…
“You’re propositioning me?” I quip, not bothering to hide my meaning. Winking at her, I smirk, moving my hands to the small of her back. If this is going to be that kind of conversation, then I more than trust myself to touch her.
“Business proposal!” she corrects, smacking my chest. Giggling, she tries to wiggle out of my arms, but I hold tight for a second before letting her go. “It’s a business proposal.”
I laugh. “Yes, I would love to hear your business proposal.”
“Well then, right this way, Mr. Hayes.”
She gestures for me to come sit down by where she was seated before, in the chair to the right, the one Gus usually sits in during Munch.
It feels weird to be taking his spot, even though he’s not here, but I sit, watching as she returns to the head of the table, looking absolutely adorable in her sundress.
“As I believe the elder Mr. Hayes informed you, I have expressed interest in procuring The Booby Trap. I—”
“Maisey—” I start to cut her off.
“No, Ewan. Please, let me finish.”
Her beautiful blue eyes plead with me, making my heart squeeze. They are so full of love and tenderness that I know I need to hear her out. Holding up my hands in surrender, I nod, signaling her to continue.
“Thank you.” She tips her head to me. “As I said, I have an interest in procuring The Booby Trap. Since its inception, it has always been locally owned and operated. The current owner has single-handedly grown the business exceptionally, and I feel that should continue. This operation is not one that should be corporate owned, but should continue to be run by someone who loves it.”
“And you think that someone is you?”
“Sorta. Mostly, I know a guy.”
I nod. Okay, I’ll play along.
“You know a guy…”
“I do. Hunting, fishing, camping…he loves it all.”
“And what if I were to say that the deal is already done with Hayes?” I lift an eyebrow, trying to feel her out. Maisey doesn’t react, her poker face perfectly intact. “That there isn’t an offer you could make me.”
“I’d tell you the God’s honest truth. My offer is better than anything Hayes Industries could muster, I promise.”
I sit back, her words hitting me like a hurricane wind.
Better than anything Hayes could offer? Those are some big words.
I have no idea what Gus told her, but my family’s legacy is a Fortune 500 company.
We have a lot to muster up if we really wanted to.
So Maisey really must think she has something. Or she’s bluffing.
Knowing Maisey, it’s the latter.
“And what’s that?” I ask, ready to see what she has.
“Ketchup.”
My heart stops. Ketchup.
There’s so much confidence in her voice. But even more love in her eyes and wild in her smile.
I all but come undone.
Reaching down, she pulls out three ketchup packets from underneath the table, lining them up and laying them out in front of me.
“One for our past, one for our present, and one for our future.”
Not just ketchup. Ketchup pacts.
My heart gets caught in my throat, tears starting to burn my eyes as I continue to stare at them. Maisey is offering up ketchup pacts for The Booby Trap.
Holy shit.
“Ewan…” she whispers. Her voice is so strong, even as quiet as it is, weaving its way into my soul.
I can’t take my eyes off the damn condiment in front of me out of fear of the dam breaking, but I nod, almost imperceptibly so she knows I hear her.
“Please don’t sign the store over to your brother.
I know it’s not what you want. It’s not what I want either. ”
I whip my head to look at her. Tears be damned. She smiles back at me, the most beautiful sight I’ve ever seen.
“What?”
“I called InterCon MediTrust this morning and turned down Reykjavík. So, fingers crossed I actually get the job at Tifton Regional or I’m gonna be working for my father and Landon for a little while longer.”
“What, no,” I exclaim. “That’s your dream—”
“It’s not.” She shakes her head. “It was, don’t get me wrong. But dreams change. What I want is to stay here, with you.”
“Maisey, take the job; we can make it work.”
Reaching across the table, she takes my hand. “Are you listening? I don’t want to make it work. I want the sex tent. And a matching pair of children. And our blue heeler. Family camping trips. I want to try and weird Willa out with our sex noises!”
Errrr…what?!
“Where did that last one come from?”
“Dolly told me about how you knew about Willa and Nash before anyone because you could hear them through the walls,” she answers sheepishly.
Oh, yeah, that.
“Gotcha. Okay, we can add that to the list…” I make a mental note to try and out sex my little sister. Although I’m not exactly sure how one does that.
“That can’t be done from an island nation in the middle of the north Atlantic.”
No. No, it can’t.
“You are what I want, Ewan. And our future is here. We can go visit Iceland. Take a vacation sometime, maybe to celebrate you getting the partnership with Auburn up and running. Because the only person I want to be hanging out with in the Blue Lagoon is you. And it’s you that I want to be curled up with in a glass igloo watching the northern lights.
But more than that, I want to wake up next to you every morning, living our life. On whatever adventure it takes us on.”
Her soft sigh and the tip of her smile lets me in on her thoughts—her mind going to more than just curling up under those northern lights—and my pulse skips a beat. I shift in my chair, trying to accommodate for all the blood now rushing to my dick as I sit here and think about that new fantasy.
“So, what do you say? Do you accept my proposition?”
She must be out of her mind if she thinks I could ever say no to her. Then again, I did once. Time to right that wrong once and for all.
Pushing up from my seat, I kneel down in front of Maisey, taking her hands in mine. I drink her in, letting this moment settle around us.
“You are my life, Maisey, with or without this town. So if here is where you choose, then here is where we will stay. I love you.”
“I love you.”
I reach up, cupping her face in my hands, and kiss her hard. The taste of forever is on her lips and I want to capture every drop. Maisey whimpers, leaning into me, trying to deepen the kiss, and I know I have to be careful. I am still at work after all.
Although there is a very large part of me that wants to lock those doors and have my way with her on this conference table. Ten bucks says I would not be the first Hayes man to do so with his woman either.
A knock on the door interrupts us, and we break apart quickly, like two teenagers getting caught in the act. Miss Harriett pokes her head in, ready to set up for Munch, letting me know that we should vacate the room. For now.
“So, now that I’ve invested in the business,” Maisey says, continuing her bit, “does this mean I get to attend Munch?”
“I got a better idea,” I tell her, pulling her into the hallway and pressing her up against the wall. “How about I take you home and make you my lunch?”
Maisey pretends to think for a moment, pursing her lips to the side. “I feel like that is an acceptable counteroffer.”
“Then you have yourself a deal.”