Chapter ten
Parker
“And this is where the tables would go.” Cashlynn motions to the large open space beside her, excitement radiating from her. “I should be able to fit twenty to thirty people in here for each class.”
Willow rubs her pregnant belly and nods. “I love it. And shelves on the wall behind there for supplies?”
“Exactly. We need to order some cabinets for below the counters, but shelves up above.” Cashlynn darts to the other side of the room.
“I’m thinking a divider wall right here.
That way, it feels like two different spaces.
The front will be the gallery with the art that’s for sale, and then when you step through, it becomes the creative space where we hold the paint nights and classes. ”
I’ve been standing off to the side, listening and watching Cashlynn practically prance all over the space she and Willow just signed the lease on—the space I showed her last week.
A lot of paperwork this week delayed the process, but in a few weeks, Cashlynn will officially have her very own gallery and studio.
The whole room could be a crumbling mess for all I care. The way she lights up almost makes the turmoil I’ve been dealing with worth it.
“So, what do you think?” Cashlynn turns to me, bright-eyed and anticipating my response.
“I think it’s perfect.” My eyes travel around the empty room, and even though it doesn’t look like much right now, I have faith that she’ll make her vision come to life.
“It really is.” She walks up to me and places her hand on my chest. “Thank you again for suggesting it. You saved me a lot of time looking around.” She glances back at Willow. “We only looked at two other places, but the location and lighting here are unmatched.”
I stare down at my fake fiancée, focusing in on her lips as she speaks—those same lips that were on my mouth last Friday night in my kitchen, where I was five seconds away from stripping her naked and fucking her until she screamed.
“It is perfect,” Willow says, thankfully snapping me out of my daydream that was about to become a wet dream. “And now that we know what we’re dealing with, we can start talking about branding and marketing—my favorite part.” She rubs her hands together just as there’s a knock on the front window.
“I’ve got it.” I head over to the window, peeking under the brown paper that’s still covering the glass to find Penn outside, nose buried in his phone.
“We aren’t in need of any stripper services,” I say as I open the door to find him in his usual construction attire—blue jeans, a plain black shirt, and his tool belt around his waist.
“Jealous that women find my job sexier than yours?” he asks, pointing at my chest and then flicking my nose as soon as I glance down.
“Fuck off.” I swat him away as he walks past me, grinning.
“Who invited the dickhead?” I call out to Willow and Cashlynn as Penn strolls toward them.
“Um, I did. And you shouldn’t call your brother a dickhead.” Cashlynn narrows her eyes at me disapprovingly.
Willow places a hand on Cashlynn’s shoulder. “It’s best you just stay out of their brotherly love shit-talking. That’s what I’ve learned, at least.”
“And by the way, your fiancée is in need of my services, little brother, not yours. Unless, of course, she needs a thermometer shoved up her—
“Jesus Christ, Penn.” I cut him off, shoving him as Cashlynn and Willow shake their heads.
“Okay, boys. Enough of that.” Willow waves Penn over. “Penn, come over here and listen to what we’re thinking.”
As they head back to the far end of the room, Cashlynn hangs back. “Do you really think it will come together?” she asks, her voice soft, uncertain.
I step closer, my hands settling on her shoulders before I even realize what I’m doing.
I know we don’t need to put on a show for Penn and Willow, but touching her feels so natural.
The memory of her lips on mine five days ago flashes through my mind.
I’ve done everything to keep my distance since then—everything to remind myself that this is fake.
But right now, it doesn’t feel fake. Not the warmth of her beneath my hands, not the way she looks up at me, her eyes searching for reassurance.
“I do,” I say, my voice low but firm. “You’ve got this, Cashlynn. Don’t let those doubts creep in now.”
She huffs out a laugh. “Yeah, that happened as soon as I saw the rent on this place.”
“That’s what you have Willow for. Be patient. Building a business will take time.”
She bites her bottom lip. “I know, but now that I have a space, it all seems so real. What if I fail, Parker? What if my dad is right and trying to make a living out of art is way too farfetched? That having a stable job like a lawyer is best. That’s why he pushed me into that career.
I mean, I have my law degree still, and I can always take the North Carolina bar as a backup in case this fails—”
Before she can spiral further, I press a finger to her lips. Her eyes widen as I crouch slightly so I can speak to her at eye level. “We have not come this far for you to start thinking about a backup plan,” I tell her, my tone allowing no argument. “Remember what you told me about regrets?”
She nods once, her lips brushing against my finger, but I don’t let her say one word in response.
“You don’t want to live with them, right?” Another nod. “Then manifest this, Cashlynn. Think positive, envision what you want, and then work your ass off to make it happen. That’s why you’re here. And I’m not going to let you quit.”
Her gaze locks on mine, her lips parting slightly as I drop my hand.
If Cashlynn and I don’t get what we want out of this arrangement, it will have all been for nothing.
And I hate seeing her doubt herself. She did it on the plane, and I’ve seen her do it too many times since she arrived in Carrington Cove.
This woman is a lot stronger than she gives herself credit for, and I refuse to see her give up on herself when her vision is just getting started.
She blinks up at me, as if she’s searching for the right words, but Penn’s voice breaks the moment.
“Okay, so I don’t think what you need done will take longer than a week or two,” my older brother says, strolling back toward us like he owns the place.
Cashlynn twists to face him, brushing her hair over her shoulders and walking in his direction, leaving me rooted in place. “Okay. That’s not bad at all.”
“It should be easy. And then once I’m out of the way, if you need help with decorating, wiring, or whatever, just let me know and I can send Gary, my top guy, over to help you.”
“I appreciate this so much, Penn.”
He clasps his hand on her shoulder, and even though the gesture is innocent, seeing him touch her makes me want to rip his tool belt off and beat him with it. “Nonsense. You’re practically family now, right?” He glances up at me and winks.
Fucker.
“That was some speech,” Willow says as she walks up to me. Cashlynn and Penn are deep in conversation now as she talks through the rest of her ideas.
“Well, she needed to hear it.”
My sister-in-law squints at me. I glance over at her before rolling my eyes. “What?”
“Nothing,” she says, folding her hands across my nephew growing in her stomach.
“Sure doesn’t seem like nothing,” I grumble. “It seems like you have something you want to say.”
She shrugs. “I just want you to know that I’m genuinely amazed at what you’re doing for her.”
I shove my hands in my pockets. “It’s not like she gave me much of a choice.”
Willow nudges me with her shoulder. “You could have said no. And you could have had nothing to do with her business venture. You could have not suggested that we talk, you could have not suggested that she check out this building, and you could have not given her a pep talk just now when her self-doubt came up.”
Looking at her, I arch a brow. “Your point?”
She rests a hand on my shoulder. “I think she’s affecting you.”
“Is not,” I say, sounding childish even to my own ears.
Willow laughs. “Okay. Deny it all you want, Parker, but this woman brings out your softer side,” she says as she takes a few steps forward, then adds over her shoulder, “and I don’t hate it.”
I watch my sister-in-law join my brother and fake fiancée as they talk about the light fixtures. There’s a sentence I never thought I’d say.
And that’s when it hits me—Cashlynn may have crashed into my life here, but she slipped into it almost seamlessly.
Sasha never did.
Everything with Sasha felt forced, like I was always checking in, trying to make sure she was happy. But deep down, I knew the truth.
You knew she didn’t want to move here, but you pushed her to do it anyway. That’s why she turned to alcohol, that’s why…
“Parker?”
“Huh?” I look up to find my brother staring at me.
“You all right?”
“Yeah, just lost in thought.” I clear the ball of emotion in my throat.
“Don’t think too hard,” he teases, giving me a light shove. “Wouldn’t want you to hurt yourself.”
“Fuck off.”
“No, seriously.” He steps closer, standing shoulder to shoulder with me as we watch the girls.
“Don’t think too hard about it. If something feels right, just go for it.
” I don’t respond, so he continues. “Trust me.
I wasted a lot of fucking time denying what I felt for Astrid, wondering if she could ever feel the same way.
And lo and behold, we both wanted the same thing.
If I had just had the balls to say something sooner, she and I could have been together a long time ago.
“Cashlynn and I are not you and Astrid. This is a business arrangement, pun intended.”
He nods. “You’re holding on to your pain like it’s a shield, little brother. But it’s not—it’s a wound. And wounds heal if you let them.”
As he walks out, leaving me with the woman who’s making me question my life choices thus far, I can’t help but wonder if he’s right. Because that’s exactly what my failed relationship with Sasha feels like—a heavy weight I’ve been carrying for four fucking years.