Chapter 10 William
It simply had never felt like this. The build up to the moment, the sensation of our lips finally touching, the way her body responded to my touch. It all drove me wild. Before we kissed, I knew that I liked Kit. She was attractive, but it was more than that.
We spent so much time together. The sexual tension was perfectly primed. But once we kissed, something was unlocked, and Kit became my sole focus. I felt this urgency to be with her. I had simply never felt like that with anyone else before.
I kissed her long neck from behind as she pressed against me. She tried to reach for the door, but she paused, and I heard the hitch in her breathing as my thumb traced the soft skin on her stomach. I felt her press against my hips, and I whispered into her ear, “I want you.”
Kit turned and looked over her shoulder at me.
Her beautiful eyes met mine, and I knew she wanted the same thing.
Kit bit her lip and nodded at me as if calling me forward.
Kit turned to unlock the door, and as soon as she turned the key she froze.
Her body went rigid, and I knew something was wrong.
Kit turned to me, eyes wide and said, “The door is unlocked.”
I must have had a confused look on my face, because Kit repeated what she had said before. I blinked trying to process her words. Then I repeated what she’d said.
“The door is unlocked?”
“Yes, and I’m sure I locked it,” Kit said in a whisper. The look of anxious worry and alertness washed over her face.
“Let me go in first,” I said. I fully expected Kit to argue with me about not needing me to protect her, but she stepped aside, let me push the door open, and I led the way inside.
When we got into the foyer, the lights were dim in both the front room and office, but I could hear something in the kitchen. I pointed to the kitchen and Kit nodded. She pulled her cell phone out of her jacket, ready to call the police if we needed help.
We slowly crept down the hallway, pressing against the wall so that whoever was in the kitchen couldn’t see us. I took a deep breath and called out as I stepped into the kitchen.
“Who’s there?”
A man, in his mid-sixties, stood in the kitchen by the back door. “Hey,” I said putting my hand out. “Stay calm.”
The man froze; his eyes fixed on me. Kit was right behind me, and she managed to squeak out, “Leave or we’ll call the police. We don’t want any trouble.”
“That’s not what the doorbell camera said. Looked like you two were about to get into all kinds of trouble,” a familiar voice said from the dining room door. I looked over and saw a tanned, smiling Rita.
“This is Harold, my travel buddy,” Rita said. She turned to the man who was still frozen in the kitchen. “Harold, this is my niece Kit and one of our renters, William.”
Harold relaxed and said, “Oh, nice to meet you, Kit. I’ve heard so much about you.” Harold crossed the kitchen and put his hand out. I shook his hand and then he stood patiently and waited for Kit to do the same. Kit’s cheeks were pink with embarrassment from Rita teasing us about the front porch.
“Happy New Year, Kit,” Rita said, putting her arms out. Kit moved around me and Harold to give Rita a big hug.
“I’m so glad to see you,” Kit said, her voice muffled as she hugged Rita. Kit stepped back and said, “I’m just surprised. I thought you said your flight was tomorrow?”
“Well, they told us we needed to either leave early or risk being stuck there for several days after the storm, so we decided not to risk it. Not that the resort wasn’t lovely, but I have to work doubles and the nurses who covered me over Christmas would kill me if I didn’t come into work,” Rita said with a sigh.
“And if there is one group of people you don’t want to piss off, it’s a group of ER nurses. ”
Harold and I exchanged a look. I made a mental note not to make any nurses angry, including Rita.
“I should be getting home,” Harold said. “Nice to meet you all.” Rita followed Harold down the hallway to the front door to say goodbye.
We were alone in the kitchen. I waited to see how Kit would react. She turned to me and laughed. “Wow, that went from potentially scary to just a touch awkward.”
I felt the corners of my mouth push down in a smile. I nodded and shoved my hand in my pocket. I felt anxious because I wasn’t sure what to do next. I took a deep breath.
Kit looked down and ran her hand along the kitchen island and sighed.
“Well, I guess I’m going to head to bed.
I probably won’t be up for an early morning run.
” Her eyes shifted up and met mine. I so badly wanted to close the distance between us, but I could tell that she was on edge.
She said softly, “But maybe I'll be up for a night run tomorrow.” I felt my heart thud in my chest. Just the way her long dark lashes fanned as she looked down was more than I could take at that moment.
Rita cleared her throat as she came into the kitchen. “Well, kids. I’m probably going to hit the sack,” she announced, walking through the kitchen to the back stairs. Kit followed Rita. When she got to the bottom stair, Kit turned and said, “Happy New Year, William.”
The next morning when I woke up, I immediately thought of Kit.
I wished we had spent the night together.
Before I could give it too much thought, my phone buzzed.
I rubbed my hand across my face and sat up.
I exhaled a deep sigh. It was Meredith. It would be nice to see a friend calling on New Year’s Day, if I thought she was just calling to wish me a Happy New Year, but I knew it was about work.
I had been dodging calls from Meredith all week.
“Hey,” I said, my voice still deep from sleep. My mouth was dry. I put my feet on the floor and rubbed my eyes as I waited.
“Hey?” Meredith’s voice said thick with annoyance.
“Hey? You were M.I.A. at the company Christmas party in New York, which I told everyone was because you were in Atlanta, but guess what, you weren’t at the New Year’s Eve soiree in Atlanta last night?
I thought you were working out of the Atlanta office? Where are you?”
I went to my kitchen sink and filled up my one coffee mug with water. “Happy New Year to you, too.”
“Don’t be cute with me, William. I’m pissed.”
“Why? And how do you even know that I wasn’t at Braithway’s Atlanta party last night?” I asked. I could feel a post-drinking-dehydration headache coming on. I went into my bathroom to get some Advil.
“Because I was there, William.” Meredith didn’t hide her annoyance.
“And guess what—I had a front row seat to Charles licking Braithway’s ass.
It was awful. He was totally angling for your promotion, William.
Why would you miss such an important opportunity to spend time with Braithway and the board? ”
“You just have to trust that I’m doing exactly what Braithway asked me to do,” I said after taking two Advil. I walked back out and leaned against the kitchenette counter.
“You mean, your little secret project to buy half of a small town and turn it into a model redevelopment site to prove Braithway’s affordable housing theory?” Meredith said.
I looked up. “What do you know about that?”
“Give me some credit, William. I have been at this as long as you have—and believe it or not, I’ve helped you get to where you are now.
” She let out a long, annoyed sigh. “I know my name isn’t even being considered for CEO, so I have to do the next best thing: make sure you, not Charles, the greatest asshole known to man, gets the job. ”
“Look, just trust me, Meredith. I’m halfway through phase one of this project. When I get to phase two, Braithway is going to make the announcement. Just give me a few more months.” I tried to relax. At least, Meredith didn’t know I was in Creekstone.
“A few more months?” Meredith scoffed. “In a few more months, Charles will be pregnant with Braithway’s child. He’s such an insidious kiss-ass.”
“That was so unnecessarily graphic,” I muttered. “Yeah, maybe two months, tops.”
“I want to see your progress,” Meredith said after a long pause.
“My progress?” I shook my head as I chuckled.
“Put your pride in your pocket,” Meredith said. “You and I both know we’ve pushed each other over the finish line in multiple million and sometimes billion-dollar developments. Let me take a look. I can see what you’re missing, so we can get this over with.”
“I agree that you’re a valuable director on my team. I couldn’t do this job without you.” I tried to sound confident. “But this kind of development takes time. There aren’t any tricks that can be played to get us over the finish line faster. Trust me. I’m working all the angles.”
“Show me now,” Meredith said flatly.
“Show you now?” I asked.
“I’m outside,” she said and hung up the phone.
I hurried over to the window and looked out. Meredith was holding her phone in her hand, looking up at my window, as she leaned against a Mercedes G-Wagon that was parked by the curb in front of the house.
I sighed. On the one hand, this was annoying.
Meredith should be in Philadelphia preparing for a huge deal’s closing, not micromanaging me.
On the other hand, it was nice to see a friend, and Meredith was the best at closing out projects.
Possibly because everyone was terrified of her.
If anyone could help me get phase one of this project over the finish line, it was Meredith.
I texted her. I’ll be down in five minutes.
I brushed my teeth and splashed my face with water. I slipped on a pair of jeans, a T-shirt, and a fleece, then headed downstairs.
When I walked outside, Meredith was still leaning against the vehicle with her arms crossed. Her straight leg jeans and black ribbed turtleneck accentuated her tall, thin frame, and she lifted her expensive, oversized sunglasses to get a better look at me as I walked closer.
“You look…” Meredith paused, as if trying to select the right next words. “Better than usual.”
“Must be the mountain water,” I said. I crossed my arms in front of me. “How did you find me?”
“I asked Marla a million questions last night. Then I went back to my hotel room and looked at every property our company has recently purchased until I figured out which one could be your project.”
“We purchase dozens of properties every month,” I said, narrowing my eyes.
“I guess I’m just good,” Meredith said pushing herself forward, so she was standing up straight and not leaning on the car. “Let’s go.”
I held out my hand so Meredith could drop the keys in them. She did. Then she gave me a hug. “I’ve actually fucking missed you. Let’s get this deal done.”
“Missed you too, Mer.”
We got straight to work. I drove Meredith from site to site.
I airdropped her the folder of plans and permits I’d been working from, so she could see all the work I’d done with Nick and the city and county permitting departments to secure the infrastructure improvement approvals we needed.
I then showed her the properties we had already acquired, which included several empty lots and dilapidated buildings in the downtown area.
I told her that the wheels were already in motion to revitalize those buildings.
The last place I took Meredith was the river.
I explained that two landowners owned almost all the riverfront, and once we were able to purchase the it, we could build a riverfront mixed-use development that would serve as a new social center for the town.
The property would have new spaces for restaurants, shops, and even some housing affordable enough for nurses, teachers, and first responders.
“This is the only building on the riverfront,” I said, pulling into the parking lot of an old flour mill.
“We just purchased this property. I’m thinking we’ll restore this building and file for a historical preservation designation.
Maybe use the building as an event space or something like that.
It would be a great asset for the community and bring new families to the riverfront.
” I put the car into park, and Meredith got out.
I followed her to the corner of the lot, overlooking the river. I pointed toward the undeveloped lot next to us. “The riverbank lots for the next two miles are owned by one family.”
Meredith nodded. “They going to sell?”
I shrugged. “Too early to tell. They’re against outsiders. That’s what I’m doing here, becoming an insider.”
Meredith didn’t hide her amusement. She laughed the kind of soul-crushing laugh that only women from New York can deliver.
I said, “Well, it might be funny, but it’s true. It’s how Braithway told me to handle it, and he said if I can’t get it done this way, then I might not be the right person for the job.”
The mention of Braithway’s name stopped Meredith’s laughing.
“You tried threatening to build godawful things around their property to scare them into selling?” This was a common tactic of developers dealing with stubborn landowners who wouldn’t sell: buy all the property around them, and just build terrible shit like strip malls filled with liquor stores and check-cashing places—driving down the property value—so that, eventually, they have to leave.
“No,” I said. “Braithway doesn’t want it done that way.”
Meredith rolled her eyes. “You tried offering them so much money they can’t say no?
” Meredith waited for me. When I didn’t answer right away, she said, “I can call our bankers to see what we can pull together and what makes sense for a town like this.” Meredith scowled as she looked around as if just remembering she wasn’t talking about a corner of the Upper East Side.
Part of me believed Kit would never sell. Kit had made it perfectly clear that she wasn’t interested in talking about selling land with an outsider, but maybe, eventually, she would at least consider it. And if not, maybe I’d have to use Meredith’s strategy.
I nodded as if conceding something and said, “Yeah, call the bankers. Give me some more time to see if they’re even willing to sell, and if they are, we should be ready to make this deal work for the seller.”
Meredith checked her watch. “I have to head back to Atlanta. I left Addison with my credit card and told her to treat herself to whatever she wanted.”
“Ouch.” I winced as we turned and headed back for the car. “That might be the craziest thing you’ve ever done.”
Meredith shook her head and admitted, “People do crazy things when they’re in love.”