Chapter 45
Chapter Forty-Five
EMMA
The car pulls up in front of an empty storefront in SoHo. I try to see if there are any particularly special places nearby, but all I find are a restaurant and more closed stores. What’s strange is that I walked down this block when I went shopping with my mom two days ago.
Grayson steps out, and before I can reach for the door handle, he’s already opening it and offering his hand.
I glance at what he’s offering and decide I’m not ready to touch him again just yet.
Not after sitting in the car for thirty minutes with him dressed in a suit, looking the finest he’s ever been.
He attempts to hide his disappointment but fails.
I mutter a quick “Thank you,” and watch to see where he’s taking us.
My heels wobble a bit on the cobblestone streets, but I manage to keep my balance.
The tension since the dance between Grayson and me is awkward, and I despise it. We didn’t say a word to each other the entire ride here, which wasn’t exactly short.
“Over here.” Grayson points to the empty storefront whose glass is covered with white paper from the inside.
“What are we doing here?” I ask skeptically.
A key chain glints in the streetlight where fifteen keys hang, and he grabs one with a white top, puts it in the top lock, and opens the door. I raise a brow and follow him inside, not bothering to ask him the question again.
Grayson flips on the lights as soon as he walks inside, where there’s a wide, clean space with a dark wooden bar that seems to be the only thing in here that’s finished.
My eyes scan the place as I try to make sense of why we’re here, but I come up empty.
“Do you like it?” I turn to Grayson, who’s staring at me with an odd intensity behind his glasses.
“What is it?”
He sighs and closes the door, letting the heater do its job. “I told you I had some things to sort out.”
Rolling my eyes, I cross my arms. “Yeah, I got that.”
If he says that one more time, I swear I will step on his foot with my heel.
Grayson walks over to the wooden bar and runs a hand across it. “This was one of those things.” He looks at me expectantly, and I gesture for him to continue. “The place is mine. I bought it when I left Driscoll.”
My mouth opens slightly at Grayson’s explanation, unclear as to why he would be buying… Is he moving here? Is he going to turn this into a restaurant and move to the city permanently, leaving Driscoll?
“Are you moving here?” I manage to ask past my dry throat.
Grayson looks at me as if I’m crazy. “No, of course not. Not permanently. I’ll be checking on the place at least once a week. Some weeks I might not come at all.” He runs a hand through his hair. “By the look on your face, I’m definitely not going about this the right way.”
My mind feels as though it’s about to explode with the numerous questions floating in there, and I have no idea where to start.
“I want to open a place that’s a café during the day and a restaurant at night.” He lifts a finger. “The catch being, it’ll also be a bar and bookstore.”
“A bookstore?” I blurt out. “You know nothing about books.” I raise an eyebrow and scoff.
“But you do.” The tilt of his lips sends my mind into overload. Grayson pushes himself off the bar and steps toward me, where I’m still rooted to the spot by the front door. He grabs one of my hands, and my mind is such a mess that I allow him to.
There’s a tingling sensation from our touch that spreads to various parts of my body. Grayson must feel it too. Our eyes lock, and we don’t look away, even when a cool piece of metal touches the palm of my hand.
Swallowing past the dryness in my throat, I eventually peer downward to find a light pink key.
“I got it for you,” he says in a low voice.
My head snaps up. I need to make sure I heard that right. “What?”
Grayson gently holds my chin with his fingers. “I want to make this place yours. I want it to feel like a safe haven with your favorite foods, activities, and drinks.”
A sound that’s a mix of a gasp, scoff, and laugh escapes me. “What the hell are you talking about?”
Grayson opens his arms and shrugs. “It doesn’t have to be a restaurant or a bar, but I’m assuming you like the bookstore aspect of it. After all, it’s what you told me about that night in the truck. It’s really your choice.”
My arm holding my purse drops to my side at the sheer revelation of it all. He remembers what I told him in the truck? About the kind of place I would’ve loved to open?
This is too much. I’m not sure how to feel about all of this. Does this mean that the place is under my name?
“I own it, Emma. But I want you to decide what you’d like it to be, and I’ll handle the rest.” Grayson takes a few steps back, never taking his eyes off me. His frame leans against the bar again as he waits for my response.
My heart races even faster, making my temples throb.
This is more than I can handle.
What kind of movie are we in?
Shaking my head, I look for a chair of any kind. “I need to sit down.”
Grayson jogs over and starts taking off his suit jacket. “There aren’t any chairs, so the floor will have to do.”
He lays his jacket down in one spot near the wall. I let him sit me there and lean back, my bare shoulders meeting the cold wall as I close my eyes, slow my breathing, and take it all in.
Why did this take so long? And why was he in Connecticut when he bought this?
“Is this why you left for so long?” I ask, turning toward him. “Were you in the city this entire time?”
“No,” he quickly reassures me. “A friend’s agent showed me the place, and everything was handled remotely while I was in London.”
I sit up. “What?!” My squeal echoes through the room, making Grayson flinch. “You went back to London?” My face drops. “Were you with someone there on New Year’s? Is that why you didn’t contact me?”
Grayson’s eyebrows knit together with pain as he quickly reassures me.
“No, I wasn’t with anyone on New Year’s.
Not like that. I spent it with some old business partners I was trying to get to invest in my new restaurant.
” I let out a low, ragged breath and nod.
As much as I’ve been keeping myself distracted this week, I know if he had been with anyone else while gone, my heart would have shattered, and I would have ended things as soon as I found out.
“It was with the guys who bought my last two places, and I had to finish transferring some paperwork.” He exhales, letting me know he’s annoyed with himself.
“I was tying up loose ends there. These kinds of deals tend to drag on, and I didn’t want to travel for business again, at least for now. ”
“Okay.” I try to wrap my head around his explanation. “So, you bought this place while you were in London, along with another one?”
He laughs briefly. “Yeah…and I rented an apartment in the city.”
“God,” I groan. “How rich are you?” I lift my knees as high as this dress allows and rest my head on them. I knew Grayson was well off, but not like this.
“Not as rich as you or Jake, but pretty damn comfortable.”
“I’d say,” I mutter.
He chuckles. “Loans and investors also exist, Emma. The apartment is a small studio, enough for me to sleep, eat, and shower.”
“If it’s in Manhattan, it’s expensive.”
“It’s affordable for the Lower East Side, but it’s also a shoebox.
” Something slides toward me and lands near my hip.
I’m still bent over, my face buried in my dress, but I turn to look at what he slid over.
A wave of nausea hits me. “It’s a copy I made for you.
The place could use some decorating, and you’re welcome to stay whenever you like.
That is, if you still want to be with me.
” I don’t move, my body’s completely frozen.
I’m officially in overdrive. “I spoke to Ben.”
At the mention of my only friend who works at the Driscoll Wolf Weekly, my thoughts slow down, and I look at him. “What?”
Grayson isn’t facing me anymore. Instead, his eyes are focused ahead.
“I asked him to keep me updated about your position at the paper. I wanted to know that you were good to go for the semester before I came back. It’s why I stayed in London.
” My eyes start to burn as he reveals the final piece of the puzzle.
“As soon as you texted him the other day and he called me, I hopped on the next flight here without a second thought.” My lips wobble as I remember Ben texting me for an update a day and a half ago.
“Your future was secured, and until then, I needed to put distance between us or else I would’ve been selfish and demanded you go back to Driscoll with me.
It would’ve looked bad for the paper and the university.
It was too soon, and I didn’t want to risk your future as torturous as it was to be without you.
” He laughs humorlessly. “Now I know that us being together won’t be an issue for your work, and that’s all I wanted, because I love you so damn much, Emma. ”
A small cry leaves me. Grayson’s head swivels my way.
“Shit. Did I fuck up by saying it again? Do you not forgive me?” He fires rapid questions, sounding like me when I’m nervous.
So, I do what he usually does. I grab his face with both hands and plant a soft kiss on his lips, then another.
Grayson’s hand winds into my hair, and although I’m already turned on as hell, I’m also overwhelmed—too overwhelmed to have sex.
But that doesn’t stop him from kissing me as if we’ve been apart for years, not four long weeks.
It feels as if he’s breathing in and taking me in like the rare air he hasn’t been able to breathe until now.
His hands don’t stray from my face and back, somehow knowing I don’t want to go further tonight.
After our kiss slows, we pull back, our foreheads pressed together, breaths heavy.
He lifts my face, and his eyes glint with the same adoration I’ve seen my friends give their partners.