Should’ve Known It’s You (Not You Again #7)

Chapter 11

CHAPTER 11

AUSTIN

I hadn’t been able to stop thinking about Kenny. Not only was I thinking about parts of her—like her lips, her eyes, her ass, and her everything—but I also couldn’t stop thinking about her dream. The idea of a charming and intimate little hotel and restaurant had been haunting me and I couldn’t explain why, but I felt called to help her achieve it.

Normally, I was only called to follow the money. In this case, the job might just end up costing me, but for some reason, I wanted to jump on it and see where it went. All week long, I had been obsessing about it.

Whenever I had a spare minute, it wasn’t the unicorn IPO on my mind, but Kennedy and the look in her eyes when she’d asked me for help. Kennedy and the passion in her voice when she’d first pitched her idea to me—before I’d watched her spark go out when I’d pointed out the reasons she probably hadn’t gotten any interest so far.

Groaning, I leaned back in my chair, looked around my office, and decided it was time to make a decision. I could either get her back in here or let it go, but I already knew there was no way I was going to be able to forget about this.

I’d already tried to put her out of my mind and it hadn’t worked, so I picked up my phone and called Mindy. “Do me a favor and get Kennedy Sweet back in here, please.”

“You’re thinking with your downstairs brain,” she grumbled. “I’ll make the call, though. Are you sure?”

“I’m sure,” I said. “Tell her to come in as soon as possible. I want to get this ball rolling.”

“Or you want to get your balls rolled,” she joked. “On the other hand, they are your balls to put on the line, so as long as you’re sure, I can fit her in this afternoon.”

“Are we done talking about my sensitive bits yet? I should get back to work.”

“Hey, blame her for announcing to the entire office that you’ve slept together,” she said lightly. “I ask this only because it’s my job to protect you, so for the last time, are you sure you actually want her to come in to talk business, or should I ask her out to dinner for you?”

“If I was going to ask her out for dinner, I’d have done it myself,” I said. “You don’t have to protect me, Mindy. I’m all good. Despite the impression she clearly made on everyone that day, she is not, in fact, cuckoo bananas. I needed some time to sort out her ideas in my head and now that I have, I’m asking you to schedule a follow-up with a client.”

“Yes, sir,” she replied immediately. “Sorry. I was just having a little bit of fun. I’ll call her. Of course. If she’s available, you have a spot for her at three.”

“She’ll be available.” I hung up the phone, shaking my head at the fact that every employee at the firm now knew about my past with her, as well as suddenly knowing far too much about my personal life, but I wasn’t one to hold grudges.

Besides, it wasn’t like I was ashamed. The woman was gorgeous. It was more the fact that I liked to keep my private life private, but there was nothing to be done about it now. I’d simply have to ride out the comments that would come my way and wait for the office grapevine to move on to something else.

Getting back to work, I kept thinking about Kenny, but now that I knew I would be seeing her again soon, it was easier to focus on other things—even if it was just because I wanted to get them out of the way before she got here.

A few hours later, Mindy called to tell me Kenny was on her way up and I stood immediately, walking over to meet her at my door. As I stuck my head out to see if she’d arrived yet, I saw her shooting daggers with her eyes at Tate as she passed his open office door, and I grinned.

If we’re going to be talking about anybody’s balls around here, it should be hers.

She arched an eyebrow at me when she saw me smiling. “What did I do now?”

I shrugged. “Nothing. I just like it when people give him a taste of his own medicine. Come on in.”

Kenny strode past me in a faint, pleasant cloud of sweet vanilla, and I nearly groaned out loud, barely managing to catch the sound in my throat as I shut the door behind us. Focus, Austin. This is serious.

“Thank you for coming,” I said, waving her to the small sitting area in the corner of my office. “Can I get you something to drink?”

Those blue eyes latched on mine as she sat down primly right at the edge of one of the sofas. “You’re being awfully professional right now. What gives? I thought we weren’t getting into business together.”

“Well, actually, I’ve been thinking and I want to help you.”

Her eyes widened as she watched me take a seat across from her. Suddenly, she was on her feet, screaming as she jumped up and down. I nearly leaped out of my skin, but Kennedy was too ecstatic to notice she’d scared the shit out of me.

“Do you mean it?” she shrieked, a happy flush spreading on her cheeks as she finally stopped jumping. “Oh, my gosh. I’ve been waiting for my break for so long, this doesn’t even feel real!”

Her enthusiasm made me laugh. Why is this girl so adorable?

“Don’t get ahead of yourself, Kenny. I’ve been chewing it over, but there’s still a lot of work to do.”

“Work. Yes.” She dropped back into her seat, smoothing her pencil skirt as she shot me a beaming grin. “I can do that. Just tell me what you need and I’ll get it done.”

I nodded, chuckling again as I watched her drag in a deep breath. Her chest rose under the fitted black, high-neck shirt she had on, and for just a moment, my gaze was drawn down. I glanced at the curves of her breasts under the soft fabric, remembering what they’d felt like in my hands, and my pulse spiked.

Not. Now.

Forcing my eyes back up, I looked into hers and focused on the task at hand. “First and foremost, I want to help you narrow in on exactly what you’re going to offer at the restaurant and at the hotel, and once we have those answers, we can come up with creative ways to raise money and connect with investors.”

“That sounds amazing,” she said, energy and excitement still brimming in her eyes. I could see her thrumming with it, but she seemed intent on at least trying to be professional about it. “I’ve been thinking too, and I want the restaurant to feel like you’re coming home for dinner.”

I raised my eyebrows. Oh, brother. What happened to ? —

“Just bear with me,” she said quickly. “I know it sounds weird, but hear me out. The restaurant is the hotel, and the hotel is home. You can sit and dine in the dining room, or the comfortable living room by the fire, or the bar. You can make yourself comfortable wherever.”

“Okay,” I said slowly, my eyes narrowing in thought. “Keep going.”

“There are going to be blankets by the fire and out on the patio. String lights everywhere. Comfort food and nostalgic menu items. Nothing fancy. It’s all cozy vibes and an intimate setting throughout the hotel rather than just on the rooftop.”

I rubbed my chin and Kenny leaned back in her chair, pulling her long, dark ponytail over her shoulder and fidgeting with the edges of her hair. “You hate it, don’t you?”

“Actually, I think you might be onto something,” I mused.

She shrieked again, and Tate yelled from down the hall. “Keep it down! This is an office, not a nightclub.”

Kenny shot to her feet again and raced to the door, opening it a crack to holler at him. “Get the stick out of your ass, Tate.”

I watched in complete shock as she calmly shut the door again and came to sit back down. She’s fearless, that’s for sure.

Undoubtedly, she had the grit to open a restaurant. The grit, the dream, and the determination to see it through.

The only question was whether we could make the money and get the right investors who believed in this the way she did. I looked at her, noticing how her jaw tightened with resolve as she stared back at me.

“Where were we?” she asked.

“The timing for something like this might be exactly right with Thanksgiving right around the corner. Talk about an ideal time to want to go home.”

She sat up straighter, her gaze shimmering with the joy and satisfaction of validation. “That’s exactly what I was thinking. Everyone loves the idea of home, right? Especially for the holidays, but year-round, when you’re having a bad day, you wish you could walk into your mother’s house for dinner instead of worrying about making it yourself.”

I chuckled, a sense of nostalgia washing over me just at the thought. “You really might be onto something here. I’m one of the lucky few who gets to go home often, but not many people do, and even then, I’ve often missed my mother’s cooking on random weeknights.”

She grinned. “So are we doing this? You’re actually going to help me run with it?”

I thought it over for another beat before I nodded. “I am, yeah. I also think I’ve got the perfect idea to get you in touch with the people you need to talk to.”

“You do?” She leaned forward a bit, eyes locked on mine. “I’m all ears.”

“What if we organize a fundraiser dinner right after Thanksgiving, invite everyone who is someone in this city, and see if we can get one of those people to put their money behind your idea?”

She fell silent. Then a slow but beautiful smile spread across her lips and she nodded. “I think I might just love you, Austin Merrick. That sounds amazing. It really is perfect. How do we start?”