Page 124 of The Rules of Dating a Younger Man
“You promise you’re not just saying that…”
“I’ve never lied to you, Alex.” His eyes were sincere. “I promise.”
I exhaled. “This is crazy.”
“Well, even if I manage to knock you up, we won’t be able to say that’s the craziest thing to ever happen to us. That ship’s sailed.”
***
Later that afternoon, I’d told Brayden I wanted to see the West Village, but I actually had a very specific destination in mind. When we arrived, I stopped in front of the building. “There’s a place I want to show you,” I told him.
“This is my city. I’m supposed to be showing you around.”
Almost as soon as he’d said it, Owen appeared, walking toward us. Brayden’s face lit up in surprise. “Hey, man. What are you doing in this neck of the woods?” he asked.
“Alex asked me to come.”
Brayden’s eyes filled with suspicion. “Did she now?”
Just then a car pulled up, and none other than Wells exited the vehicle.
Brayden’s brows knitted. “What the hell are you doing here?”
“I missed your pretty face.”
“Besides that…”
Wells put his hands on his hips and turned to me. “Did you tell him yet?”
Brayden looked back and forth between Wells and me. “Tell me what?”
Owen took out a set of keys and led the way to the building. “Let’s step inside, shall we?”
“What is this place?” Brayden asked.
“It’s a space that’s for lease,” I finally said.
“Yeah, I kind of got that.”
“Wells and I have been talking about taking over one of the medi-spas here in the City for some time,” I began.
“Alex never wanted to bite the bullet until recently,” Wells added. “Any reason you can think of that she might’ve had a change of heart?”
“You’re thinking of opening a business here?” Brayden asked, shock on his face. “What about the Connecticut spa?”
“Wells and I have decided to sell it and use the money toward this acquisition,” I explained. “We’ll be taking over all of the New York spa’s existing services and staff and adding some of our own in this new location. It’s going to be a win-win for their clients, and a win-win for me because I’ll get to be in the City with you full time.” I could see the information hitting him in waves.
“Holy shit. You’re moving here? I can’t believe you’ve been keeping this from me.”
“Well, I wanted to surprise you. I hope it’s a good surprise?”
“Um…yes! You’ve given me everything I could ever ask for. No wonder you’ve been wishy-washy about me moving my stuff to Connecticut, telling me to take my time. Here I was thinking you might’ve been having doubts about me invading your space.”
I grinned. “Not at all. Instead, I’ll be invading yours. I know you didn’t want to move. You were doing it for me. And I so appreciate that. But it will be a good change for me to be here. Living with you in the house Richard and I built never quite felt right. It’s time for me to move to a new chapter in my life.”
Brayden shook his head. “I can’t believe this.”
Wells smacked Brayden on the back. “Believe it, loverboy.”