Page 7 of Reuniting with Lucy
“So I have a twin? Big whoop. What does that have to do with anything?”
“Beats me.”
“Well, not my concern anymore.” She shrugged it off, but had to admit it was curious Jack cared enough to ask. Could something have happened with Lizzie? She shot her a quick text, asking if she remembered what she’d done that night.
“You think you can still work with him?” Adam asked.
“Of course. Like I said, I only talked to him for a second.” She waved a hand dismissively to indicate she was fine. That Jack meant nothing to her. “It was a long time ago.”
“You know your shoes don’t match, right?”
“Not now, Adam.”
“Right. Sorry.”
They arrived at the site and got out. Graffiti covered the wood that covered the windows. And chunks of the facade had either fallen off or been torn off, giving the building a splotchy, sickly look. The place had seen better days for sure.
Jack parked a few spots away and walked to meet them. He looked rugged and strong. She inadvertently licked her lips.
“Let’s do a quick walk-through,” he said, taking charge. Following him without staring at his ass tested her willpower. An image of him wearing a toolbelt and hard hat popped into her head, and the temperature in the room jumped a few degrees. She took off her jacket and tied it around her waist.
From the few stolen glances she’d allowed herself, she noticed he’d done more than simply “fill out.” He must spend hours at the gym, pumping weights to earn the biceps currently testing the capacity of his shirt sleeves. He had an edge to him, but she couldn’t put her finger on it. Cynical maybe? Wary for sure. Once again, she wondered what he’d been up to all these years. Was he married? Kids?
She shook her head to focus on the task at hand.
“So, I’m thinking most of the counter space and coffee machines here.” She made a sweeping gesture toward the side of the building where the drive-thru would be. She purposely used her left hand to point things out. The one with the diamond ring on it. “A long counter here with barstools. A big baked goods cabinet here and a cooler for snacks and water there. Bench seating all around the perimeter, and tables of varying sizes throughout. Since there’s so much space, I was hoping we could incorporate a few private, closed-off rooms. All glass walls and bigger tables. People try to have meetings, but it gets too loud to be productive. I love the look of the exposed ceiling with the big pipes showing and dark wood floors. Sort of rustic-meets-industrial? Storage room, bathrooms, and an office in the back.”
Jack watched her and jotted down notes as she spoke.
“Sorry, am I talking too much?” Lucy said.
“No,” Jack said. “That’s why we’re here. Since we’re more or less gutting the place, whatever you want, we can do. We need to keep functionality in mind, as well as aesthetics, but it seems like you’ve done that. I’ll take your ideas and draw up some tentative plans. We won’t start anything until you sign off on it.”
“Okay. I also want big framed pictures of inspirational quotes. You know, ‘Make Each Day Count. Kindness Matters.’ Things like that. I love that stuff and figured, why not surround everyone with it?”
“All right,” Jack said. “I’ll let you work out where to buy that from. Send me the link of what you want, and I’ll get them ordered and hung. Decor will be one of the last things to go up, but the sooner we order, the better. We don’t want to be waiting on anything.”
“Adam, you cool with all that?” Lucy asked.
“I’m just the money bags,” Adam said. “I told you we’d build to suit, so as long as it’s structurally sound, go for it.”
Lucy’s phone vibrated, and she pulled it out of her pocket. It was a text from Lizzie.We hung out in the lobby and played pool. We may have made out a little. You don’t think…? She ended with a surprised-faced emoji—the one with giant, shocked eyeballs.
Was it possible Jack had seen Lizzie making out with some guy and assumed it was her? Is that why he’d stood her up? Of all the reasons she’d imagined he hadn’t shown—he’d been hit by a bus, kidnapped by aliens, or fallen down a well—this actually made more sense.
If that was the case, then all her previous thoughts and feelings were based on a misunderstanding. Maybe he reallyhadwanted to take her out. Maybe hedidshow up that night. Maybe he saw Lizzie, thought it was her, and turned around and left. And who wouldn’t? He’d probably spent the last decade thinking she was a tramp and a tease.
“You okay?” Adam said, coming up beside her.
She hit the button on her phone to turn the screen black and slipped it back into her pocket. “Yeah. Fine.”
Was she though? All the what-ifs fell like a ton of bricks onto her shoulders. How drastically could a decade-old mix-up affect her life? And what should she do now? Could they just keep pretending they didn’t know each other? Pretend the earth didn’t move every time they looked into each other’s eyes? That would be easiest for everyone. Having a conversation about it would make things awkward, and they had to work together for the next few months.
Plus, that ship had sailed. She was engaged to Curtis—in love with Curtis. She twisted her engagement ring. It felt weird, but that was probably just because she wasn’t used to wearing a ring on that finger.
CHAPTER FOUR
As soon as they finished the on-site tour, Lucy had Adam drop her back at The Drip. Instead of going inside, she ran across the street to The Drop.