Page 68 of Love is a Game
Relief bloomed inside of her even as she felt a tear slip down her cheek. With one hand, Andrew reached back and pulled out his handkerchief, grinning as he handed it to her.
“Thank you,” she muttered sheepishly.
“Turns out you were also right,” he admitted. “About a lot of things. For the first time in my life, I had no direction. I thought I was giving myself a break, but as you very astutely observed, it wasn’t really working for me. So, thanks to you, I decided to find a way to challenge myself.”
“Oh yeah?” she asked. “How?”
“I made a deal with Robby. There’s no developer. I’m the one buying the Cypress.”
She stepped back and stared at him. “You are?”
He nodded.
“Andrew, that’s amazing!”
He rubbed the back of his neck. “Well, we’ll see. It’s possible I just made the biggest mistake of my life. Turns out, I don’t know anything about running a hotel.”
Sadie’s smile widened. “If only you knew someone in the industry who could help you.”
“If only.” He wrapped his arms around her waist again. “Do you know anyone? Maybe someone recently unemployed?”
“I do, but you might not like her. I’m told she can be a bit irritating,” she whispered.
“Yeah, well, I think I need some irritation in my life. It’s not good for me to get too comfortable.”
He bent down and kissed her again. She reached her hand up to rest it on his cheek and felt the warmth of his fingers on the small of her back. It was a hungry kiss, a kiss she knew they’d both been thinking of for weeks. The thing that had seemed so impossible now felt inevitable. No one but Andrew could make her feel this way. How had her sister known they were such a perfect fit?
She gasped and pulled back, bringing her hand to her mouth.
His eyes scanned her face in concern. “What is it?” he asked.
She bit her lip and shook her head, suddenly self-conscious. “Julie and Tyson,” she said weakly. “I’m never going to hear the end of this.”
Andrew threw his head back and laughed, a beautiful sound that sent butterflies through her stomach. He took her hand in his and lifted it between them, running his thumb gently over her fingers. “We don’t have to tell them anything until you’re ready, but it’s probably best to get it over with now because I’m not letting you go again.” His eyes softened. “Sadie, you have always brought out the best in me, one way or another. I never would have had the guts to take over the hotel if it weren’t for you. I don’t really know how things are going to work out with the Cypress, but I do know that I need you in my life.”
She dropped her gaze and plucked at one of the buttons on his dark shirt as heat crept into her cheeks. How could she respond to that? It was all more than she could have ever asked for.
“You look nice,” she said quietly.
“Thanks.”
“Are those teenagers still watching?”
He shook his head. “I don’t think they can see us from the conference room.”
“Well then,” she said, turning her face toward his, “why don’t you kiss me again?”
Epilogue
“Andrew!” Sadie shrieked, bursting through the front doors of the Cypress Hotel. “Andrew! Where are you?”
“Over here,” he called, climbing down off his ladder.
He’d spent most of the morning stringing Christmas lights around the cypress trees outside of the hotel. It was only the day after Thanksgiving, but Sadie insisted on getting all of the decorations up, and he had learned to trust her judgment.
They had three company Christmas parties booked the following month, including the precinct and the fire department. Their friends might have pulled some strings for those, but Sadie said it was still an opportunity to show people what an event at the Cypress could be like.
He’d hired her without hesitation, and every day it proved to be the best decision he could have made. He knew the hotel wouldn’t have been able to open as quickly as it did without her. Maybe it was risky hiring someone he was dating, but he wasn’t worried. When he said he needed her in his life, he’d meant forever.