16
Knight
There was a wall of windows along the east side of the top floor. I swore I could see the entire Mississippi River from this view. Other than sunlight streaming through the glass, there wasn’t much other than construction dust and exposed wires and beams. Brick pillars stood every twenty feet. It was a huge open space full of potential.
I could see it. The full picture. A backdrop with our names. An office staffed. Adjoining suites. It was right here in this space. The future of the Corbans and Kennedy Martin was going to happen in this building.
I checked the ice in the champagne bucket.
She’d say yes, I knew she would.
I heard the elevator doors. I looked up just in time to see the most gorgeous long legs walking across the debris-strewn floor.
“You made it.” I grinned.
“Did I have a choice?” She twisted her lips together playfully.
“I see the elevator key worked.”
She spotted the silver champagne stand. “Knight, what’s going on?”
“This is the big surprise.” I stepped back.
“An unfinished building?” She looked at me skeptically. “This place needs a lot of work.”
“It’s not just any unfinished building. It’s going to be our building.”
“What are you talking about?” Her voice climbed an octave.
“I’m talking about this place. This is where we can join Corban and Martin organizations into one company. We’re going to merge into one organization.”
She blinked. “You’re kidding.”
“No. Dead serious.” I reached for the champagne bottle. I remembered her favorite from Marguerite’s. I’d had it delivered for the occasion. “Watch out,” I warned, positioning my thumbs at the base of the cork. It shot across the room. The champagne flowed into the first glass. I handed it to Kennedy.
“I have no idea what you’re up to.”
“Think about it.” I filled the second glass. “We convert this into our joined space. We run our projects together here.”
“Our projects?” She hadn’t even attempted to bring the champagne to her lips. “Since when do we have projects?”
“It doesn’t work when we’re on opposite teams. It never has. Look at the Crescent Towers. The Vieux Carre. The distillery.” I rattled off examples that made us enemies. “If the last two days taught me anything, it’s that we’re so much better together than we are fighting each other. We can run New Orleans together.”
I snaked my arm around her waist and drew her toward me. Her lips were only inches from mine. Her breath floated across my cheek. I was dangerously close to causing her to drop the champagne glass.
“I already run New Orleans.” Her eyes lit with fire.
I smirked. “You can either compete with me, or work with me.”
“I could take my chances,” she whispered. “With what you still owe me, you won’t be a threat for a long, long time.” She raked her teeth over her bottom lip. Our eyes locked on each other.
Our noses practically touched. “I’ve already had the plans drawn up for our suites,” I whispered in her ear. “There’s a hidden room in the middle that only we have access to.” I kissed behind her ear. “Mid-day meetings are essential.”
“You’ve made a lot of assumptions rather quickly.” Her head leaned backward, allowing me access to her throat.
“I know what I want. Why wait?” I dotted her skin with kisses. She grinned.
“Because I haven’t agreed to any of the terms,” she responded slowly. “This is a big merger. We need to think through every detail. Analyze every angle. There’s nothing simple about it.”