“It would be negligible at that point. It’d take us years in order to recoup that money if we did it that way.”
“There’s gotta be some way-”
“Mr. Dobson, just go back and talk with the tenants. Take the numbers if you want to. Give them some options to decrease, like renovating what’s already there or downgrading the materials we use and see how they react. But, you’ve backed yourself in a corner and you have to own up to that.”
I raked my hand through my hair before I picked up the piece of paper. I walked out of the room without even dismissing the board, but I didn’t care what they did. I didn’t wanna take on this fucking project from the start, and now they were talking about how I was ruining it. Maybe they should bring me better projects! Maybe they shouldn’t make fucking decisions without me being there!
“Maybe I just need a new fucking project manager,” I murmured as I entered my office.
If I had to renegotiate, that meant going back to see Ella. I’d have to tell her what was happening and I’d have to watch the disappointed look on her face form. I didn’t want to compromise all that was happening between the two of us. I couldn’t fucking get her off my mind and I wanted to ask her out again. I wanted to take her out for dinner and play with that beautiful pussy underneath the tablecloth. I wanted to take her to the symphony and run my fingertips up her leg in the box seat. I wanted to sink my dick into her body and feel her legs draw me closer before she begged me to pound into her.
Fuck her stupid.
Ruin her body for any other man to come.
But, I knew if I doubled the price she wouldn’t have the money. Even with the better money she was making at The Rose Club, that place wouldn’t pay her near enough what she would need in order to buy her home back. She’d have to move and I’d get the brunt of her anger. She’d probably blame me and accuse me of wielding my prominence just to sleep with her.
And that wasn’t the case. Not by a long shot.
I didn’t know how I could make this work for her, but part of me didn’t understand why I wanted it to. The numbers simply didn’t allow me to do what I wanted to do. So what? It wasn’t personal. It wasn’t like I was fucking her in exchange for leaving her home or anything like that. I fucked her because I could. Because I wanted those lips and that pussy, and that body pressed against mine. With a little romance and a few easy compliments, she melded into me just like any other woman did.
But, before I could take a breath and settle down, an unsettling thought popped into my mind.
I guess I could buy her condo for her.
Hell, I could buy her whatever condo I wanted.
What the fuck was I thinking? I’d only taken her out to lunch. Her skin was soft, yes. Her lips were sweet, yes. Her juices were intoxicating, sure. And holy fuck, her sounds. But buying her a condo? What kind of voodoo-deep-end bullshit had this woman thrown me into? What spell had she cast over my mind?
And yet, I found myself turning over the idea before another realization hit me.
She wasn’t the only person I was going to have to inform of this change. I had the signatures and layout guidelines of fourteen other tenants that had declared intent to purchase their renovated condo back.
What was I going to do about them?
10
Ella
Since I’d decided to purchase my renovated condo back, I decided to keep my job waitressing for now. It would give me some extra money to put back towards furnishing it, and I knew there would probably be a couple of price jumps between now and the finished product. That’s just how things like this worked out, and I wanted to be ready for any and every monetary thing I would possibly encounter.
r /> I was excited about the prospect of a shiny new condo. It’s a place I’d always wanted to live in. A two-bedroom, two-bathroom home with a beautiful view and a jet tub I could sink myself into after my long performances on stage. Sleeping in my beautiful king-sized bed with my labradoodle curled up next to me. Cooking breakfast in my shining new kitchen with all-new stainless-steel appliances. Air conditioning that fucking worked.
Oh, my gosh. It brought tears to my eyes just thinking about it.
“Miss, could I get some more coffee?”
“Miss, my pancakes are cold.”
“Ma’am, is there any way I could get more ketchup?”
I rushed around and serviced the people that kept getting sat in my area, and the more I stuffed tips into my apron the more excited I got. I knew I was going to burn the candle at both ends working here and singing weekly at the club, but it was going to be worth it in the end. I’d work hard, have the money to pay for the home I knew I deserved, then I’d put in my two-weeks’ notice here and do what I’d longed to do since the day I moved here.
I’d be a beloved performer.
I mindlessly took people’s orders as my thoughts drifted to Foster. I could still taste his cum on the tip of my tongue. I could still feel the meat of his thighs pulsing underneath my fingernails. I closed my eyes on my bathroom break and saw his strong shoulders propped underneath the crooks of my arms.
I almost orgasmed right there on the toilet thinking about all the salacious things that man’s tongue did to my body.