The Billionaire Player (In Too Deep)

CHAPTER43

TANNER

“It’s so good to see you,” I said as I pulled Larisa into my arms right there in the middle of the diner, holding her tight for much longer than an ordinary hug lasted. “I know it’s my house that’s been keeping you so busy, but it’s still been much too long.”

I felt her soften, melting into me for all of a minute before she patted me on the back and extricated herself from the circle of my arms. Dark eyes strangely guarded as she looked up at me, she smiled and took a seat at the table I’d gotten for us.

“It’s good to see you, too,” she said, but she didn’t sound very sure that it was true. “Once you see the house, hopefully you’ll understand why it’s been keeping me so busy and you’ll be happy that I took all the time I did on it.”

“I’m sure I’m going to love it,” I replied confidently. She might not be sure if it really was good to see me, but I sure as fuck knew it was great to finally see her again. “I honestly can’t wait to see it. It nearly killed me to drive past the turnoff to the house to come here instead of heading straight there, but like I said, I need to talk to you about something and I wanted to do it before the project is officially over.”

“Okay,” she said slowly, head cocking in curiosity as she scooted to the edge of her chair. “What do you need to talk to me about?”

I sat down across from her, but before I could let her in on my plan, our waiter showed up to take our order. We got burgers and sodas, and once he was gone, excitement rolled through me. This is it. The moment of truth.

As I looked at her, I momentarily got distracted from my mission by how fucking beautiful she was. Her face was bare except for the basic kohl around her eyes and mascara coating her long lashes. Her dark hair was pulled up into a high ponytail at the top of her head.

She was wearing jeans with a plain black T-shirt tied around her waist, simple gold hoops in her ears, and a chain around her neck. It was clear that she’d dressed to get to work at the house instead of meeting with a client, but she still looked fucking stunning. Then again, I always thought that about her.

“Tanner?” she prompted. “What did you want to talk about? The suspense is really starting to make me sweat.”

I chuckled and shook my head to get it back in the game before I leaned forward, my gaze directly on hers as I came right out with it. “I think we should go into business together.”

She blinked rapidly in surprise, frowning as she stared at me like she was trying to figure out if I was serious. “Go into business together? How?”

“The other day, I was thinking about how passionate you are about your work and how I needed something to do with my life, and I came up with an idea. It’s developed more since I first had it, but basically, I think we should buy old houses, renovate them, and rent them out.”

Before she could say anything, I explained a little more. “I’d provide the funds and handle all of the legal stuff. You could pick out old houses that you think would be good long-term investments. We could find places that need a lot of work so we can buy them cheap and you’d have free rein to do the design work. Between buying houses that need work and doing a lot of that work ourselves, we could rent at lower prices while still not being at a loss financially.”

After my speech, I waited for her reaction but I couldn’t get a read on her expression. Her face was a mix of amused, flabbergasted, and… angry? What the fuck?

“Larisa?” I said softly. “What’s wrong? Why are you looking at me like that? I’ve done the groundwork and I’ve spoken to Jeremiah about it. He’ll help us pinpoint neighborhoods where something like this would work and is very much needed, and he’s also been teaching me a lot about the housing crisis in the city. It’s exactly what I was looking for, something meaningful to do with the money without just writing out checks. I’ll also do whatever maintenance and building work I can do by myself to keep costs down, and we’d be able to help a lot of people live in the sort of places they deserve.”

Larisa frowned. “Sure, it’s admirable and I definitely get why you’d want to do it, but do you honestly expect me to give up the business I’ve worked my ass off for to join you on a lark like this? What happens if it turns out that you don’t like it or if you get bored? I’m out on my ass, that’s what.”

“Why?” I asked, genuinely confused by her reasoning. “I don’t expect you to give up your business. We’d be working together and on our own time. Nothing would stop you from taking on other clients just like you always have.”

“Do you have any idea how much time would go into something like this?” she asked, checking her frustration but still seeming exasperated. “It’s one thing to say that we could do it on our own time, but you and I both know that once we get started, it’d be very difficult to leave a project hanging for a few weeks while I work on something else. Eventually, I’ll be making less and less time for other clients and my business will peter out.”

“Not if we go into it knowing that you put your own work at the top of your list of priorities,” I argued. “I’d never put any pressure on you to finish one of the houses we’re working on, and once we get into the swing of things, we can even time it around any other projects you’ve got going on. While you’re working for another client, I could keep finding and shortlisting houses for you to look at when you’ve got time, and I would be dealing with the legal stuff on the back end so that we could jump into every new job once you’re ready.”

She exhaled heavily, but instead of arguing her point some more, she gave me a long look, searching my eyes for something I wasn’t sure she’d find. “Why do you want to do this? I know you’re looking for something to keep yourself busy and to inject some passion back into your life, but why this?”

“The idea popped up while I was thinking about how passionate you are about your work. I got excited about it, and when I went to Jeremiah to run it past him, he showed me some of the stuff he’s been busy with. He also showed me some of the pictures they’ve taken of where people are living now and the data they’ve gathered on what those people are paying for those places. It made me realize that I’ve been sticking my head in a hole about the living conditions of so many people, and now that I know about it and since I have the means to help, I can’t go back to not doing anything.”

Finally, something sparked in her eyes that didn’t look like anger. “Your heart is in the right place. It’s not that I don’t want to help or that I don’t think it’s a great idea. I’m just not sure I’m the right partner for you in a venture like this. You have to understand that it’s taken me years and a lot of blood, sweat, and tears to get to where I am with my business. I’m not slammed, so I might be able to get involved to a certain extent, and I’d love to do it, but I won’t be able to get onboard full-time.”

Fuck.I didn’t want another partner. I knew that there were other interior designers who would jump at an opportunity like this one, but I didn’t know them. I didn’t know if I could trust them. The entire venture would fail if I went into it with the wrong person, and even if she and Jeremiah helped me find someone else who wouldn’t fuck around, I’d come up with the idea because of Larisa.

“Trust me, I do understand how much you’ve put into your business,” I said carefully, dialing back the excitement in favor of the more reasoned approach. “That’s one of the reasons why I want it to be you doing this thing with me. If I can guarantee that you won’t have to compromise on your own work or business at all, would you at least consider it? We’d be doing good and helping people get into amazing homes they wouldn’t otherwise be able to afford.”

She looked back at me for a long time without saying anything, but her anger over assuming that I expected her to give up her business in order to jump into this venture with me seemed to have subsided. Eventually, her expression softened and she nodded, her head bobbing slowly up and down as a faraway look came into her eyes.

Yes! She’s considering it! Fucking finally.

“I’ll think about it,” she said when her gaze came back to mine. There was still some uncertainty, but at least it really looked like she would give it some serious thought. “It’s a huge decision for me to have to make.”

“Take all the time you need,” I said. “While you’re thinking, I’ll start keeping an eye open for the kind of properties I’ve got in mind. If you decide to join me, you can then look them over when you’re ready and let me know if there are any you’re interested in picking for our first project. I’ll also start looking into the legalities and I’ll keep talking to Jeremiah so I can learn all there is to know about this.”

“It sounds like you’ve got this all figured out,” she said, smiling a little for the first time since she’d arrived. “Don’t get me wrong, I do like the idea. A lot. I just need some time to wrap my head around it and to see how I might be able to go about it without jeopardizing everything I’ve worked for.”

“If it’s any consolation, I know it’s not exactly what you’ve experienced with me so far, but I’m a very committed person. Once I make up my mind to do something, I don’t just get bored or give up. I go all in and I stay in. I don’t fuck around, and I’d never fuck you over.”

“I realize that you were one hundred percent committed to baseball, but this is a completely different game. I guess I just have to figure out how I can do this with you and carry on with my business at the same time. There has to be a way. I just need to find it. I can’t risk it otherwise. I’d lose everything if it turns bad or doesn’t work out, and I’ve got my mom depending on me, too. I have to think about her as well and not just myself.”

“I get it.” I slid my hand across the table and gave her fingers a squeeze as I grinned at her. “There’s no rush. Think about it all you want. I’m just happy you’re considering it.”

“Okay,” she said as I spotted our waiters carrying a tray with our food on it toward us. “Let’s eat, then we can go out to the house and find out if you’re even happy enough with my work to want to go into business with me.”

I laughed, but I also knew she was right. While I didn’t doubt that I’d love what she’d done with the place, it made sense to see her work first before either of us committed to working together again.