Bad Boys Do (Donovan Brothers Brewery 2)

“I don’t.”

“But there’s no one thing you can point to, is there? With family, it’s a thousand moments. A million. And there’s no undoing a million small mistakes. It’s impossible.”

“So…what? You’re just going to give up? You can’t do that!”

Jamie met her gaze. “Why?” he asked, honestly wanting an answer.

Olivia’s eyes fell. She pushed up to her feet and paced away from him, her arms crossed as if she were cold. “I admit that when I met you, I thought you were just… I don’t know. Just a bartender. No plans. No goals. And I thought that was what you wanted.”

He tried not to feel insulted. It was the image he’d constructed, after all. Olivia had seen what he’d wanted her to see.

“But that’s not all you are, Jamie, and you have to let your brother see that. You can’t just go back to wiping tables and drawing beers. You won’t be happy.”

He hadn’t realized it, but that was exactly the answer he’d wanted to hear. “You’re right. I can’t.”

Olivia’s brown eyes lit up. She took a deep breath and smiled. “So you’ll try again?”

“Not with Eric. I’ve already decided to branch out.”

“What?”

He actually smiled at the shock on her face. “I think I’d like to open my own place.”

She blinked, her mouth still round as a cherry.

“I know this will mean something very different in terms of planning—”

“Different,” Olivia gasped. “It’ll be… Jamie, this will be much, much harder. You’ll have to raise funds. There’ll be long-term commitments in leasing space and equipment. You can’t… You…”

“I understand.”

“But, Jamie! Listen to me. You’ll be starting from scratch. Everything that Eric and Tessa do—all the stuff that’s eye-blurringly boring—you’ll have to do that on your own.”

“Maybe not,” he said, the words taking all his breath with them as they left his mouth.

“With your background and name, I’m sure you can find investors, but it’s such a big risk. And every single investor will want to have his finger in the pot. Believe me, I know.”

“That’s not what I meant, Olivia.” His heart beat too fast, and every second that passed only increased the speed of his pulse.

She shook her head and her hair fell over her eyes until she shoved it back. “I don’t understand.”

“I thought…you could help me.”

“Well, I will! Of course, I will.”

She didn’t understand what he was trying to say, and Jamie felt a little panicky. “Just…” He stood and swung her around to sit in his chair. “Sit down for a second and listen to me.”

“Sure. Okay.” But now she looked almost as lost as he felt.

Jamie pulled up the second chair and faced her. “What I meant was that I thought we could do this together.”

“Together?”

“You could be the manager. We could start the restaurant together.” He expected a reaction on her part. Any reaction. But her face stayed blank. The idea had first occurred to him just an hour before. He’d awakened from a deep sleep and the thought had been there. Something hopeful to grab on to. And with every minute that passed, it seemed like a better idea.

Maybe he needed to give Olivia a few minutes, because it wasn’t sinking in.

“Manager?” she whispered.