“Well demonstrated by moving to Paris without telling me, then never talking to me again.”
“I was eighteen, just a kid.”
“That works for the year you were in Paris. What excuse do you have for the years after that?”
I look out at the lake, shaking my head. “I can’t see how this is going to work.”
“If either of us wants to meet our individual goals, we’ll have to find a way.” He gestures to the book in my lap. “Is that your plan?”
“Yes.”
“Can I look at it?”
“We need a few ground rules,” I say.
>
“Oh, I can’t wait to hear these.”
“You cannot make fun of me or of this project. It’s important to me, and I may not have your skills, but I do have experience with large-scale renovations.”
“I know. I saw that you were the director of property procurement at Saxon for a while.”
The fact that he’s been following my career only makes me feel even worse for walking away without a word. Now, I’d call that move chicken shit, but at the time, I was heartbroken over having to adult and move forward without him, but with my parents paying all my bills, I didn’t have a lot of choice. I just knew I couldn’t bear to see his face when I told him we couldn’t be together.
“And I know my prices,” I say, “so you better come up with a reasonable bid.”
“Noted.”
“And you’re not taking over. I’m in charge.”
He laughs. “Of course you are.”
Levi unlaces and pulls off his boots, then his socks. He rolls up his jeans to clear his thickly muscled calves and drops his feet in the water beside me. We’re sitting shoulder-to-shoulder, touching. He might even be leaning into me a little, and it takes me back to our inseparable friendship as kids.
I remind myself he just wants the job.
“You’re a civil engineer?”
“I am.”
“Where did you go to school?”
“Cal Poly, SLO. Double majored in civil engineering and construction management.”
“God, that’s so impressive. Then you came home and started a construction firm?”
“No. I worked for a couple of years with a big construction firm in Santa Barbara doing project management, then I spent six years in Dubai.”
“Wait, what? Dubai?”
He nods. “One of my advisors shared the job opening with me, and I figured it would be a great way to get experience on major builds while making a shit ton of money.”
“Did you?”
“Yes, to both.”
This information exposes Levi in a whole different light. “Why’d you come home?”