Keeping My Best Friend (Fated #5) (8 page)

I was glad I had my sunglasses on
so Aiden couldn’t see how much he lifted me up.

I guess it was fair. After all,
there were no lengths I wouldn’t go to cheer him up if he were feeling down.
Still, he was the one that was too good to be true, and I was incredibly
grateful for his company and support.

“So tell me about this place,” I
said. “How did you choose it over the other location? Didn’t you say you had it
narrowed down to two?”

“Yeah,” he said, checking his
mirrors. “The other one was also in a great spot, but I didn’t feel like it
offered quite as much room to grow.”

“I see.”

“And when you see this place, I’m
hoping you’re as blown away by its potential as I am.”

“Me too,” I said.

“I kind of wanted to wait until
it was a little more put together before I showed you, but I just couldn’t wait
anymore.”

“That’s okay.”

“So you’ll have to use your imagination.”

“I actually prefer that,” I said.
“It’ll be more fun that way, ya know? To see it as a blank slate and watch it
change as you put your own finishing touches on it.”

Aiden smiled at me for a second
and turned his eyes back to the road. “Cool.”

“Are we almost there?”

“Yeah,” he said. “It’s just
around this corner.”

I clapped my fingers lightly in
front of me. “Ahhh! I’m so excited.”

“You’re the first person I’ve
shown it, too,” he said, turning into the office plaza.

“Really?”

“Yep.”

“Wow. I’m honored.”

“You should be,” he said.
“History is being made here today.”

I laughed and unbuckled my seat
belt as he pulled into a parking space.

“Time for the big reveal,” he
said, opening his car door.

I stepped out into the sunlight
and looked around. “So which is it?”

“That one there,” he said,
pointing across the lot.

“The one with the sold sign in
the window?”

“That’s the one.”

“I’m already impressed.” 

“Well try and pace yourself,” he
said, falling into step beside me. “Cause it’s only going to get better.”

It warmed my heart to see how
proud he was to show me his new place, and I was genuinely happy for him. As I
watched him turn the key in the door, any jealousy I had faded away and was
replaced by an overwhelming sense of pride, like his victory was my own.

I pushed my sunglasses on top of
my head.

He opened the door. “After you.”

“Thanks,” I said, walking inside.
“Wow.”

He stopped next to me with his
chest puffed out like he’d built the office space up from the ground himself.

“I love how it smells in here,” I
said.

“That would be the fresh paint.”

“And the carpet looks new.”

“It is.”

“I like the color.”

“I didn’t pick it, but I was told
it would be easy to maintain cause of the little specks.”

“So paint the picture for me,” I
said. “Walk me through the vision.”

Aiden rubbed his hands together
and exhaled. “I’m so glad you asked.”

I smiled.

He took a few steps straight
ahead. “I was thinking there would be a reception desk here.”

“Oohh. Your very own
receptionist. How exciting?”

“I know.”

I shook my finger at him. “I hope
there won’t be any funny business.”

“No funny business,” he said.
“Though it would be a bonus if she was attractive since most of my clients will
probably be men, at least in the beginning.”

“Could we compromise on
attractive and married?”

He smiled. “Sure.”

“Good,” I said. “Please
continue.”

“So I was thinking I’d separate
out two spaces here.”

“Uh-huh.”

“One would be for my office, and
one would be a room for the sports masseuse.”

“A masseuse?”

“Yeah.”

“An attractive masseuse?”

“It’ll probably be a dude if this
is going where I think it is.”

“Oh, okay. Just curious.”

He closed his eyes for a second
like he was seeing the whole thing being erected in his head.

I raised my eyebrows.

“Okay, so in this section,” he
said, walking to the far side of the room, “I’m going to have some equipment.”

“What kind of equipment?”

“Stuff for physical therapy;
weights, elastic bands, maybe a nice Pilates reformer.”

I nodded.

“I’ll probably put a big mirror
on the wall right here.”

I tilted my head and tried to
picture it. “So your clients can check out the receptionist while they do their
exercises?”

“No,” he said. “So they can make
sure they’re using proper form and because it’ll make the space look bigger and
reflect the natural light coming in.”

“That’s what I meant.”

“I know,” he said.

“And what about the rest of the
space?”

“I think I’ll probably put a
small bathroom in at that back corner,” he said, pointing. “And I might squeeze
in one more office so I can take on another physio to share the workload. That
will free up my time so I can focus on growing the business and doing some
essential marketing stuff.”

“I see.”

“And part of the remaining space
will be designated for storage. I just haven’t decided exactly what layout
would work best.” He put his chin in his fingers and scowled at the back of the
office space like he might be able to intimidate the answer into existence.

“Is that just a closet?” I asked,
pointing at the door on the far wall.

“No.”

“So where does that door go
then?”

“I’ll show you that in a second,”
he said, crossing the room and returning to my side. “But first, tell me what
you think so far.”

“I think it’s amazing,” I said.
“I love the location and the fact that everything is so clean and new. I can’t
wait to see how it looks when all the parts of your vision come together.”

He slipped his hands around my
waist. “You mean you can’t wait to meet the receptionist.”

I felt the blood rush to my
cheeks. “That too.”

“I’m glad you like it,” he said.
“I was hoping you would think I’d made a good choice.”

I laid my hands on his chest and looked
up at him, relaxing into his arms where they were resting around my lower back.
“Of course you made a good choice,” I said. “You have impeccable taste.”

He pulled my hips against his and
kissed my hairline. “So do you, Lucy.”

“So what’s behind the door?” I
asked. “A water heater or something?”

“God I hope not,” he said. “That
would be a pretty anticlimactic end to the grand tour.”

“So what is it?” I pressed my
hands against his arms so I could go see for myself but he locked his fingers
together.

“Ah-ah.”

“What?”

“If you want to see what’s behind
the door, you have to close your eyes.”

“Are you kidding me?”

“No.”

“I won’t do it. Remember last
time you told me to close my eyes and led me into a closet?”

“That was different.”

“How?”

“Well, we were twelve.”

“So?”

“Plus, that really was a closet.”

“You locked me in there!”

“Only while I went home for
lunch. It was only like twenty minutes.”

“More like forty five!”

“Yeah, but Zoey Cronin didn’t
find you did she?”

“No. No one ever would’ve found
me!”

“I promise this is different.
That time we were playing a game.”

“And this isn’t a game?”

“No,” he said. “This is serious.”

I laughed. “So basically you’re
telling me to close my eyes because things are about to get serious?”

“Yes.”

“That sounds like terrible advice
under any circumstance.”

“Just do it.”

I stuck my lower lip out. “Do I
have to?”

“Yes.”

“And if I won’t?”

“You’ll never know what’s behind
that door.”

“It’s going to be water heater,
isn’t it? Or a bidet or something weird.”

He shrugged. “Or it might be the
back door to Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory.”

“Goddamnit.”

Aiden smiled.

“Okay, I’ll do it,” I said,
pointing at him. “If you promise not to lock me in there or deliberately try to
scare me.”

“I promise on one condition.”

“What?”

“No peeking,” he said. “You don’t
open your eyes until I tell you to.”

I sighed. “Fine.”

“I’m waiting.”

I shut my eyes and pursed my
lips.

He took my hands and walked
backwards, talking to me the whole time. “Okay, nice and slow. Keep them
closed. Now one second while I open the door- no peeking!”

I heard him turn the handle and open
the door.

“Now walk straight forward three
steps,” he said, keeping one hand on my lower back. “But don’t open your eyes
yet.” His hand disappeared from my back for a split second while he pulled the
door shut behind us.

“Can I open them now?”

“Not yet,” I said, walking back
in front of her.

“Soon though?”

“Very soon,” I said, taking her
hands. “Just a little bit to the right here. That’s it.” I looked down at her
dragging feet. “There’s nothing on the floor so don’t worry, you’re not going
to fall.”

“I don’t smell any chocolate
yet,” she said, smiling.

“Okay now turn around.”

For a second I just stood there
looking at her closed eyes and the anticipation showing in her face. She was so
beautiful I almost couldn’t stand it.

“Well?” she asked. “Can I open
them now?”

I took a deep breath and stepped
to the side where I would still be able to see her face. “Okay,” I said. “You
can open them now.”

Her eyes popped open and scanned
the room. The floor was tiled and there were some carefully arranged props set
up that I could see now may have added to her confusion more than anything.

She furrowed her brow and looked
at me. “Sorry to be dense, Aiden, but what exactly am I looking at?”

“Locks by Lucy,” I said. “Your
new salon.”

Her eyes doubled in size.

“You don’t have to call it that,
of course. I just thought it was kind of cute.”

“Wait- what?”

“Well, as you can see, it’s a
whole other space, easily large enough for another business owner to move into.”

The color drained from her face.

“It has its own door to the plaza
and everything,” I said, pointing behind her.

She looked at the door and then
back at the space.

“I know it’s not much, but it’s a
start.”

“Oh my god you’re serious?”

“Of course I’m serious. What kind
of sick joke would this be if I weren’t?”

She slid one hand around the back
of her neck.

I could see she was in shock.
“Okay, you’re going to have to use your imagination again, but I thought there
could be a front desk over here.”

She followed me with her eyes,
her feet stuck to the floor.

“Where you could have your very
own hot receptionist.”

She swallowed.

“And you could have some shelving
here.” I gestured towards the wall behind me. “To display whatever hair
products you’re selling or using or I don’t know. That’s up to you if you want
to do that.”

She pursed her lips.

“And I already checked about the
plumbing,” I said, running to the far back wall. “You can put as many sinks
over here as you want.”

Her eyes followed me around the
room.

“And on this wall, you can have
your own mirrors with the little stations and the chairs in a row. Can’t you
imagine it?”

She nodded.

I walked back to her side, feeling
slightly winded from running around during the unveiling. “I wanted to have it
completely done for you so you could just walk in and start taking clients, but
I decided it was better to show you sooner rather than later.”

“Uh-huh.”

“Plus, now you can make
everything exactly the way you want,” I said. “It’ll be better this way. Don’t
you think?”

She took a deep breath.

“Lucy?”

Her eyes met mine.

“Say something,” I said.

“I don’t know what to say.”

I smiled. “Say thanks, Aiden, I
love it.”

She looked around the room and
then back at me. “Aiden, you can’t just buy me a salon.”

I cocked my head. “Yes, I can. I
already did.”

She shook her head. “I can’t
accept this.”

“Yes you can.”

“No I can’t. It’s way too much.”

“Lucy.” I put my hands on her
shoulders. “I want you to have it.”

“But I can’t afford it.”

“I know,” I said. “That’s what
makes it such a great gift.”

“I’d have to pay for it. I’d have
to pay you back.”

“I don’t want your money.”

“But I’d owe you,” she said, her
eyes searching mine. “I’d owe you too much.”

“You wouldn’t owe me anything. If
anything, I’m the one that owes you.”

“How do you figure?”

“Well, I never paid you for that
haircut you gave me for starters.” 

Her eyes sprang into little
crescents.

“And it was by far the best haircut
I’ve ever gotten.”

She shook her head.

“And if you were willing to give
me a few more free haircuts in the future, I think we could call it even.”

“Even?!”

“Yeah.”

“No one has ever done anything
like this for me.”

“I’m so glad,” I said. “It wouldn’t
be nearly as much fun if people did stuff like this for you all the time.”

She tucked her hair behind her
ear. “Are you sure about this?”

“I’ve never been more sure about
anything in my life.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. As soon as Nick suggested
I rent this space out to another business, I realized it would be perfect for
you.”

“So I would be paying you rent?”

“No,” I said. “I don’t want your
money.”

“What do you want?”

“I want you to be happy, Lucy.
Isn’t that obvious?”

“Are you sure you don’t just feel
guilty that I can’t open my own place?”

“Absolutely not.” I grabbed her
hands. “Look, I know you’d be able to open your own place eventually without my
help.”

She looked in my eyes.

“I have no doubt about that.”

“Thanks.”

“I mean it,” I said. “But you
deserve a break, and I feel incredibly fortunate that I’m in a position to help
you out.”

“I don’t want to take advantage
of you.”

“You’re not,” I said. “This whole
thing was my idea.”

She nodded.

“Plus, it’s as much for me as it
is for you.”

“How’s that?”

“Cause we’ll be able to learn
from each other. After all, neither of us has ever done anything like this
before: opening our own businesses, hiring staff, figuring out how to advertise
and grow.”

“Uh-huh.”

“Plus, I think it’ll be a lot
more fun this way.”

“You do?”

“Of course. And I guess between
how things are going between us and me finally opening my own business, it just
feels like all my dreams are coming true.”

She smiled.

“But my dreams are all tangled up
in yours, Luce, and the thought of you having your own salon makes me just as
happy as the thought of having my own place.”

She put a hand over her chest but
didn’t say anything.

“You’ll never have to give anyone
your resume again.”

She pursed her lips.

“You could even hire some of the
girls from the salon if you wanted,” I said. “Heck, you’ll probably be up and
running before I am.”

“But the expense of getting all
the chairs and the mirrors and the products.” She gestured towards the front
window. “And a couch and a sign and business cards and-”

“I’ve already thought about all that,”
I said. “We can afford it. It’s no problem.”

“I’d have to pay you back.”

“You wouldn’t.”

“Aiden, I would.” Her face was
serious. “I absolutely would.”

“I’m sure we could come to some
other arrangement.”

“No,” she said. “I would have to
pay you back. No matter how long it took me, I’d have to pay you back.”

“Okay,” I said. “Whatever you
want. I know better than to argue with you, but can I make a suggestion?”

“Sure.”

“Why don’t you stop looking for
reasons to say no and consider all the reasons you should say yes?”

She looked in my eyes.

“You shouldn’t have to look very
far.”

She swallowed.

I reached in my pocket for my key
chain and wiggled a key off the ring. Then I held it up in front of her. “What
do you say?”