Page 643 of Manhattan Bossholes

She took a breath and looked at me wearing a mischievous expression. “Cameron reached out to me.”

“No,” I whispered. “When? And why didn’t you tell me? I can’t believe you’d keep that sort of secret. Whose side are you on? You should’ve hung up on him!”

She pointed at me. “This is why I didn’t tell you. I knew you’d freak out!”

I tossed the key on the windowsill and fumed silently.

“I don’t want to feel like I owe him anything,” I finally said. “I want nothing to do with him, you know that.”

“But why? He keeps reaching out, and he’s been sending you all those thoughtful gifts. It’s obvious he still cares about you.”

“He never apologized!” I said, a little too shrilly.

Nina frowned at me. “He didn’t? Well, that’s surprising. Whenever we talk, he mentions that he’s really upset about how things went down. And that he misses you.”

I closed my eyes and leaned back. “Just tell me what’s going on with this place. I want to know every detail, so I can figure out how to back out of it.”

“He called me about a week ago to say thanks for helping Tyler with his rehab journey, and we got to talking. I didn’t bring you up on purpose; I waited until he did.”

“Okay, whatever,” I shrugged. “It was guilt, I’m sure.”

“He asked about our plans for Treehouse. What sort of neighborhood we were hoping for, the size, the vibe. He offered to help with our search because he obviously has tons of connections, but I told him I needed to talk to you. Well, an hour later he sends me the listing for this place, before I had a chance to call you. Obviously, I told him I loved it, but that it was out of our budget.”

I gestured around angrily. “Duh. It’s perfect.”

Nina leaned closer and took my hand. “Lis, he asked me if I thought this location would make you happy. I said yes, and he barely took a breath and said, ‘Then it’s yours. I’m picking up the first two years of your lease.’”

My mouth dropped open. “What?”

Nina nodded, grinning like she knew she was winning. “We met with the property manager, did a walk-through, and here we are.”

“Wait, you saw Cameron?”

She shook her head vigorously. “No, he sent his assistant Daniel. I think he was worried you might come with me.”

I stood up slowly and walked around the empty space, trying to ignore the fact that I really, really loved it. It was everything we’d dreamed of, and more. But it came with strings that led back to Cameron, and that made it impossible.

“He’s not going to be involved,” Nina said, like she could read my mind. “He swore he’ll never set foot in here unless you invite him. Consider him a vampire.”

I whirled around, unable to hold back any longer. “I’m really mad at you.”

I was so furious at Nina for the betrayal that I felt like I was going to cry.

“Okay, I get it. Understood,” she put her hands in front of her in a gesture of surrender. “Then let’s talk about it. We can figure it out.”

“You went behind my back!” My shrill voice echoed off the walls in the empty space.

“You never would’ve agreed to even think about it,” she answered quickly.

“You let him pay for our rent like he’s a sugar daddy or something.”

“Now hold on a minute. I had no idea he was going to do it. I never would’ve asked him for something so generous. It happened really fast, and I got swept up in it! You have to know that’s how he operates. Cameron O’Connor can snap his fingers and make anything happen.”

Yeah, well he couldn’t make me happen.

I stomped around the room, at war with myself. On one side, I hated Cameron for butting into my life, but on the other, I couldn’t stop imagining how our dream could take shape in this space. A long cash wrap counter on the wall beside the front window. A beautiful mural of a treehouse and all the fictional characters we loved clustered near it. Bookmarks and reading lights and other little book-related gifts in baskets near the arched doorway. Mismatched rugs along the floor. A water bowl for visiting dogs. Comfy chairs. The perfect playlist. A packed calendar of events with every type of author stopping by to hang out with our readers.

“I don’t know what to say,” I finally managed.