Taking a deep breath, I nod to Gary. “I’ll be ready in about 30 minutes.”

Gary laughs. “I’ll be out here in 45, then. Remember, fun!”

I step out, adjusting my jacket as I approach the rustic yet elegant building. The interior hums with life, the silhouettes of well-dressed locals moving behind the large windows, but despite my wealth and once well-known public persona, I don’t know any of these people. My brother secures and closes the business deals. The deals that have made me a star. He’s the schmoozer, the social butterfly. I’ve always preferred to focus on the restaurants and be the mysterious, hidden, enigma behind the success.

But that freedom’s over, and it’s time for me to enter the spotlight. Be charming, I remind myself. And most importantly, don’t be an asshole.

Pausing before the entrance, I take a moment to steady myself. Then, I see a woman looking through the large paned glass. Her skin is a canvas of glowing brown. Her curly hair frames her face in a halo of soft curls, and her body is elegantly draped in a pink gown that lovingly clings to every sexy curve. She looks like laughter, life, and sex wrapped in silk. She’s breathtaking. She’s gorgeous. Simply gorgeous.

For a moment, I forget myself and watch her, still peeking through the window but seemingly having a conversation with herself.

“Ooh, that guy looks like he owns a company. Small talk, Kerry. Don’t stick your foot in your mouth. Know your worth and secure your future.” She mutters to herself, straightening her posture, not realizing I can hear every word.

The spell breaks. My initial enchantment gives way to disillusionment as her distasteful intentions sink in.

A sigh slips from me, laced with disappointment. I groan to myself, frustrated by the perils of small-town ambitions, “Gold diggers. Can’t escape them.”

But as I reach for the door handle, her hand wraps around mine like a jolt, and not the static kind, but the kind that zips straight to your chest and shoots through me.

I feet an intense, passionate zing, but she apparently doesn’t because she abruptly turns to me and slams the door shut, aggressively pressing her hand down on mine.

Her head snaps up, and she narrows her eyes in a fiery gaze. “What’d you just call me?” She says in her sharp, sweet, and Southern voice.

Caught, but unwilling to back down, I meet her glare head-on. “I called you what you are. A gold digger sizing up your next mark. I literally just caught you in the act, woman.”