acres. The freshly made cider and hot cider donuts made up for the hordes of people with the same plan, no matter when we made the trip. I was missing all of it, and I would miss it from now on.
“Will you–”
“Already part of the plan, Jurnee. I’m not going to carve them, but I’ll make sure they are up to your pumpkin standards.”
“As good as this opportunity is, I’m not positive it’s worth giving up my life in Michigan.”
“You are an emotional mess today, so I am going to forgive your last comment. However, I will remind you that opportunities like this do not come along every day. You will take what Graham is offering, or I will kill you with my bare hands. Understood?”
26
Jurnee
The world that Anderson, and Graham and Soraya lived in was so far out of my comfort zone that it doesn’t even make sense to compare. Walking up to Soraya’s building, the doorman opened the door and stepped out of the way.
“Good afternoon, Ms. Messer. Soraya said to head straight up. Do you remember the floor?”
“Hard for someone like me to forget a trip to the penthouse.” I regretted the words when I looked at the doorman’s face. “I’m sorry. Please call me Jurnee.”
He winked and smiled in a grandfatherly way and gestured for me to head to the elevator. “Have a pleasant day, Jurnee.”
“Thank you. You as well.”
The ping of the elevator hitting the top floor gave me just enough time to slip my game face on. Shoulders back. Tits out. I rolled my head toward my right shoulder and back up. I repeated the same movement to my left shoulder. Let’s do this.
I knocked on the door and took a deep breath as it opened. My smile dropped when Graham was standing in front of me. Oh shit.
“Come on in, Jurnee.”
“Ah. Thank you. Nice to see you again.”
“You as well. Can I get you anything to drink? Coffee, tea, or wine?”
Shaking my head, I headed for the sofa but waited for permission to be seated. I didn’t have to wait for long.
“Please, Jurnee, sit.” Graham gestured, and he sat across from me on the love seat he and Soraya had sat in the last time I was here with Anderson. Stop it right now!
“Soraya invited me over–” The tension in my voice matched my body.
Graham nodded as he picked up a glass of something pink, “She should be here any minute. There was something that she had to take care of. That’s my wife.”
“I wouldn’t want to keep you from anything. I really don’t mind waiting.”
“Jurnee, why don’t you tell me what’s going on?”
I froze.
“Relax. You’ve become very important to my wife in a very short amount of time and, by extension, me. What’s going on?”
“Mr. Morgan–” He gave me a look. “Sorry. Graham, I honestly never in a million years thought you would be interested in my coffee shop idea. Let alone interested in investing in multiple coffee shops. I came to New York to clear my head and have some fun in this amazing city.”
He nodded and sipped his pink beverage. “Strawberry Quik.”
“Ah. Okay.” I must have been staring. “Getting this opportunity has thrown me. I don’t know if I can handle it, and I don’t want to let you down. One coffee shop is a lot. Multiple coffee shops is an undertaking that I’m not sure I’m up for.”
“Is there anything else driving this self-doubt?”
Searching for anything else to look at besides his face, my gaze fell on a painting behind him. Sunflowers. It was beautifully painted. How did I miss that last time I was here?
“Anderson texted me earlier that he doesn’t want to communicate with me, so I’m not sure how I can continue to work with him.” The words flew out of my mouth before I had a chance to filter them. Shit.
Graham sat quietly for a moment. I stared at the painting, wishing I was at the damn cider mill eating all the cider donuts with Derrick and his boyfriend. I wasn’t. I was here.
“Jurnee. Soraya, Avery, and Genevieve, well, and Delia saw something special enough in you and in your idea to add you to my calendar. My calendar is not easy to slide into, by the way.” He smiled. “Your presentation was dreadful. You spoke in abstracts and didn’t present one solid piece of research. I didn’t want to invest in your coffee shop.”