Forever Cowboy (Montana Brides Book 5) Read Free Page B

him more than he’d wanted to pay, but Jacob had told him it was a sure fire winner. His brother had made a fortune developing property and Alex wasn’t about to second guess his instincts. Especially when those instincts were backed up by a ton of financial forecasts and reports.  
    “But you’ve bought other commercial properties?” Nicky wasn’t letting go of whatever bone she was determined to chew. He didn’t like talking about money. The fact that he had enough of it to last a couple of lifetimes wasn’t something he wanted to discuss over coffee.
    He shrugged his shoulders. “I’ve bought other buildings, but not in Bozeman.” A blind man could see the smoke signals Emily was sending her sister. Her bright red hair was almost sparking with annoyance. She wanted to be as far away as possible from him and that suited him fine.  
    After they’d broken up he’d spent too many months trying to figure out what he’d done wrong. And when he found out, he’d spent another few months wondering how a woman he thought he’d loved could have had so little trust in him.  
    Nicky turned to her sister. “It’s always good to get a second opinion.”
    “Cody and Sam will look at everything. I don’t need other help.”
    Alex felt a knot in his stomach tighten. Emily might as well have yelled from the roof that she didn’t need his help. Didn’t want his help in whatever scheme the two of them were hatching.
    “I know you want to buy it,” Nicky whispered. “You’ve bought and sold more apartments than most people go through in a lifetime. But Alex knows about commercial property. What can it hurt to ask for his advice?”
    “Do you really want me to answer that question?”
    Nicky narrowed her eyes and Emily had the grace to blush.  
    “I want to see the contract before I discuss anything with him.” Emily held out her hand.
    Gracie pulled the chair out beside her. “If you two are going to have an argument you might as well do it sitting down. I’m getting a sore neck watching you.”
    Emily bit her bottom lip. “Sorry, Gracie. I’m being rude.”  
    Alex noted that the same apology didn’t come his way. But the quick, embarrassed glance she sent toward his shirt almost made up for it.  
    Nicky passed over the envelope and Emily took a deep breath before sitting down. She slid the papers onto the table in front of her and ran her finger down the fine print.  
    Alex didn’t want to look as though he was butting in on something that was none of his business. But he couldn’t help noticing the purchase and sale agreement Emily was looking at. Or the way her eyes started misting over when she re-read what he assumed was the asking price.
    “What are you buying?” Gracie didn’t have any trouble asking the question working its way around his head.
    Emily closed her eyes for a few brief seconds. When she opened them, Alex swore they’d turned as dark as a prairie storm. “I’m not buying anything.”
    “It’s not that bad.” Nicky pointed at the contract. “It’s a starting price. You know how it works. After we’ve factored in the remodeling costs we cross this out and make another offer.”
    “Even if we only do the basics, I don’t see how I’ll be able to afford it.”
    “You won’t know until we get someone to have a look. Regardless of what Alex said, he knows enough about commercial property to give us an idea of what it could be worth.” Nicky looked across at Alex with an apology in her eyes. “I spoke to Jacob a few weeks ago.”
    His brother was in serious trouble. Alex didn’t know how his property investments had come up in conversation with someone who was almost a stranger, but he sure as hell was going to find out.  
    He leaned forward and saw the frown on Emily’s face. “I might be able to help. Where is it?”
    “It’s the old library building,” she said quickly. “Two stores away. Beside the handcraft store.”
    Gracie frowned. “You mean the boarded