Final Offer (Dreamland Billionaires #3) by Lauren Asher

“Great.” The hollow pit in my stomach widens at the idea.

“I thought so. No way this house will last until the end of the open house.”

I suck in a breath. “Let’s start with the open house and take it from there.”

The realtor goes over the details he has planned, all while I drift in and out of the conversation with a confirmatory nod here and there.

“Would you like to be present when the buyers come check out the property?”

I give my head a hard shake. “No.”

I’d rather jump off the dock in a pair of concrete sneakers than sit through hours of people gawking at the home I love while I idly sit by, letting my heart get shredded to pieces knowing one of them will buy it from me.

Screw that.

Just because I’m selling the house to help Cal and his family doesn’t mean I have to like it.

The shrill sound of my ringtone wakes me up. I thought sleeping in Cal’s bed might help cure my insomnia, but Rowan’s call shattered my theory before I had a chance to try it.

I lie back down and answer my phone. “Hello?”

“Alana.” Rowan’s gruff voice fills my ear. “How are you?”

“Wonderful, especially now that you woke me up.”

He releases a huff of air. “Sorry about that. I didn’t think you would be asleep at nine p.m.”

Nine p.m.?!

Shit. I probably knocked out as soon as Cami did.

I grab the pillow that no longer smells as strongly of Cal and tuck it under my head. “I haven’t been getting the best sleep lately.”

“How are you doing?”

“About as good as one would expect after finding out your grandfather was hell-bent on making me suffer for some reason, although I’m not sure why. I was good to him. I even listened to his stories about Ireland like I hadn’t heard the same ones a hundred times before.”

His laugh is soft and quiet, drawing a smile from me. “He was a manipulative bastard, wasn’t he?”

“Ugh. The worst. What did he make you do?”

“Run and renovate Dreamland for six months.”

I scoff. “And here I thought we were on an even playing field.”

“It wasn’t as easy as it sounds, especially for someone like me.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“That I was an idiot who needed a good ass-kicking.”

My grin widens. “Zahra mentioned she helped knock a little sense into you.”

“She did a lot more than that.”

I can practically hear the smile in his voice. Bitterness rises, ready to exploit my insecurities regarding my own relationship, but I shove it down.

“I assume you didn’t call me to gush about your girlfriend.”

“No, but who says I needed a reason to call?”

“You’re a Kane. You don’t do phone calls unless there is something you want.”

He laughs harder this time, making me grin. “I was hoping to speak to you about the tres leches recipe.”

“Seriously?” I thought he would call to check in on the house sale or to ask me a question about Cal.

“Seriously,” he repeats back in my tone, which makes me clamp down on my tongue to stop myself from laughing. “I was hoping we could come to a reasonable agreement.”

“Why do you want it so badly?”

“Because I know talent when I see it, and you’re the real deal.”

Heat crawls up my neck before spreading all the way to my cheeks. “Really?”

“Yes. Cal mentioned you’re interested in opening your own bakery, and I respect that kind of ambition. I’m sure you’ll go far with your skills.”

My phone slips from my grasp from how clammy my hand becomes. I don’t breathe, let alone interrupt him as he continues.

“But I’m interested in developing a new land that features Princess Marianna and a few other characters that I can’t share a lot about yet unless you agree to help.”

“Do any of these characters happen to be from Colombia?”

“Would that convince you to say yes?”

“Depends. Are you still offering me a million bucks for the recipe?”

“Let’s make it five.”

“Five million?”

“Cal was right when he called me out on only offering a mil. I just wanted to see if he pays more attention than he lets on, and he proved me right.”

My mouth drops open. “You did that on purpose?”

He laughs. “Yeah.”

“What is wrong with you?”

“Zahra’s still trying to figure that one out, although compared to Declan, I’m the nice one.”

I shut my eyes to center myself. “This is a lot to wrap my head around.”

“Should I not mention the job then?”

“What job?”

“I’d like to bring you on as a baking consultant of sorts.”

“A baking consultant?” I squeak.

“I see you and Zahra share the fond habit of repeating everything I say.”

“That says more about you than us.”

His deep chuckle makes the speaker on my phone crackle. “Are you open to the job?”

“Do I have to work at Dreamland?”

“Only for a minority of the time. We can fly you out on the jet one weekend every month if that works.”