He nearly choked.
Camille smiled.
“Apparently not.”
He wiped his mouth.
“That’s direct.”
“I run a company.”
“I noticed.”
“Answer.”
“Sometimes.”
“Recently?”
“No.”
“Why?”
Evan looked toward the street.
“Busy.”
“That is a lie people use when answer is complicated.”
He smiled.
“You’re good at this.”
“I paid therapists.”
He was quiet.
Then:
“Julia was sick almost three years.”
“By end, I was nurse, husband, mechanic, dad.”
“After she died, I didn’t know which parts of me existed without needing someone.”
Camille listened.
“I went on two dates about a year later.”
“Felt like interviewing replacement.”
“I hated myself for thinking that.”
“So stopped.”
“And now?”
He looked at her.
“Now the woman who tried to evict me keeps asking personal questions.”
Camille felt heat rise to her face.
“You’re avoiding.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because you still control ground lease.”
Camille’s smile disappeared.
He continued gently:
“That is not accusation.”
“I know.”
“I like you.”
There it was.
Camille’s chest tightened.
Evan said:
“But if I date the CEO who can decide whether my home survives, how do I know which choices are clean?”
Camille looked down.
He was right.
It hurt.
But he was right.
“What if I don’t control it?”
“What?”
“The lease.”
She stood.
Evan frowned.
“Camille.”
“I’m not doing something ridiculous.”
“You have ridiculous face.”
“I do not.”
“You absolutely do.”
She ignored him.
The redevelopment plan had already been frozen.
The independent board committee was reviewing Baxter Street.
A preservation proposal existed because the garage now had historic significance.
Camille could recuse herself.
Create a neutral process.
Transfer property to a trust.
She said:
“I can remove myself from every decision affecting this parcel.”
Evan stood.
“Do not rearrange corporate governance because I said I like you.”
She stared.
“That may be the most romantic sentence anyone has ever said to me.”
He laughed despite himself.
“I’m serious.”
“So am I.”
She stepped closer.
“But you’re right.”
“I don’t want gratitude.”
“Or pressure.”
“Or a story where you protect my father’s legacy and I reward you with a relationship.”
“Good.”
“Because I hate that story.”
“Good.”
She smiled.