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  “I was jealous and acting like a kid.”

  Amelie could get the information, but Amelie was also right. Regina had done more of the background work and knew better what questions to ask.

  “Don’t let it cheat you out of a good opportunity. Don’t let my stupidity do that.”

  She sighed. She needed to get a grip.

  A car beeped for her to move and she had to decide. She switched her blinker, turned back into the lot and found another space. She would feel silly going back past the registration desk, but she’d get over it.

  She found Nigel bending over her table talking to Amelie.

  “You guys have done a lot already. You can walk through it with a lender this afternoon.”

  When he saw her, he straightened and stepped back for her to take her seat again.

  “I’m so glad you came back, Regina.”

  She nodded noncommittally, and he headed toward the front. It was time to start.

  “I’m glad you’re here, too, girl,” Amelie said. “I didn’t know if I could make my way through all of this stuff.”

  Nigel took the podium to welcome the participants, thank the sponsors, go over the lineup for the day and introduce the first speaker. Seeing him in a business capacity was like seeing a new light. He was all about business, but he was also congenial, humorous, interesting. This was his world, and he was clearly a polished and professional master of it. He went over some statistics on new businesses to end his opening remarks: a third broke even; a third suffered a loss; more than half failed within ten years.

  “We’re here to arm you with information so that you can supersede those odds.”

  The morning session on business proposals didn’t have as much new information as Regina expected. But it gave her a lot of ways to tweak what they already had to make it better. It also confirmed for her what she had known. They needed to get more information on competition, and they needed to fix their financial section.

  It was Nigel who spoke about the financial statements and projections. He seemed at ease in this world, knowledgeable about how it worked. He opened his jacket and stuck one hand in his pocket as he flipped through a slide-show presentation of his major points.

  It was all a lot to take in, but it was just as much to take in the professional bearing and acumen of Nigel Johns. At moments he seemed to be staring directly at her as she took notes and absorbed the points he was making. Other times, he panned the room or pointed to the graphs on the screen. He knew statistics off the top of his head. He held everyone’s attention. During the question-and-answer session, he received the most queries and was comfortable interacting with the large audience.

  “Actually, the financial portion of the business plan is one of the reasons people hire or consult accountants, like me. Avail yourself of me while it’s free.” The audience laughed. “And don’t be afraid to seek help with this.”

  He wasn’t at all the boy she had known in college. He was sharp and handsome, professional and at ease.

  During lunch he was busy making good on his word; people lined up at the speakers’ table to ask him questions or have him go over their financial statements. When the line melted away, he brought his box lunch over to their table and turned around one of the seats in front of them.

  “Can I sit down?”

  “Sure,” Amelie offered.

  “If I don’t eat somewhere else, I may not get to eat at all.”

  “We understand,” said Amelie. “Help yourself.”

  Regina glared at her for a second, but the gesture went unnoticed.

  “Can I check out your financial statements and projections while I’m here? If you don’t mind me eating as I do it.”

  “That—”

  This time Regina cut Amelie off. “That section of our plan needs a lot of work. We’re not ready to have someone look at it yet.”

  Amelie’s eyes widened, but she said nothing.

  “I’m used to seeing partial drafts and that kind of thing. I don’t mind taking a look—no judgment.”

  “If you insist,” Amelie said. With some effort, she slipped the folder from under Regina’s hands and handed it over to Nigel.

  “So how have you ladies enjoyed the seminar so far?” he asked while reading the pages and flipping to the appendices.

  Amelie was the first to respond. “It’s great. We might actually be able to get this done. But it’s a whole lot to follow, as laypeople.”

  “I know. I’m for teaching business to everyone in high school and college. It impacts us all. People get to this stage, and it’s like taking a crash college course with no intro to soften it.”

  He took a bite of his sandwich and finished perusing their pages.

  “You guys,” he said, but he was looking at Regina, “I can tell that you’ve done your research. This is great. There are some sections that aren’t fully done, and it would be better if your business had been making more, but there are ways to pump it up, regardless.”

  “What’s not finished?” Amelie asked.

  “Several things. For one, the cash flow projections are presented monthly for the first year and quarterly after that. It’s one of the most important parts of the proposal. You also—”

  “We know,” Regina said. It nettled her to have him critiquing her work. She didn’t know why, but she wanted to stop it nonetheless.

  “I know you do. I was only explaining to Ms. Richards.” His reaction suggested that he could tell that he’d upset her, but he wasn’t sure why. Regina had to admit that he wasn’t being condescending or unkind. “Look, you’ve done a huge part of the work. Why not let me help you guys with some of this?”

  “That would be great. Do you do private consultations?”

  “All the time. And Regina, I would do anything for you. Please know that.”

  Amelie’s eyebrows went up, but Regina remained aloof.

  “Think about it, please.” He was looking at Regina. “Let’s talk more during the breakout sessions this afternoon. Is that okay?”

  “You got it,” Amelie said.

  The afternoon sessions were starting, and even though Nigel wasn’t moderating anymore, he was on the panel again, so he had to leave.

  “He seems to want to help,” Amelie said. “What’s up?”

  “It’s a long story.”

  “Give it to me, girl.”

  “We don’t have time. This is the session we need most.”

  Amelie looked at her with skepticism.

  “Look,” Regina said, “without an address, we don’t even know if what we have is useful or if we need to go to a startup loan. In short, we don’t know what we’re doing anymore.”

  Amelie finally turned her attention to the moderator, and Regina followed suit.

  The afternoon session was more intense than the morning’s had been.

  Regina listened carefully and took notes. Like the first session, it only confirmed for her how far they had to go. Her determination wasn’t wavering, but her confidence was. If they hadn’t lost the site, they might be okay, but now...she didn’t know.

  After the afternoon sessions, the speakers were placed at tables around the room so that people could go to them with questions.

  They got a few minutes with the representative of National Bank, who suggested, in short, that they had to find another location before they could finalize the application. After that, they wandered to the other tables with their less pressing questions, and Regina was glad that she’d stayed, because she did know better what to ask. Amelie even pulled her to Nigel’s table, where he looked over the drafts of their financial sections and made suggestions.

  Nigel had been at his table for the duration of the breakout session but came over to them as the participants were beginning to leave. Ame
lie and Regina were packing up things at their table, and after a day of taking notes on things that needed to be done, fixed or changed, Regina’s spirits weren’t very high.

  “I’m glad you stayed, Regina.”

  She nodded her head, not in the mood for chipper conversation.

  “Thank you for all your help,” Amelie said.

  “No problem. Hey, would you guys like to grab dinner and talk more about the business plan and the application needs? We can even set up some consultations. I can help you get the financial sections in order and help you find people to look over the other sections.”

  Regina could tell that Amelie saw what a resource he could be and was grateful for his offer. “That would be great, and I’m hungry.”

  “I need to head home,” Regina replied. “And if what the lender said is right, the application isn’t going anywhere until we have another location.”

  Nigel didn’t back down. “That doesn’t mean we can’t put the application in order, and Regina, I can help you with the location. I’ve been looking into the studio site ever since you came to see me, and—”

  “Nigel, you’ve been more than helpful. Thank you.” She was clearly shutting him down.

  Amelie glared at her but didn’t say anything.

  “Then why don’t we set up a consultation?”

  “Yes, Regina, let’s. He has so much of the information we need,” Amelie said.

  “Fine,” she agreed, to appease Amelie and to get the conversation over with. “We’ll set up a time by phone when both of us can come in for a consultation.”

  “Just call my office—” he handed Amelie his card “—and tell them you’ll need a couple of hours.”

  “It’s been a long day. I’m going home,” Regina said.

  “I can walk you both out,” Nigel offered.

  He and Amelie followed Regina out to the parking lot.

  “What about you, Ms. Richards? Would you be up for an early dinner? We can talk more about the application process.”

  Regina gave Amelie a look, but Amelie clearly wasn’t paying her any mind.

  “Yes, that would be great. Regina, are you sure you won’t come?”

  “I’m sure.”

  “We’ll set up a consultation time over dinner and let you know,” Nigel said. “I’ll just be a few more minutes, Ms. Richards, if you can wait. I have to make sure that the speakers have gotten off and that the cleanup is just about over.”

  “My car is over there.”

  “I’ll be right back.”

  Regina headed toward her car. Nigel turned to her as she opened her door and put his hand on the small of her back.

  “It’ll be all right, Reggie. I know it’s a lot, but you’ve already done most of it.”

  From the tone of his voice, she could tell that the hand on her back was meant to console her. It also sent a shiver up her spine. Heat flooded her middle. She hoped he couldn’t tell and tried to figure out how to get him to remove his hand.

  “I know. I’m just tired.”

  “I’m only going out with Ms. Richards to give her more information, Reggie. She doesn’t know as much as you do. You’re the one who’s been doing the work. We’ll set up a consultation time.”

  “I’m not worried about you going out with Amelie. I have no claim on you.”

  “But you do. You just don’t know it.” He shook his head and seemed to clear his thoughts. “But I didn’t mean to say that. I just want to help you.”

  “You’ve been helpful already. I have to go.”

  She almost expected him to kiss her, but he didn’t.

  “Reggie, have a good night.”

  As Regina backed out of her space, she saw Nigel heading back into the building. She wasn’t pleased that Nigel and Amelie were going out to dinner. He could say things about her past that she didn’t necessarily want her friend to know—things that should come from her, if at all. But there was nothing she could do about that, so she might as well not worry. She didn’t like the idea of involving Nigel even more in their affairs, but she had agreed to the consultation, and in all likelihood, they needed it.

  She needed to stick to her real priorities and focus on the future. The next thing they needed was a new studio space.

  Regina exhaled and let her shoulders droop. She hadn’t realized she’d been holding her breath and steeling her back and shoulders. The slump gave her relief from the stress of the day. But she could still feel the tingling at the small of her back where Nigel’s hand had been, and heat still flowed to the pit of her stomach from that brief touch. It had always been that way for them.

  Chapter 10

  Nigel stood in his office going over the copies he’d marked up. He’d gotten Amelie to give him her set of paperwork after dinner, which turned out to be just what he needed to get his plans under way. As before, she was full of information that Regina refused to give him, and as he had seen at the seminar, she was more than willing to take up his offer of assistance, especially once he explained that he was in love with Regina and that no strings were attached. He just wanted to help her.

  The women were coming at four-thirty, and they were his last clients for that day, so he could take as much time as he needed with them. They’d need at least two hours, but whenever they finished, he could call it an early day and take them to dinner.

  His secretary buzzed him at four-twenty to let him know that they had arrived. Perfect timing. He had just finished reviewing the notes he had for them. He went to call them from the waiting area himself and found Regina beautiful as ever, wearing a light yellow mid-thigh-length sundress. Something about the dress and the way it allowed the air access to her body made her seem vulnerable, fragile. He longed to touch all the places the dress would allow and had to pull his thoughts back to the work at hand.

  Amelie was standing next to her in an African-print pantsuit with her braids coiled in a crown at the top of her head. Nigel nodded to her as he pulled his mind out of the gutter and motioned both women into his office and toward a small conference table.

  “Welcome, both of you. Come sit over here. I set the chairs up over here so that we can all go over the draft I’ve marked up at the same time. It’ll take a little while, but when it’s over, you’ll know exactly what to do to have a draft that we can send around for more commentary and then submit.”

  He looked at Regina to see if her spirits were still down, but her features were neutral. He put a hand on her shoulder.

  “Reggie, when we’re done, this will work.”

  “Okay.”

  “Let’s do it,” Amelie said, more enthused.

  “One thing before we start the walk-through. Can we change the figure of the money you have to put up? I know you don’t have a lot because you were putting a lot into renovations at the old place, but this figure is fairly low. Have you thought about outside investors? Individuals? Corporate?”

  The women looked at one another and shook their heads no.

  “How about me? I can put up—”

  “No.” Regina cut him off. “No way, no how. That just leaves us with two bills to pay instead of one.”

  “But I—”

  “No.”

  Regina was adamant. Amelie just shook her head, conceding.

  “Okay, but know that I’m here if you change your mind.”

  Nigel didn’t like it, but he let it go. “You have a few other accounting calculations that need to be done. Is it all right if I do those?”

  “Hallelujah,” Amelie sang out loud.

  Regina chuckled at that. She probably echoed the sentiment but wouldn’t let herself say it out loud. Her suppressed laugh said it all. Then she caught herself and glanced at Nigel, seeming to feel awkward, as though her weakness had been found out.
/>   Nigel had noticed. “It’s okay, really. It’s one of the reasons people hire accountants for this stuff, and I have all the software to do the layout.” He made his voice as comforting as possible. He was trying to make sure that she didn’t feel foolish.

  “That done, let’s walk through the marked copy,” he said. Regina took out a pad and pencil. “You don’t need to take separate notes. I’ll give you this copy so that you can make changes. Write any clarification you need right on this so that all the notes are in one place.”

  Regina looked at him. They would all be looking over the same pages, and it meant that she would have to lean closer to him to take notes. He saw her weighing the threat of being closer to him in her mind.

  “Okay,” she said softly, and they looked at one another, a charge between them.

  But Amelie was there. He ignored the electricity he felt and stifled the desire to pull her against his chest so that they could read the pages as one body. He continued on.

  “A lot of my notes on the plan have to do with wording, but one of the new things you need is a section on risks.”

  They spent the next couple of hours walking through his copious notes and comments, and when he was done, the women had a good bit of work to do, but they knew what was needed.

  “If you can do another draft of this with those changes, we’ll be in business. If you’ll do that and send it to me electronically, I can add the changes to the financials and go over it one more time before we hand it off to some of my colleagues for commentary. By the time you submit it, it’ll be airtight.”

  “Except for a location,” Regina said.

  She looked wistful for a moment and then sighed. Nigel and Amelie exchanged glances.

  “That will come,” Nigel said finally. “How long do you think it will take you to get the new info, add the new sections and make changes?”

  Amelie looked at Regina since it was clear that Regina would lead the brigade.

  Regina looked at him, uncertain.

  “At two to three hours a day, how long should it take me?”

  He didn’t want to underestimate and make her feel inadequate. “Two or three weeks, I’d think.”