Page 77 of Chosen

“I wouldn’t call it a hellhole—”

“It was a hellhole, Sam! A complete fucking disaster of a place to work!” She argued. “Why do you think I got out of there the first chance that I could?”

“Because you could do better and I couldn’t?”

“That was maybe part of it, sure.” Jennifer chuckled. “But you can do much better now. I saw your article. Loved it. Surprised Anthony let you put something that good up on his site.”

“Thanks.” I smiled back at her. “But that’s why I need you on my new team, Jennifer. You know what’s good and what’s crap. And you’re amazing with numbers, too—”

“You got tripped up on how to incorporate as an LLC, didn’t you?”

“How’d you know?”

“Because I know you. That’s why.” She chuckled again. “You’ve never been afraid to ask for help at the start of a difficult project, which is something I’ve always admired. And most people start by looking up how to incorporate, so I just put two and two together.”

“And what was it two and two made again? Five?” I joked. “Seriously, though, Jennifer. Will you work with me on this? I can’t promise a steady paycheck yet but once we get things up and running—”

“Are you kidding me? You think I’m used to getting a steady paycheck?” Jennifer cut me off. “Trust me, Sam, if I wanted to live in a world where I didn’t get sporadic payments in my checking account out of the blue, I’d get out of publishing and go get a job down at the bank.”

“Please, don’t.”

“Oh, I would never.” Jennifer waved a hand. “Just don’t worry about it, okay? We’ll figure the money part out later. For now, count me as part of the team.”

“Seriously? You’re serious?” My eyes went wide as I stared back at the screen. “This isn’t your version of a social media prank, is it?”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever. Call me when you’ve got more info!” Jennifer flashed a wide smile before her finger hovered over the end call button. “I can’t wait to see what you come up with!”

* * *

“Are you sure you have everything you need? You didn’t forget anything inside?” Damon asked as he looked between me and the cabin.

After breakfast, we’d spent the rest of the morning getting packed and ready to head to Wild Woods HQ. It was finally time for me to get officially checked in as a customer, and according to Damon, Parker was still pretty eager to show me around, too.

I took a moment to look over my packed bags, mentally counting off each item I remembered putting up before sliding everything into the back of the truck.

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure I have everything.” I gave Damon a confident nod. “Besides, even if I forgot something, it’s not like I couldn’t come back for it, right? It’s not like I’m leaving anytime soon.”

“Right.” Damon beamed back at me. “Still, it’s a lot easier to make sure we get it right the first time. Just to make things easier for the next guest, too.”

“Un-huh. Whatever you say,” I said, dismissively, with a coy look in my eyes.

“Oh? Is that really how you want to start this morning off?” Damon smirked as he moved over toward me, his hands soon resting on either side of my waist. “Are you really going to make me punish you so early in the day?”

“Would that be so bad?” I smirked right back at him. “It’s kind of nice being punished in the morning.”

“I have been much too lenient with you for far too long,” Damon murmured, something heating behind his expression. “Someone’s starting to think bad behavior always gets rewarded.”

“Does it not?”

Damon sweetly smiled as he moved away from me, sliding into the driver’s seat. I took my seat beside him, looking over at him expectantly, still waiting for the answer to my previous question.

“Well? Does it not?” I repeated.

“No comment.” Damon’s eyes met mine, and it was like I could tell he was having mischievous thoughts, the kind he wouldn’t share until we were alone in a bedroom.

Or a truck. Or outside underneath the stars. Or anywhere he could’ve taken control of me, really.

While my thoughts were running wild, I felt Damon lean over and press a soft kiss against my cheek.

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