Page 48 of Dream a Little Dream

Devyn sat back. “What are you waiting for? She’s right over there talking to Maya and Jeremy. If you’re even a little bit interested, make it known,” she said, as if going after what I wanted would be the most natural thing in the world. For her, it was. I sighed. I should take a page from Devyn’s very successful book and collect my courage.

“You think?” I was asking Devyn specifically. Elizabeth and Jonathan swiveled from me to her like cats following a laser dot.

“I know.”

I nodded. I turned.I got this. It would be easy enough to approach one of my valued employees. No big deal. I talked to Maya every day. And just because Kyle looked so veryKyletonight, it still didn’t alter my determination. She wore black jeans and a purple top with sleeves that came to just past her elbows. I really did enjoy her strong and feminine forearms. Use it, I told myself.

“What are we drinking tonight?” I asked, approaching Maya’s table like the mayor of Ronnie Roo’s. Jeremy sat across from Maya, engaged in conversation with Kyle.

“Hey,” Maya said, her eyes lighting up. “We were just talking about you.”

“Me?” I turned to Kyle. “Dare I ask?”

She raised her longneck and shrugged. “What can I say? Everyone wants to thank me for saving your life.”

“You mean patching up my sprain?”

“Same thing.”

She pressed her lips to the bottle for a drink mid smile. I couldn’t look away.God grant me strength in this bar. When I finally did turn back to the table, I saw Maya and Jeremy exchanging a look. Was I about to become break room gossip? Probably. In this moment, I was willing to risk it.

“Hey, did you see Faber today?” Maya asked. “He let himself into your office and left with a bunch of file folders.”

I frowned, lust session placed on hold. The filing cabinets contained our financial records. At least the hard copies. He wouldn’t know how to access the digital if he wanted to. “Did he say anything to anyone?”

Maya laughed. “Not a word, just shuffled on out of there, his comb-over in full effect.”

“An actual comb-over?” Jeremy asked, as my mind raced trying to figure out what he might be doing there. Surely this wasn’t another attempt to teach Harlowe the business and install her at the store.

“Jare-Bear, this man is a walking crisis with more bank than God.”

“He does have too much money for his own good,” I mumbled. Kyle was watching me, her brow creased. Jeremy and Maya were laughing with their heads together, young kids in love. Kyle took the opportunity to check in. “Hey, are you okay? Want to talk it out?”

It was a good offer. She inclined her head to an open space next to the bar where we could have some space to ourselves. “I’ll catch up with you later,” I said, giving Maya’s shoulder a squeeze. But lost in Jeremy’s eyes, I wasn’t sure she heard a word.

“I saw the look on your face when she mentioned your boss leaving with file folders. This is the same guy who made you cry that day in the store?”

“Same guy. I don’t know what he’s up to, but he’s the stupidest bull in the china shop when he gets an idea in his head. If I didn’t care so much about the store, I’d let him run it into the ground.”

“But you do. You care a lot. You’re Savanna.” She leaned a casual shoulder against the brick wall, which left us standing fairly close together. I resisted the urge to wiggle my shoulders as the zap of energy moved straight through me. I didn’t think I’d get used to the Kyle effect.

“I’m not sure I could turn it off if I tried.”

“My advice? Don’t let him think he can push you around, because he will. I speak from experience.”

She was right. I let him get away with too much bad behavior in order to keep him off my back and as far away from the store as possible. “Right. But what if I’ve already done that?”

“Doesn’t matter. You make the change starting now.” The determination in her eyes was admirable. She and Devyn would surely get along. “Anyway.”

“No. I appreciate the words of wisdom. Thank you.”

“I hope I didn’t overstep, but I saw the way your whole demeanor shifted.”

She’d noticed? Not a lot of people knew my tells, those little details unique to me. “You didn’t overstep.”

She straightened. “Good. Well…let me know how it goes.”

“That’s it?” It sounded like the conversation was over, but to me, there was so much more I longed to say. I wanted to tell her how good she looked and how much I appreciated all the little things she’d done for me since coming to town. How I still remembered how much it had broken my heart to be stood up on that bridge, but I was healing because I understoodwhyshe’d done it. I wanted. I wanted. I wanted.

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