Page 31 of Connor

“Makes sense. Your office is all set up for you. I assume you’ll want to hit the ground running today?” I ask her, wondering what her plan of attack is.

“I have deliveries arriving, then some phone interviews to do, and I want to pull together a treatment menu by the end of the day for your approval.”

I look at her, wide-eyed, and grin. She’s organized and committed. I like that. Her work ethic is pretty strong, and I can see the determination in her gaze. My sight drops a little to her chest for a second too long, before meeting her eyes again. It’s almost like her breasts are teasing me. The cute daisy chain necklace I notice she wears is dipping into her cleavage, playing a game of peek-a-boo as her chest rises and then quickly falls. A rush of heat travels through my body, and I move my t-shirt and tuck it into the front of my waistband to hide my growing infatuation with this woman.

“Sounds like a full day. I better get going so I can make a start myself. I’ve got a conference call with my lawyer, Sawyer, first up.” I take a few steps in the direction of my place, needing to get my head out of my ass and get to work. I have a full day of meetings and conference calls. The work never stops.

“You have a lawyer named Sawyer?” she asks, laughing, and I grin as I walk backward, my eyes not ready to leave the sight of her just yet.

“Yeah. He’s from New York,” I tell her, by way of explanation.

“Sounds about right.” She shakes her head. “See you at work.”

“See you later,” I say before turning and jogging up to my place, opening my front door, and pushing myself inside. I pace straight to the kitchen and tell myself it’s to organize my morning coffee, and not because it has the window that looks over the back of the property, where I can torture myself with her downward dog one more time before I take a long, cold shower.

I need to stay away from this woman, because if I don’t, there’s no way I’ll be able to keep my hands to myself.

* * *

I endthe call with Sawyer, a little more frazzled than I’d like. It’s been a big week, our expansion plans are going well, Daisy is now in place, and if I can just get a few other things sorted, then that would be a relief.

Walking out of my office, in search of caffeine, I spot Victoria in the restaurant doing the same.

As I get closer, I can tell she’s disheveled, and I wonder if she’s feeling alright.

“What’s up? You okay?” I ask, meeting her at the coffee machine and pressing a few buttons as she takes a sip of her cup and sighs.

“I had a sound healing treatment this morning with Daisy, and I fell asleep,” she says, and I grin.

“See, I’m not the only one,” I quip, happy that Victoria now clearly approves of Daisy just as much as I do.

“Now I need coffee, lots of coffee.” She takes another healthy sip, making me chuckle.

“So you enjoyed it?” I ask, stirring in a bit of sugar and cream, interested to hear her take on it all.

“It was amazing. Like she picked up on my trauma, my nightmares. Hell, if this gets me to sleep better every night, I think I might marry her instead of your father.” She giggles, and I grin like a fool. I look at the large rock on her finger that my dad put there not too long ago. I never thought my dad would find his person. He was single for so long, for a variety of reasons. A trait I seemed to have picked up from him.

I think about that for a beat as I stir my coffee and take a sip. I’ve never really felt lonely before, always busy with work, jetting to the city and back often, and not lacking female attention. But I see what Dad has and how happy he is and have started thinking that it wouldn’t be that bad to have a partner in my life.

“I’m getting your dad to have a treatment with her tomorrow,” Victoria says, and I spit out coffee.

“Yeah, that’s what he did when I told him just now.”

I grab a napkin and clean up my spill, head shaking.

“I need photos or it didn’t happen,” I tell her, laughing, because my father on a spa bed with sound healing bowls on him is a sight I need to see. Although I already know Daisy won’t agree to any photos. I can tell she has strong ethics and morals. There’s no way she’ll want any client photographed, especially during a treatment. I think back to her wanting me to put my clothes back on the first time I met her and the way she thoroughly studied my form for medications and injuries before we began. She’s thorough and doesn’t want to misdiagnose or incorrectly treat.

“She made me a sleepy tea, something herbal to take before bed. Did you know she was an herbalist as well?” Victoria asks, clearly impressed.

“Had no idea…” I murmur, but I think back to the tea her mom made me, and even though it was bitter on the tongue, I felt on cloud nine all day after that.

“Anyway. I’m taking her into town tomorrow to get her some more supplies and introduce her to some people.”

I roll my eyes good-naturedly. “Who, your best friend Bob?” I tease. Since remodeling Marie’s place, Victoria is always in the hardware store, talking to Bob, and he loves it. It’s the most attention that old guy has had in all his decades here in Whispers.

“What? Jealous? Scared Daisy might meet someone else who has better taste in music?” She eyes me accusingly, and I run my hand down my beard.

“Daisy is our consultant,” I tell her like she doesn’t know.

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