Page 36 of Return to Us
Her face crinkles. “No. I just likehimin sports. There’s something about butts in a baseball uniform.” She pushes off the ledge. “Anyway, your office is back here, I’ll show you and get you set up. I know this is a lot to take in, so I’d like for you to take this week to adjust and acclimate with the staff and the inn. Then we’ll work on numbers and stuff once we increase your hours next week.”
“Okay.”
“How is your head?” A deep voice breaks into the conversation, causing both our heads to jerk to the side.
“Grayson? What the hell are you doing here?” Stella asks.
“I work here.”
“It’s your day off,” she says with her head cocked to the side.
His eyes narrow slightly. “Tomorrow is.”
“No, I’m like, one hundred percent sure it’s today since you’ve been off every Sunday and Monday since we started working together.”
“I didn’t realize it was Monday,” he says, giving his sister a pointed look.
She crosses her arms and raises one brow. “Really? How funny.”
Grayson’s attention turns to me. “How is your head?”
“It’s fine.”
“No headaches?”
It’s my turn to be irritated. “I’m great, but thank you for being concerned,boss.”
I can see that calling him that bothers him. “I’m just making sure.”
Stella takes a step toward him. “Why are you here?”
“I needed to check on the cottage, so I dropped Melia off at Mom’s for a few hours. I figured I’d check to see how everything else was going.”
“Right. Well, that was very nice of you—unnecessary, but nice.”
Grayson’s eyes meet mine, and my pulse accelerates. Why? Why do I feel this way when he looks at me? We’re nothing anymore, and I am not staying. The minute that I can travel, drive, move around, I’m out of here. I don’t want my stupid heart getting tied up with his again. It’s not good for either of us.
Stella’s hand taps my forearm. “Come on, we can go see a few of the rooms, each is a different theme now. A lot has changed since we were kids.”
I push down the feelings regarding Grayson and think about work. I’m here for a job, one that has given me a sense of purpose and I want to keep.
We move past him, and his fingers graze mine. The moment, which is so small and seemingly insignificant, somehow isn’t. It’s as though my heart knows that this man is what I need and there is no going back. My throat is dry, and I feel unbalanced. It was just a split second, but felt like a lifetime passed between us.
As we exit the room, I turn back to him, and as he flexes his hand, I wonder, what the hell am I going to do about this?
* * *
Dr. Warvel is extra observant today. Not that she normally isn’t, but there’s something unnerving about the way she’s watching me. It’s as if she can see things that I don’t want her to see, and I don’t like it.
“And how is it working with Grayson since it’s been about three days now?”
“It’s fine. I said that it wasn’t a big deal when I took the job.”
Her head bobs. “I know that, but it’s a completely different thing when it actually happens.”
“I only saw him that first day.”
“He isn’t working?”
