Page 39 of Healing Hearts
Looking back at the bookings from January to the end of March, Bruce’s schedule was packed. Looking ahead to May, mine is a lot less so. There are substantial gaps, and while Bruce tried to reassure me that many of those will get eaten up with oil changes people suddenly realize they need, brakes that give up, car accidents, electrical problems, and so forth, it’s hard to see so much empty space.
I don’t want to lay anyone off, but I also know that running this business into the ground isn’t just a problem for me. Emily’s put her faith and her cash behind me, and knowing the money came from her dad’s life insurance policy only doubles the pressure. To me, that money would be sacred, and so I’m treating it like it is for her too.
At seven o’clock, I’m still hunting and pecking on the keyboard of the laptop when there’s a knock on the frame of the office door. I look up to see Emily, and I grimace.
“Everything okay?” I ask, trying to find my place again and typing the next line.
“Amir’s at jiu jitsu, so I thought I’d stop by to see how things are going. I know Bruce is done at the end of next week, and you seemed a bit stressed.”
“It’s just what I already told you,” I say, moving the ruler down to another line on the ledger. “Everything’s on paper, and I’ve decided I’m getting it into a computer. It just doesn’t make sense to do it all by hand when there are programs that can calculate these things—payroll, taxes, all that.”
“How much are you digitizing?” she asks, coming to my shoulder to peer at the laptop.
“As much as I can.”
“Trent, that’s going to take you forever. Why don’t you hire someone?”
“Can’t,” I say. “Until I know I’m going to have the customers to keep this place ticking along, I need to conserve money, not spend it.”
“That’s very responsible,” she says, and when I glance at her over my shoulder, I see the glint of teasing in her eyes.
“Happens once in a while,” I say, grudgingly.
“You know,” Em says, perching on the edge of my desk.
Her skirt rides up her thighs, giving me all kinds of ideas. The turn in the weather from winter to spring has meant more skirts and dresses for Em, and it’s been hell on my concentration. When I drag my eyes up to hers, I realize I missed whatever she said after she sat down.
“Sorry,” I say, “I missed that.”
“I said,” she says with a bit of a laugh, “that I could probably talk my mom, your mom, and Maggie into helping me get this all digitized for you in a weekend.”
“You’re really busy right now with real estate, and Maggie is always busy at the pharmacy. I couldn’t ask that.” I go back to hunting and pecking the keys.
“You’re not asking.” She rotates off the desk to wrap her arms around my neck, resting her chin on my shoulder.
The scent of peaches drifts across my senses, and my body springs to attention. Ever since we spent those sixteen hours getting to know each other on a super intimate level, I haven’t been able to be around Emily in exactly the same way. I pretend like it’s fine, and I don’t think Em has realized that it’s notquitefine.
Now that I know how she tastes, what she sounds like when she comes apart around me, I’m a bit fucked. My concentration around her is shot.
If I thought I fantasized about her a lot before, that was amateur hour compared to how detailed and frequent those fantasies are now. Nonstop Emily porn plays in my headwhenever she enters a room or I catch a hint of either lemon or peach scents. The lemon is particularly cruel since it’s such a common disinfectant. Even taking care of myself in the shower every single morning and evening isn’t making it better.
“I don’t even know what we’re talking about right now,” I say, pecking away at the keys.
“You know what we’re talking about,” she says, a hint of exasperation in her tone as she moves away from me.
My head clears a little, and I stare at her across the desk. Something about doing the digitization work for me.
“It’s a ‘no’ from me,” I say with a shrug.
“Maybe I’ll just organize the team and do it as a surprise.”
“Em,” I say, a hint of warning in my tone.
“Okay, fine. Look, you’ve been a bit grumpy the last week or so, and I just want to help.”
God, thewaysshe could help. I close my eyes and try to keep all those thoughts from forming at the front of my mind. She wants to help with the business, not my intense sexual frustration.
“Fine,” I say with a deep sigh. “My mom and your mom are fine, but leave Maggie out of it.”
