Page 134 of The Baby Bargain
I nodsure. It's close but not too close. It has that same vaguely romantic, vaguely fourteen-year-old emo kid vibe. "I like souls better."
"Maybe for the third shop."
I can't help but laugh.
He nodsI know, it's ridiculous. "Forest and Holden do good work."
"They're good guys."
"Friends of yours."
It's not a question, but I answer anyway. "Yeah."
"Would you rather work with them?" His eyes bore into me.
"Than?"
He raises a browreally, do I have to spell it out?
I guess it's obvious how I feel. I make a point of requesting any shift my brother isn't working. "I'm comfortable here."
"There's no chance you're managing here."
It's a big opportunity. "I appreciate the candor."
He nodsof course. "I hear you have a reputation for issuing orders." He chuckles. "Doesn't help with an actual office."
He would know. The guys here never tire of teasing Brendon about his taste for handcuffs.
His girlfriend is the sweetest thing too. A curvy blonde with blue glasses and innocent green eyes. Ten years his junior. Constantly attached to a book. Madly in love with Disney movies.
I didn't know him that well in high school. He was friends with Hunter, not me. I have to assume he heard Hunter's side of things.
Which is fine. I'm not here to make friends or win people over. I'm here to work. And Brendon is a professional enough guy. Maybe he thinks I'm a bitter asshole, but he doesn't hold it against me.
He's…
Not the same, exactly. But he's also a serious guy who knows family isn't easy.
"Hunter's a good friend. But you are too," Brendon says.
"What?"
He chuckles. "Yeah, we haven't done karaoke together—"
"Is that an invitation?"
"If we buy the shop, yeah. We're gonna celebrate. You ever meet Wes and Dean?"
"It's terrifying when they're together."
He shakes his headnah. "They get so caught up in one-upping each other, they forget to terrorize the rest of us."
That might be true.
"There are a lot of ways this can go, Chase. But, no matter what, Inked Hearts isn't going to be far."
Okay…
