Page 8 of Forbidden Kisses
Abby nodded thoughtfully. “Good point. Fine. We can stay awhile longer, but I’m going to need another drink.”
Grace smiled back. “Me, too.”
Chapter 3
The next morning, Jack got two coffees to go from the Blushing Bay Café and pulled into the parking lot of Sawyer Seafood Company at five minutes to eight. Grace’s car was already parked in the lot. She sat inside, head back against the headrest, eyes closed. He took her in for a moment. Not much had changed since their teenage years. She still had long thick brown locks with golden strands weaving through. She still had smooth, touchable olive skin. His gaze lowered. Some things had definitely changed, though. Grace had filled out. She had curves now that she hadn’t had when she’d lived with his family.
Grace’s eyes opened and Jack’s gaze snapped up. He opened his truck door and headed over.
Grace pushed her car door open, too. “Good morning.”
Jack held out a cup of coffee to her as a sort of peace offering—not that he or his family had anything to apologize for. It was Tammy Donner who’d sold off his mother’s possessions one by one, ending with theBeatrice,the Sawyer family boat named after his late mother.
Grace took the coffee anyway. “Thank you. You didn’t have to do that.”
“If you have to listen to me talk for the next hour or so, I figure you’ll need your caffeine.”
She smiled at him. She still had a beautiful smile, too, he decided. “All right, let’s go in and get you oriented.” He led the way up a short row of steps into the building. His dad and brothers were out on the water this morning, which was good. He still hadn’t gotten to talk to them about hiring Grace. They’d no doubt have their reservations, but he’d offered Grace the job and she’d accepted. The Sawyer family had made a good business out of keeping their word and Jack didn’t intend to go back on his offer to Grace.
“This’ll be your desk,” he said, crossing the room and getting straight to business. “Computer, printer, phone. All the basics are at your disposal. Aunt Mira was old-fashioned. I can guarantee that nothing has changed since the summer you worked here as a teenager, although things probably need to. I’ve been voting for a fax machine for years. Mira insisted on still sending out hard copies of the receipts by snail mail.”
“I love Aunt Mira.” Grace’s gaze jumped up. “I mean, I loveyouraunt Mira.”
Guilt punctured Jack’s chest. He’d never considered all the things that Grace had lost in the divorce. Like having an aunt Mira who talked too much and made homemade fudge year-round.
Jack pulled a chair up to the desk and gestured for Grace to sit down. Once she was seated, he pulled out a calendar and a list of buyers that Grace would need to closely acquaint herself with. “The biggest thing is to make sure the seafood deliveries are scheduled and on time. Restaurants can’t stay open if they don’t have the food. And if they don’t stay open, neither do we.”
Grace leaned over the list. “That’s a lot of clients. You guys have really expanded since—” She stopped herself. “Anyway, I need to make sure that the deliveries make it to the restaurants. Got it.”
“Yeah. And as part of our business, we call the restaurant owners about once a month to make sure they’re satisfied. We check to see if they need to increase, hopefully not decrease, their deliveries.”
“I can do that.” Grace sat stiffly in the chair beside him. He was making her nervous. She definitely had the same effect on him. He remembered when they’d shared the same space effortlessly. A time when they’d sat on the back porch of his family home, talking and laughing like the best of friends. He didn’t expect to get that relationship back with Grace, but if they were going to work together, they couldn’t be anxious all the time.
“Who knows? Maybe you’ll help the company reach new heights,” he said.
This made Grace laugh again, which was exactly what he was going for. He watched her for a second. She was so beautiful when she laughed, the way her chin tipped toward her chest making her hair cascade around her face. She stopped his breath for a moment, held it hostage in his chest.
She noticed he was staring and her smile fell along with her gaze. He remembered they’d done this dance when they were teens, too. Stealing glances when the other wasn’t watching. Repressing the undeniable attraction between them. That appeal was still there, strong as it ever was. Well, they’d just have to accept that it was here to stay and move past it.
“So I’ll stick around for a little bit this morning and show you what needs to be done. Noah usually gets in first. He leaves a lot earlier in the mornings. He’ll assess his catch, the quality and how much he has, take it to get cleaned up at the fish house, and then we’ll schedule the morning deliveries to the local restaurants.”
“Who delivers?” Grace asked.
“We have a few guys with regular routes. The business is a well-oiled machine at this point. We catch, deliver, get paid, and do it all over again the next day.”
Jack hoped to God that he got a chance to talk to Noah before he walked in and found Grace seated behind Aunt Mira’s desk. Noah was the youngest brother and he had less of a hold on his emotions. Sam, his older brother, controlled emotions so well one had to wonder if the man actually had any feelings. If you asked Abby, his ex, she’d probably say he didn’t.
“So what do you want me to do now?” Grace asked.
Jack slid the last month’s orders in front of her. “Look over these. You’ll get an idea of who our customers are and what typically goes out.” His cellphone rang in his pocket. Pulling it out, he noted a friend at the police department’s number. He was probably checking in on the situation with Tristan. Jack was excited to tell him that Tristan would be working to rebuild the kayak launch with him this afternoon. Gesturing outside, he said, “I need to take this. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
Grace nodded. “Okay. I’m fine.”
She might be fine, he thought as he headed outside and answered his phone, but he, on the other hand, might not be. Not if he continued to spend time in a confined room with her. He’d forgotten how deeply Grace affected him, nearly hypnotized him.
—
Grace stood up from her new desk and stretched her arms high above her head. Needing a break, she crossed the room to look out on the water, where many of the Sawyer Seafood Company’s boats rocked gently on the current. Suddenly she felt like spinning around, arms outstretched like a child attempting to hug life. This was an ideal job for her. Or it would be if it wasn’t with the family that hated her mother, and her by association.
