Page 7 of The Woman in the Hollow
“Excuse me?”
“This place would probably fall apart without her. Dunno how the fuck we got through the summer season without her.”
“The farmhands,” I said.
“Yeah, them. But we need her. So don’t fuck her.”
“I wasn’t planning on it. But I did give her a promotion. She’s still under you but has more power.”
“Yeah, man. Whatever she wants to take on, I’m game. You know this ain’t my thing. I’m just here until I’m off parole.”
“Yeah, I get it. I’d be happy to know there is someone here who can take your place when that day comes.”
“Which is why…”
“I can’t fuck her,” I filled in.
Dom slapped me hard on the back of the shoulder. If I were any less fit, I’d have stumbled forward from the impact.
“Now you’re getting it.”
Yeah, well, one part of me hadn’t exactly gotten the message. But I would just have to learn to deal with that.
CHAPTER THREE
Hazel
Okay.
So.
My boss was hot.
That was a somewhat unexpected reality.
I mean, Domenico was handsome in a very rough-around-the-edges kind of way. I was glad I got to know him as my manager because otherwise, he was the kind of man I would make sure I didn’t make eye contact with on the street.
But just because one cousin was attractive didn’t mean the other was.
Dante Grassi, though, he was stunningly gorgeous. In the ‘just my type’ kind of way.
He was six-foot-something. It was hard, being as short as I was, to pin down anyone’s height over six feet. But he was definitely up there. He was also filling out that suit of his in a way that said he spent a fair amount of time in the gym. I couldn’t stop my mind from wandering, imagining my hands undoing his buttons and sliding his shirt and jacket off to expose the breadth of his shoulders, the strength of his chest, the dips of his abdominal muscles, and the deep cuts of his Adonis belt.
I shook that thought away as I finished shoving straw into one of the mini scarecrows that one of the kids had abandoned to dramatically throw himself backward into the pile of straw like he was going to do snow angels. I didn’t want any kids crying on the bus because they didn’t have something all the other kids had. Or, just as bad, have parents angry that their child didn’t come home with something they’d paid for.
That was exactly the kind of thing I needed to be focused on. All the teeny tiny aspects that really made an event memorable. The crafts, the activities, the snacks, making sure no one felt left out or behind. I wanted everyone to be singing the praises of DG Greens. Because I would know that who they really were praising was me. Dante Grassi would know that as well. Because it didn’t matter how much vision you had if you didn’t have someone around capable of turning it into reality.
That was what I had to be thinking of. Not how sexy my boss was. My worth. To prove to Dante that I deserved the raise he’d given me. Maybe, if reviews and buzz were strong enough, I could even secure a bigger promotion by the end of the year.
Lord knows I could use the money. I’d been saving for a move to the North for years in hopes of experiencing all four seasons. I simply hadn’t considered how expensive everything here would be. Rent was out of control, and my place wasn’t even anything to write home about.
Extra money would loosen things up a bit. Maybe I’d have something left over after bills to allow me to experience all the amazing restaurants around. Or either of the fancy independent coffee shops in town. So far, all I’d allowed myself to splurge on was the famous Jersey pizza and bagels. And I had to admit, I was ruined for those two things. If I ever moved back to Florida, I would miss them like a limb.
I was craving a slice as morning shifted toward afternoon. Our first bus of kids disappeared and was almost immediatelyreplaced by another, so there was no time to order, let alone eat, pizza.
Then, of course, it was time to get everything ready for the after-school crowd. And afterthatthe place was transformed into a creepy delight for older kids, teens, and adults alike.
I mean, the screams that came from the spooky hayride through the haunted woods made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.
