Page 14 of Never and Always
It made her sick to close her business. Stella, her business manager, was kind enough to wind it down for her, and made arrangements to sell what could be sold to gather the funds to pay the staff and other trade accounts she had. She also liaised with the insurance company to get what they could,too.
She’d seen Mia’s distress and thankfully decided to help out. At that point it fell apart, all her hopes, dreams, and aspirations for the future simply faded before her eyes. The loss on capital was too extensive to regain, even with the abundant client base she had. Stella estimated that Alan stole over a hundred thousand just from the business. There was no way that they would have been able to make that all back, and the only reserve money she had was the inheritance, which wastaken.
Closing was the only option because that would also kick start the insurance claim, with business closure being one of the key criteria to start herclaim.
The debts would be covered with the payout, but that would be all. Mia couldn’t bring herself to stay and lock down her shop. It was hard enough to leave her apartment and pack everything she’d set up as herhome.
Stella took care of that, too, and arranged for what she couldn’t take with her to Chicago to go into storage. She’d encouraged Mia to go and be with Glenn, for thesupport.
It seemed like the best idea at the time because that was the very thing sheneeded.
She wondered if Glenn would ever forgive her for this. Would he hold it against herforever?
Nothing like this had ever happened and he’d never acted so…bizarre with her. Sure, she’d be the first to agree and accept that in the past she’d done all sorts of things that would make anyone crazy and think that she didn’t have a clue as to what she was doing. But this incident was different. Alan had worked his way into her life so he could steal from her and destroy all that she’d builtup.
That was different to anything they’d ever encountered where he had to help her out. And those instances where he’d stepped in all came from her parents forcing her to go to college. That had been a disaster. And he made it sound like she slept around with anyone who showed herattention.
That had been a horrible thing to say to her. She didn’t do that, and had never donethat.
Her massive breasts attracted a lot of male attention, but that didn’t mean she encouraged anything further than a fewstares.
He knew that she’d had a few bad relationships, but it didn’t give him the right to say that to her. And saying it in front of Nick made itworse.
She continued to look through the window and caught sight of the one thing that could take her mind off ofanything.
Nick.
He just walked out of the front door wearing a low-slung pair of Levi’s that drew her eyes to his long, muscular legs and the firmness of hisbehind.
His Range Rover was parked in the driveway. He walked over to the garage and took out the long gardenhose.
She then watched him hook it up to the spigot and turn it on. When he shrugged out of his t-shirt and revealed ripples of fantasy muscles, she had to stop herself fromdrooling.
This window and view had been great for this very thing when she was younger. Nick spotting. Back then, though, she’d watch him coming up the drive with Glenn or washing Glenn’scar.
Just like then, she couldn’t stop herself from staring. That spikey hair glistened in the sun as the rays picked up the lighter parts and made them look almost likehighlights.
She ran her eyes over the tattoos on his body and thought back to lastnight.
God, she still couldn’t believe that she told him she had her nipples pierced. But she’d definitely do it again to see that spark of something in his eyes that resembleddesire.
Just for a few minutes she pushed aside her worries and gave in to the attraction she felt for him. It reminded her that she was a woman. One who would have loved to run her hands over the gorgeous man below her and indulge inhim.
It was crazy, and the thoughts were ones she knew she shouldn’t behaving.
But it helped, all the same. If only for a littlewhile.
She got the feeling she should take the time for the break, because today, like yesterday, held any number of outcomes, which could all be bad forher.
* * *
Nick watchedGlenn with keeneyes.
He was sitting on the large sofa in the living room mindlessly flicking from one channel to the next. He’d been doing that for the last hour. Prior to that he’d buried himself in work, going through various files of past cases that were done anddusted.
Glenn had come back in the early hours of the morning. The sound had woken Nickup.
He’d gone to see him but Glenn didn’t want to talk. He looked exhausted, like he’d been up all night and drainedout.
