Page 25 of Coerced

If I didn’t have my own animals to be worried about, I might have allowed Sasha to be the catalyst for me staying. After having these few minutes with Aria, it was safe to say I was enjoying her company a little too much and would have been happy with more.

“As much as I’d like to do what I can to stay in her good graces, I’ll never hear the end of it from my gang if I don’t go back home and spend some time with them tonight,” I shared.

Aria nodded. “I understand completely. I’m just nervous about how I’m going to handle this one after you leave.”

“Ah, she’ll be alright. I’ll come back to visit her soon.”

“We’d love that,” Aria said, her eyes brightening. “Now that we’re new in town, we’re looking to make some friends.”

“Well, you’ve already got one,” I assured her, puffing upmy chest proudly. “And I think that with your new jobs, it’s only a matter of time before you add more to the list.”

She smiled shyly as she tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear. “I’m glad you were the first friend we made here.”

Aria had shown the first sign of nervousness around me, and while I didn’t think she had a thing to be anxious about, I found her reaction endearing. She was nothing like my former neighbor. Smiling back at her, I didn’t hesitate to share precisely how I felt. “Yeah. Me, too.”

With that, I stood and set Sasha back down on the ground. Aria led me to her front door, and once we were there, her eyes flickered with gratitude. “Thank you for stopping over tonight, Paxton. I really appreciate it.”

Yep.

Nothing at all like my former neighbor.

My lips twitched. “You’re welcome. It was nice talking with you.”

She reached past me to open the door, and as she leaned in, her feminine scent hit my nose. It was a faint floral fragrance that was just enough to make me want to lean in closer for more. By some miracle, I held myself back.

Aria yanked the door open, looked up at me, and smiled. My eyes slid to her dimple just as she said, “Have a good night.”

I jerked my chin down slowly as I returned my eyes to hers. “Goodnight, Aria.”

The next thing I knew, I was heading back over to my house. And I found that despite being occupied with the needs of my animals and making my own dinner, I wasn’t so distracted that my thoughts didn’t drift once or twice to my new neighbor.

SEVEN

Aria

“So, what did you think of your first day? You aren’t ready to quit, are you?”

I stared into the eyes of my new boss, feeling nothing but disbelief. I’d only spent a few hours with her today, so it was still too early to tell if Mallory was a prankster by nature, but I had to believe she was joking with her questions.

“Are you serious? I have no intention of quitting,” I assured her. “I actually enjoyed myself today.”

Mallory sighed. “Oh, I’m so relieved. It was really nice having an extra set of hands during the busiest time. I used to manage okay before, but now that I’m approaching the end of this pregnancy, it’s just not as easy as it used to be. Honestly, I think you had perfect timing when you came in looking for a job yesterday.”

I smiled at her. “It looks like it worked out well for theboth of us. I’m looking forward to working here for the foreseeable future, or until you’re ready to let me go.”

“I don’t think that’s going to happen anytime soon,” she confessed. “The truth is that I’ll likely want to cut back on my hours a bit once the baby arrives and for at least the first year.”

Nodding, I returned, “I think that’s reasonable. Here’s hoping it continues to all work out. I really enjoyed myself today, and I’m excited to come in tomorrow to see how the morning shift is.”

Mallory had me come in this morning after she had already opened. She figured it was best to throw me right into the fire and have me work with her through the busiest time of the day—lunch. I enjoyed the fast-paced environment, a bit of nostalgia creeping in. It reminded me of the times at my family’s store before things spiraled downward.

Now that I’d successfully gotten through that shift and still wanted to work at Grant’s Deli, Mallory had suggested that I come in earlier tomorrow morning, so I could see how things went first thing in the morning before the deli was even open for business.

“Best of all, I’ll finally be able to introduce you to Magnolia. She’s not here all the time, but she does come in a couple of times a week as her schedule permits,” Mallory shared.

“I’ll look forward to meeting her. Did you need me to do anything else before I leave?” I asked.

She shook her head. “Nope. I’m all good now. I just have a few last-minute things to take care of, and I’ll be heading out, too.”