Page 52 of Sassy Embrace
“Aren’t you on vacation next week?” Tonya yelled through the receiver through fits of laughter. “No way are you coming in for that. I can handle inventory. Go! Shoo!”
Leigh laughed as well, feeling her cheeks heat. “All right, then I’ll see you the following Monday for inventory. And don’t roll your eyes at me.”
“Guilty! Have a good night, Leigh,” Tonya said before hanging up.
Leigh leaned against her seat with a contented sigh. The Naked Wolfe was ready for the weekend –sans pineapple juice– and she didn’t need to so much as lift a finger to make it happen.
The Sassy Wolfe had someone call out sick, but another staff member looking for extra hours was more than happy to fill in. Finally, at the Horny Wolfe, a smoke alarm had low batteries and it took a whole ten minutes before someone remembered where the extras were stored.
Oh, the drama of small business ownership.
“You see what happens when you rely on your staff?” Claude asked as they pulled into their parking spot outside Embraced.
“You mean the staff I worked tirelessly to recruit, hire, and train myself?” Leigh asked innocently.
Claude shook his head. “You know what I mean.”
“It means I can spend some of my time at Naked, Sassy, and Horny Wolfe so I can spend more of my time managing operations at Embraced.” Which was what they were there to do at that very moment. She unbuckled her seat belt and stepped out of Claude’s car with a stretch.
“It means you can spend time relaxing on vacation next week without worrying the buildings are going to all burn down from a frayed blender wire.” Claude got out and stepped up to Leigh, smiling down at her.
She put her arms over his shoulders and smiled back. “Well, that’s not something I was worrying about before. But now that you mention it, the blender at Sassy Wolfeispretty old…”
Claude reached behind Leigh and grabbed her ass, pulling up until she was on her toes and almost reaching his eye level. He bent down and kissed her, slowly at first. They languished in the gentle affection for a moment. But then Leigh parted her lips, letting his tongue slide in, and things started to heat up faster than intended.
“Later,” she said, pulling away and giving him a shit-eating grin. “We have work to do.”
Claude didn’t whine, that was unbecoming of a vampire of his station, but Leigh could almost make out the mental one surely running through his mind.
She tapped his nose with her finger and turned to the club, jumping when she felt his hand whack her on the ass again. If he kept this up, she’d be in for a very long –and enjoyable– night.
They walked into Embraced, and Leigh greeted the interior with joy. It’d been hard at first; even after the clean-up crew worked their magic, the sight of the place had driven her into a panic-fueled state. For weeks, the place still smelled like death to her.
But she’d gritted her teeth through it and worked hard on the second restoration right alongside Claude. And together, they’d returned Embraced to a place of unity and fun.
Caleb and Ellie were already there, seated with a bottle of red wine and waving at them. Leigh sat with them while Claude checked in on the staff.
“Here,” Ellie said, pouring a glass for Leigh. “You deserve it after everything.”
“Guys, I’m technically working right now.”
Ellie quirked an eyebrow, giving her a look of gentle disbelief.
“Okay, fine, one glass.” Leigh accepted it and took a sip, marveling at how warm and relaxed it made her feel.
“What’s this? Slacking off on the job?” Nate asked as he and Karla sat at the table. Karla gave her a big hug, gripping her tightly. “I’m so happy to see you.”
Everyone, especially the Wolfe women, had treated her with a hint of levity since the incident which felt so long ago. Leigh hated being doted on and hovered over, but she knew the feeling came from a place of compassion. And she had to admit, were it any of them who’d undergone what she went through, she’d probably be treating them exactly the same.
“Over here!” Karla called out, waving her hand in the air. Caleb grabbed a few more empty chairs for their table as Jordan and Aric made their way over, followed quickly by Bea and Mike.
“Okay, wow, are Tristan and Barbara coming too?” Claude asked, coming up behind Leigh and squeezing her shoulders. She leaned her head back and smiled up at him, the wine starting to flood her cheeks a rosy pink.
He leaned down and gave her a kiss, slightly more chaste than the one they’d shared outside.
“They’re on babysitting duty tonight,” Karla explained.
Leigh cringed, thinking of having to handle all of those small children at the same time. She loved them all, of course, but they could be a handful on their own. For Barbara and Tristan’s sake, she hoped they’d all had busy days and were sleeping soundly.