Page 45 of Wrecked By You
“Hey,” I ventured.
She glanced up. “Oh, there you are. Good. We have a lot to do before we open this evening. I made a list, but I’d appreciate you looking over it and making sure there aren’t any glaring errors.”
She thrust the list at me, then drew another one that looked identical to mine toward her.
“Items three, twelve, and fifteen are all you. I’ll take most of the others, such as making sure the VIP area is up to your standards, liaising with Stan, and checking the restrooms.”
“You didn’t have to do all this.”
She wrinkled her nose. “Yes, I did. It’s my job. This award is important to you, yes?”
“Well, yes, but—”
“Then it’s important to me. Now shoo. We have a lot to do and only a few hours to do it in. Ginny is taking care of Chloe, so I’m here for the long haul.”
She returned her attention to the list, jotting notes in the margin. I stood there, dumbfounded. I’d spent a week avoiding her, worried what she’d say about the kiss, whether she’d expect more, or less, or, oh, I don’t know, whether it’d be awkward between us.
I’d planned my responses in meticulous detail, all of them steeped in avoidance. But all that went out the window in the face of her reaction.
“Um, about last Friday.”
She paused, then put down the pen and leaned back in the chair. My chair. Funnily enough, her usurping my private space didn’t upset me at all.
“I wasn’t going to bring it up until after tonight, but since you have...” She tapped a fingertip against her lips. “You do know that in my religion, a kiss is as good as a proposal? My parents will want to know when the wedding is so they can plan accordingly. What shall I tell them?”
My heart almost stopped beating. Panic spread through me faster than a Californian wildfire. My jaw unhinged, flapping about as if the bones had been surgically removed.
And speech proved impossible.
This was a joke, right? It had to be.
“Johannes, are you all right? You’ve gone awfully pale.”
“I-I...”
Ella burst out laughing. “Oh my God, this is priceless. If I’d known that would be your reaction, I’d have recorded it.”
Realizing I’d been had, my mood raced from outraged to impressed in less than a second.The little wench.
“I will find a way to pay you back.”
She laughed louder. “I should have kept it going a while longer. Really gotten my money’s worth.”
“You’re fired.”
“You won’t fire me. I run your life, or the business side of it at least.”
True. She did. She’d taken so much work off my plate and improved a ton of processes in all my clubs, not just this one, that I’d often wondered in the last couple of weeks how I’d managed without her. Not that I planned to share my thoughts on the matter.
Especially now.
“Watch your back. Retribution will be swift and when you least expect it.”
“Bring it. I can handle you.”
I snorted, and she giggled again. God, that laugh, that giggle, that chuckle. I was addicted to all of them.
Careful. Watch yourself.