Not Quite Over You
Page 59

She sighed. No, it had always been a part of her. The difference was now she was willing to acknowledge it.
“You have some very small amount of expertise,” she told him. “I plan to exploit that for my own gain.”
“That’s my girl.”
“Let me know when you have time to do interviews,” she said. “We’ll get in some candidates. In the meantime, I’ll work up the budget with us bringing on two more employees.” She sliced some cheese and put it on her plate.
“We have to talk about the retail space,” she told him. “I ran numbers again and they’re exactly what we expected. We can make a nice profit from the parties, only...”
“Not your thing?” he asked.
“How did you know?”
“The first party would have been off-putting to anyone. You never expressed any interest in expanding the services offered, only in offering the same services to more people. There’s a difference. You like what you do and you want to do that. Hosting bachelorette parties and rehearsal dinners isn’t a natural expansion.”
She appreciated that she didn’t have to explain herself. “But we spent all that money. The whole space is refurbished. We bought stripper poles.”
“Hey, it’s okay. Not every expansion works out exactly as expected. Better to cut our losses and move on. Can you sublet the space?”
She nodded. “I checked my lease already and it’s perfectly fine. With rents going up in town, we should about break even.”
“Sounds like you have your answer.”
“You sure you’re okay with the decision?”
“Absolutely.” He held out his wineglass. “All right, partner. Problems solved?”
“They are.”
He was so easy to be with. So easy to love. Funny how long it had taken her to see that.
“Admit it,” she teased. “Buying into my business was the best decision ever. The hardware store isn’t going to be nearly as exciting.”
Something flashed in his eyes, but before she could figure out what he was thinking, the emotion was gone. He smiled.
“You’re right about the hardware store, but I’m starting to think I could really get into the dry cleaning business. There’s just something about all those clean clothes.”
“Now you’re scaring me.”
“Really?”
She laughed. “No. Not really.”
Although knowing he had possession of her heart was its own kind of terrifying.
* * *
“FANCY,” NATALIE SAID as she walked into Silver’s retail space Tuesday at noon. “I like the stripper poles. I’m not sure I could dance around one, but I like them.”
Silver was hosting the girlfriend lunch at her place. She’d pulled the sofas into a loose circle. She’d set up a taco bar along one wall and had flavored herbal iced tea in one of her drink dispensers.
The rest of her friends arrived. Bethany handed out the Bride’s Posse T-shirts, then everyone went to fill their plates for lunch. When they were seated on the sofas, Pallas leaned back in her seat and sighed.
“No offense, Bethany, but this is the last royal party I’m throwing for you. Do you know your father texts me every single day? He does. I get royal texts. The man adores you and wants everything to be perfect. It’s sweet but so annoying.”
Bethany wrinkled her nose. “That’s my dad.”
“Pallas is exaggerating,” Renee told her. “I think it’s wonderfully challenging. As for the next party, don’t worry about it. By then Pallas will be busy with her new baby and I’ll handle it all.”
Silver looked at Bethany. “What next party?”
“I have no idea.”
Carol smiled. “She means a baby shower.”
Bethany held up both hands. “No and no. I mean, sure, I want kids, but not for a couple of years. I want to enjoy being married to Cade first.”
“Me, too,” Natalie said. “Only Ronan, not Cade. I’m not like you two.” She pointed at Carol and Pallas. “No babies for moi until at least our second anniversary. Now that I’ve found Ronan, I want a little just-us-two time before we start our family.”
“The Mitchell men appear to be very fertile,” Silver murmured. “Make sure you’re on really good birth control.”
Everyone laughed. Well, everyone but Wynn, who only smiled. Silver glanced at her.
“You okay?”
“I’m fine. I agree. Birth control is important. You want to control when you get pregnant.”
Pallas’s eyes widened. “OMG, are you telling us you’re pregnant? Does Jasper know?”
Wynn practically choked. “No. No! I’m not pregnant. Trust me, I’m not pregnant. In fact...” She looked at them, then back at her plate. “You’re going to find out anyway, so I might as well tell you. Jasper and I broke up.”
“What? No.”
“What happened?”
“Are you okay?”
“Was he stupid? Sometimes men are stupid.”
Wynn held up her hand to stop the barrage of questions. “It’s no big deal. Our relationship was always casual. I only had one rule and that was for him not to get involved with Hunter. I found out he and Hunter were hanging out behind my back. He lied to me about the thing I told him was most important, so now I can’t trust him and it’s over.”
“Just like that?” Natalie asked.
“It was my only stipulation. He couldn’t respect my opinion, so yes, it’s done.”
Silver knew Wynn had her reasons, but breaking up with Jasper like that sounded a little arbitrary. “Was he mean to Hunter?”
“No, nothing like that. I’m sure if you ask him, he’ll tell you he was just stepping in to be a substitute father.” Something flickered in her eyes. “It doesn’t matter. I wouldn’t have said anything except you all knew we were seeing each other. I figured I’d just tell you and be done with it.”
Carol looked at her. “I can’t figure out if you’re upset or not.”
“I’m not. I knew it wasn’t going to last. I never wanted anything permanent. I don’t miss him. He was just a short-term fling.”
“He can short-term fling me anytime he wants,” Renee said. As soon as the words were out, she flushed. “I’m sorry. I only meant to think that.”
After a second of silence, everyone laughed. Wynn reached over and patted her hand.
“You go for it. I won’t mind at all.”
Renee shook her head. “I’m not exactly the go-for-it type, but he is handsome and sexy.” She flushed again. “Not that I’ve really noticed.”
“Of course not,” Pallas said. “I have to say, Renee, the more I get to know you, the more I like you.”
“Thanks. I feel the same way about all of you.”
Bethany grinned. “I’m liking this lunch. We’re getting some really juicy bombshells. Wynn dumped Jasper. Renee has a crush on Jasper.”
“It’s not a crush,” Renee protested. “It’s whatever is less than that. A mild interest.”
“He’s free now,” Natalie teased.
“We’ve already discussed my inability to quote unquote ‘go for it.’ Can we please change the subject?”
“I think Millie and Dave had sex,” Carol said.