AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I know, girl. I was hoping you would be up and ready to go.” I should have come over sooner, but I spent two hours trying to figure out what to wear. In the end, I didn’t wear anything that special from what I would normally wear at a funeral: black slacks, a white flowy blouse, and my low pumps. I had piled my blond hair on top of my head and secured it with one of those claw things. I looked professional and like I could blend into the background.
“I gotta get dressed and try to look responsible,” Imogen said as she whirled around and ran back into her apartment. “Mace, make coffee,” she ordered. “And I need to find clothes that actually fit me,” she fretted.
The one good thing about Imogen living above the funeral home was that she didn’t have much of a commute, so she could spend the next half an hour worrying about what she was going to wear.
Mace folded his arms over his chest and stared down at me.
“You know, it really sucks that you’re in love with my best friend because all the sexiness you’re exuding right now is lost on me.”
Mace grunted. “And it really sucks you’re stressing out my woman right now when she’s pregnant with my baby.”
I flitted my hand at him. “She’s strong; she can handle it. Now, go put a shirt on.” I turned on my heel, but then turned back to Mace. “On second thought, maybe you should keep your shirt off so you can intimidate Rocco. If he sees a hot biker reigns upstairs, he might tuck his tail and run.”
Mace chuckled low. “I’m putting a shirt on, Dorothy, and you can deal with scaring your boss off on your own.”
I shrugged and headed to the office. “Fine, have it your way, but if you want to invite some of your biker friends over the next couple of days, I won’t argue about it.”
Mace’s low chuckle floated down to me, and then he closed the door.
As I entered the office, a sense of unease settled over me. Rocco’s looming presence and the uncertainty of his arrival hit me like a freight train. But I couldn’t afford to let my fears get the best of me. I had to face him head-on and confront whatever was going to happen.
I mean, Mr. Brooks will did say that Imogen and I would have a job at Brooks Mortuary for as long as we wanted to work there.
I busied myself by making coffee, and the familiar routine provided a small sense of comfort. The rhythmic sounds of the coffee maker pumping out the magic bean juice helped to drown out the nagging voice of doubt in the back of my mind.
“This isn’t going to be so bad,” I muttered, trying to convince myself since I was the only one in the office. “Rocco didn’t seem like a bad guy. He didn’t say for sure that he was here to stay, but if he did, maybe we could work things out,” I reasoned out loud.
But even as I tried to reassure myself, a nagging voice in the back of my mind whispered doubts and fears. What if Rocco wanted to change everything? What if he didn’t like the way we ran things? What if he tried to push Imogen and me out and brought in his own people?
I shook my head, trying to banish the negative thoughts from my mind. I couldn’t afford to dwell on what-ifs. I had to focus on the present and deal with whatever came my way, one step at a time.
As I poured myself a cup of coffee, the sound of the door opening and closing echoed into the office. My heart skipped a beat, and I felt a surge of adrenaline course through my veins.
“Hello?” a deep, rough voice called.
Oh shit, it’s Rocco, and he was early.
I took a deep breath, steeling myself for the confrontation ahead. It was time to put my big girl panties on and face Rocco head-on. I couldn’t hide in the office for the rest of my life. I had to confront him, talk to him, and find out what his plans were for the funeral home.
Or I could run.
No, no.
Or hide in my office.
Also, no.
With shaky hands, I set my coffee down and straightened my shoulders. I could do this. I had to do this. Taking a deep breath, I squared my jaw and stepped out of the office, ready to face the handsome new owner of Brooks Mortuary and Cremation.
Chapter Four
Rocco
I had slept like a baby last night. As soon as my head had hit the pillow, I had been out like a light. That might have had something to do with the fact that I had been slightly nervous leading up to meeting Dorothy and Imogen, but since my literal run-in with Dorothy, I wasn’t worried anymore.
Uncle had told me Dorothy and Imogen were younger, but with Uncle being ninety-seven, sixty probably seemed young to him. I could work with Dorothy and Imogen, who were around the same age as me. At least I could. Dorothy had seemed a bit thrown by my age, but I figured that could easily be worked through.
It probably wasn’t the best idea to waltz into the funeral home half an hour earlier than I said I would be here, but I was the owner after all. I could technically do whatever I wanted, but I didn’t want Dorothy and Imogen to think I was some asshole barging in on them. I mean, I was barging in on them, but I didn’t want to be an asshole.
