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I leaned forward in my chair. She and Ryan recently got together, and he had an eleven-year-old son, Corey. I couldn’t help but wonder if she was pregnant. “Of course.”
“I saw how you reacted to Ben showing up at the garage,” Hailey spoke carefully.
It took me a moment to respond. I wasn’t even sure how I felt when I saw him. “I was just surprised to see him after all this time,” I finally said.
Her brow furrowed. “Was that it? It seemed like you were attracted to him.”
I scoffed, hoping she didn’t see under my bluff. Heat coursed through my body at the fluid way he’d unfolded from his sports car, my brain sparking with possibilities until I recognized his face. “Trust me. I’mnotattracted to Ben Monroe.”
“Why not?” Hailey tipped her head to the side as if she were merely curious.
I searched for the right words to phrase what he was to me. “He’s my competition.”
He was the one person who could destroy everything I’d worked so hard to build.
“For now. When you expand into a wine market, he won’t be.” Hailey smiled triumphantly.
I shook my head. “I don’t even know if it’s a possibility.”
Hailey smiled. “The more I think about it, the more I love the idea.”
I shook my head, resisting her excitement. “Things like that take time. I need to make sure we have the funds required, that the business can run during construction, that customers would like the change, and the big one, that the coffee shop can thrive in the meantime. If Bean Rush takes all our business, I won’t have the cash flow for an expansion.”
I had to depersonalize what was happening with Ben as much as possible. I needed to focus on his business as a storefront, not as a single dad with an adorable seven-year-old girl. That rabbit hole was fraught with obstacles.
Hailey tipped her head slightly. “You’re so practical all the time. For a business owner, you’re afraid to take risks.”
The observation hit me square in the chest. “I opened a business. I’m not risk averse.”
Was she right, though? Ever since Levi walked out, I’d been scared to make any moves. I didn’t trust my judgment anymore when I’d always been so decisive.
“Aren’t you? You won’t consider Ben as anything more when you’re obviously attracted to him. I haven’t seen you interested in anyone since I’ve known you.”
“You know why.” My jaw ached with the pressure of grinding my teeth. Hailey was one of the few people I’d confided in about that situation, and I disliked talking about it. I wanted it to settle on the bottom of the ocean of my brain and never let it come to the surface.
“Just because one guy is bad doesn’t mean they all are.”
“Hmph,” I grunted, placing my disagreement in that one sound.
“You can’t blame everyone for what Levi did.”
“That’s not what’s happening.” But I shifted on my chair. I was pretty serious about not getting involved with anyone, much less with someone like Ben. He wasn’t a safe bet.
She gave me a look.
She wouldn’t let me get away with it. “I might be a little risk averse.”
Sympathy filled her face. “I get that, and I’m not going to push you, but please run the numbers on the expansion. I think this could be good for the store.”
I breathed a sigh of relief that she was letting the subject of dating go. Just the thought of trusting someone again gave me chills.
Hailey had been the force I needed lately, encouraging me to sell books in addition to coffee and pastries. I’d lost some of the initial excitement about opening a business. As a result, my ideas had shriveled up. I’d been stagnant, doing the same thing every day.
“The question is, what are we going to do to maintain and increase customers now?” Hailey asked.
I’d been a little resistant to following through with plans on trivia nights and a battle of the books, but people had been talking about forming teams at the front counter and asking when the programs would start. “Let’s look at the calendar and set some dates. A monthly trivia night, just to get a feel for interest.”
“We can tell them we’re planning on pursuing a liquor license.”
