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What did success mean if you had no one to share it with? A sharp pain pierced my sternum.
“What do you think of the customers coming in this morning to complain about Bean Rush?” Hailey plopped into the chair across from me.
“Hopefully, it’s nothing, and he gets that machine fixed quickly,” I answered without thinking.
Hailey blinked at me. “I’m sorry. What did you say?”
I scrambled to come up with an explanation that didn’t let on that I’d fucked the competition last night. “I want to win because we’re the better store, not because of a technicality.”
Hailey’s eyes narrowed on me. “I get that, but a faulty machine goes back to the choices the business owner made when he purchased it. Did he get a good one, or did he skimp, and now he’s experiencing the repercussions of that decision?”
“You’re right.”
Hailey stilled to examine me. “Why the sudden sympathy for Ben Monroe?”
“We’ve become friends because of Cammie and Hunter. I just want to be successful for the right reasons.” I kind of wanted both of us to succeed, but that was impossible when we were literally splitting our customers.
“Ah,” Hailey said, but thankfully, she didn’t say anything else.
“How did trivia night go on Thursday?”
Hailey wanted to handle it since we had it in the evening.
She grimaced. “Not great. We only had one team show.”
I sucked in a breath. “That’s not good.”
She scrunched her nose and pointed her finger in the air. “Then they asked if we served alcohol.”
The estimates for the renovation still sat on my desk. I tended to make business decisions quickly—sometimes too quickly. I forced myself to take a few days to see if I’d change my mind, but I hadn’t. “I want to go forward with the renovation. I have the money, and we’ve been playing it safe. It’s time to go for it.”
Hailey clapped her hands together. “Yay! I’m so excited to get started.”
Using all of my savings to change my business model was unbelievably risky. I could lose everything. But it felt right.
“Who are you going to hire to do the work?”
“Morrison Brothers Construction. I called around. They’re reliable and do good work.”
Hailey smiled knowingly. “It’ll be nice to have some man candy around here, too.”
I threw a pencil at her. I was positive she was thinking about Cade and his brother, Nolan, who ran the company. Both were hot but very much taken. So was she.
Hailey shielded her face, even though the pencil flew wide. “Hey, I can still look.”
“I’m the single one. I’m the only one who can look.” Was I single, though? I’d slept with Ben. The way I felt, there should have been some cosmic shift in the universe, but that didn’t happen. Life went on as normal.
A knowing smile curved over her lips. “So, nothing else happened between you and Ben?”
I didn’t want to talk about it. It felt like something I should keep to myself, but I had to tell her something. I couldn’t keep it a secret. “Cammie and Hunter stayed with Abby last night.”
Haley leaned in closer. “How did that happen? Did she set you up?”
I shook my head. “It looks like it. I haven’t had a chance to talk to her about it yet.” I held my hand up as Hailey opened her mouth to speak. “But it’s just a friends-with-benefits kind of thing.”
Hailey’s eyes grew wide. “Did he say that?”
I tried to remember who said the initial phrase, but I couldn’t. “I think so. I don’t remember. The fact is I’m not ready for more, and this is perfect.”
