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“Is there a problem with the business?”
“Just some shipping issues, which is par for the course these days. Plus, the factory had some production hiccups, we’re understaffed in our warehouse, and our website decided to crash in the middle of a huge sale. We lost hundreds of orders.” She pressed her palms to her cheeks. “You know, just the usual.” Her eyes widened and her lip trembled.
Sullivan watched her struggling not to cry, her chest heaving up and down, her hair in a messy bun, her legs sprawled out in front of her. It made his own chest tighten. “Come on,” he told her, reaching a hand out for her. “Off the floor, Ed.”
“What? Why?”
“We’re going to the lake.” She needed to hit the reset button. He could use a plunge into some cold water himself.
She sputtered. “I can’t do that! Are you insane? I just told you I’m drowning in work!”
“You’re never going to get anything done when you’re spiraling like this. Let’s go clear your head. Get some fresh air. We’ll swim in the lake. You’ll come back and be less anxious and get twice as much down in half the time, I promise you.”
She eyed his hand, looking highly tempted. “Go swimming?” she asked, naked longing in her voice. “That sounds refreshing.”
He gripped her hand in his and tugged. She rose to her feet. “Yes, swimming. At Jesse’s private beach.”
“Jesse has a private beach?” Eddie perked up. “That sounds so good. But I can’t…”
“Why not?”
“I have to travel all day tomorrow and it will be hard to work then and today it’s Monday and everything piles up over the weekend.”
He hadn’t realized she was leaving that soon. Now he really wanted her to hang out with him for the day. It was going to be his last chance to spend some time with her. “What the hell is the point of owning the company if you can’t take a couple of hours off when you need it?”
She bit her lip. “My dad was just telling me last night I always put my happiness last.”
He suspected that was true. “Listen to your father. Wouldn’t a quick swim make you happy? More relaxed? Ready to take on the world? It’s hot as hell in this apartment.”
It was. It was either a hotter day than he’d been expecting or they’d blown a fuse. But the power seemed to be working. He could see the clock on the stove.
“It is, isn’t it?” she asked, suddenly looking around her like she’d just realized the house was stifling. “The air conditioning window unit is off.”
Sullivan flicked the light switch to the living room on and off and nothing happened. “Then we’re definitely not staying here. It looks like the power is out on the left side of the apartment.”
It seemed to be the perfect excuse she needed. She gave a definitive nod. “Let me put my swimsuit on.”
He hoped like hell it was a bikini because why not torture himself completely?
“No problem, I need to jump in the shower and grab some coffee. We have to pick up Finn and Licorice. I miss that dog, I’m not going to lie. She has the cutest face ever.” He almost couldn’t stand how adorable that puppy was. It made his chest actually hurt.
Eddie gave him a look he couldn’t interpret. But then the corner of her mouth turned up and she smiled.
“What?”
She shook her head. “Nothing. Drink your coffee, Sullivan O’Toole,” she said, softly.
The tone was affectionate. Her smile was gentle.
If he didn’t know better, he’d think that she was feeling something along the lines of what he was feeling for her. Not lust. He felt that for her, obviously, but that wasn’t how she was looking at him right now. It was more like she had genuine warmth for him.
He smiled back. “There’s the Eddie I know,” he teased. “Bossing me around. If you tell me to get the lead out it will be just like old times.”
She laughed. “I only boss around people I like.”
It was a casual comment. She didn’t mean anything by it.
But he held onto that statement like a dog with a bone.
