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“Carson mentioned that you’ve grown a little too popular with the older female clients.”
My face heated. It irked me knowing that I’d developed a toy boy reputation. “It was unintentional.”
He smiled. “It’s all good. Carson’s just contracted a couple of new trainers. Are you still doing security for Crisp?”
I took a deep breath as the blood drained from my face. “I left last night. He wasn’t happy.”
He nodded slowly. “Can I ask why?”
“Why he wasn’t happy?”
“No. Why you left?”
My stomach did somersaults. I hated lying to Declan, who felt like that older brother I’d never had. “I don’t like the late hours, which reminds me, I hope your mother doesn’t mind me not working at Manon’s birthday party. I’ve been invited as a guest.”
“You’re seeing her, I believe.”
“Well, kind of.” I frowned—from one awkward subject to another. “How do you know?”
“My darling wife knows everything. I think she ran into Manon one morning leaving your place. You know small villages: everyone knows everything.” His grin faded, and he turned serious. “Are you trying to keep it a secret?”
I shrugged. “No. But it’s complicated.”
He gave me a knowing look and nodded.
“It’s just this thing she’s got going with Crisp bugs me.”
“Yeah… well, that’s understandable. We’re doing our utmost to see the back of that”—holding his fingers in quotation marks—“men’s club.”
I returned a smile at his reference to that sleaze bar.
I followed him into what was to be my new office, and he passed me a sheet that explained my tasks. Administration wasn’t something I’d imagined ever doing, but I was good with computers.
Staring out the window, I noticed the construction of a new building. “What’s that going to be?”
“That’s our new indoor market, enabling us to sell to the public five days a week. We plan to not only stock organic veggies but other organics, like meat and vegan alternatives. Mirabel and Thea are keen on organic beauty products and cleaning materials that don’t affect the planet. All locally sourced, of course.”
“That sounds fantastic.”
“We’re launching in time for the summer solstice. We’ll be hosting a fair.”
“It’s quite a community you’re building here.”
He smiled, looking proud. “That was always my intention. Keep the land producing and stave off development.”
“I guess you’ve got that on the other side of Merivale with Elysium, the spa, and the casino.”
He rolled his eyes. “Apart from the spa, which had little impact on the farmers, I was never a fan of Elysium, and I hate the casino being there.”
If only he knew what went on in that casino. “This is so good of you to give me a go.”
“As I recall, you were the one who got your hands dirty when we first started this project. You seemed to enjoy working in the dirt.” He chuckled.
That was a guilty reminder of me and Billy messing around and having mud fights on those wet days at boot camp, when instead of doing a ton of push-ups, we dug up a patch for veggies. Though I might have been cynical at the time about being forced to train hard, my life had changed for the better.
I hated to imagine where I would be without it, consumed by anger and doing crappy, underpaid work in London. Reboot had trained the hot-headed brawler out of me by giving me focus and an opportunity to grow into a better man. Something I would never forget.
I remembered, before arriving at Bridesmere, how I’d grumbled when the corrections officer had offered me an olive branch known as Reboot.
