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His eyes fill with warmth. "Of course."
Why is he looking at me like that? Like he actually cares about me? I haven’t seen him talk to Maddie once today, which surprises me. If he’s serious about whatever he thinks is going on between us, then my plan is working. But can that be true?
I head toward the hallway, but before I turn for the bathroom, I glance over my shoulder to make sure no one is watching. The lounge is too busy for anyone to notice me. Perfect.
Jamie's office is unlocked, and I slip inside, my heart racing. Music is vibrating the walls. There's probably less than five minutes before the next shift of dancers goes on stage and I need to be out of here before then or the back hallway will be too busy for me to get out of his office unnoticed.
I rip apart his desk, searching for the key. There are several keys. The key tags readsupplies,liquor cab,locker rm, and several others. None sayssafe, or anything like that. I continue rifling through the drawers. I open the bottom drawer, and sitting on top is a file folder with a stack of papers. Out of curiosity, I flip the folder open. Quarterly corporate tax return. I’ve seen them plenty of times. I did Troll Rowles tax reports for him. I flip through the pages until I get to one that catches my attention. My jaw drops.
"Yes."
I know enough about Eden’s books already that it’s obvious. Jamie is fudging the numbers to the IRS. The expenses he’s writing off are absurd. We don’t even have a company vehicle. I pull out my phone and quickly snap pictures. This is going to come in handy.
I put the pages back in the folder and put it back in the drawer just as I found it. I rifle around a bit more before I need to get out of here. I’m about to give up when I spot it. A small gold key tucked in the back corner of the drawer. I don’t know if it's the key I want—but considering it has no label on it like the rest of the keys, it’s worth a try. And I can’t imagine he’ll miss it right away. Not if it’s hidden in the bottom drawer.
I'd say day one of mytake Jamie downplan is going better than I could have hoped. I drop the key in my pocket as I close his office door behind me.
Chapter 17
Jamie
I'mbitingmyfingernailsagain. I haven’t done that in years—since my early twenties when I kicked coke for good and replaced it with a new bad habit. Nearly bit all my nails bloody then.
It's not until I tear the tip of my thumbnail off I notice it. "Shit."
The subtle pain brings me back into the present. Wine spills over the edge of my glass, a mini red waterfall. "Fuck."
What is wrong with me?
I throw a towel on the counter and carefully lift the glass to my lips, sipping the wine down. A little buzz can't hurt. I'm gulping half the glass when the oven timer screams at me.
Yanking open the oven door, a burst of black smoke engulfs me. The top layer of my zucchini casserole is burnt to a crisp. It's one of my favorite recipes and I make it easily once a month. I’ve never fucked it up before.
Using the wine-soaked towel, I pull the pan out and plop it on the burner. "Dammit."
I've already set the table in the dining room with the only table cloth I own. The nicest dishes I have that aren't chipped—from Target—are set on either side, and a bouquet of white roses stands tall in a vase in the center.
What if she likes sunflowers instead of roses? Maybe I should have gotten red roses… isn’t that more romantic?
“Jesus Christ, Jamie, pull it together.”
It’s our first official date, and even though this isn't my first rodeo, I feel like I'm twelve-years-old vying for my first kiss. I wanted this to be perfect… but does perfection even exist? Maybe it could be somewhat nice, good even, but perfect? I'm trying too hard and it shows.
My phone vibrates with a text.
(Lara)Be there in about an hour♥
The Dave Brubeck song playing on my classic turntable skips, but I barely notice. I can't peel my eyes off the little red heart emoji. As if not torn enough, I bite my thumbnail some more.
Heart emoji.
All right. I still have time to cancel, right? Oh, fuck me. If I cancel now, she will definitely quit Eden's—and that's the last thing I need. Ever since she started, everything has gotten better. Revenues are up, the girls have mostly stopped fighting. The place is running smoother than it ever has.
Shit. Eden's is only a part of it. I’ve never been happier either. And I haven’t thought about visiting my parents in weeks.
But right now I'm fucking terrified. When everything sucked, I never worried about losing it. I was struggling so much that I gave up even worrying about it. There were even days I thought about hanging it up and just throwing it all away. Maybe get back together with my parents once and for all. But now that everything is going great, the stakes feel even higher. I should feel good about it, but the stress of succeeding is even worse now.
I could run… but isn't that what I've always done? Run away from the good and find comfort in my own self-destruction? Or maybe, for once, I could do things a little differently.
