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I jerked upward, dropping my hands into my lap and straightening my shoulders. “I’m awake.”
“I know you’re awake.” He came up behind me and massaged my shoulders with his ridiculously large hands. “Take a breath. Deeper,” he commanded. “Again.”
“Stop telling me what to do.” But there was no heat behind the request. Already my muscles were loosening. Something about the way he got me out of my head and into my body so naturally helped quiet my spinning thoughts.
The way his strong hands felt kneading my tense shoulders didn’t hurt either.
“That’s better. Good.”
I let my eyes close, trying not to let the disappointment take root from his not tacking on girl. Bizarre. Good girl was something you said to a pup who’d fetched his tennis ball. Except I really liked it when he called me his good girl.
“How’s Boomer?” I asked suddenly.
“He’s fine. Misses you.” Christian sat beside me and rolled his chair closer then turned mine toward him and cupped my knees. “Tell me what’s overwhelming you.”
“Everything. There’s so many screens. So much to know and I don’t even know half of it all yet. If I mess up, someone could die.”
“You won’t mess up. And if you do, so what? Dying is highly unlikely,” he added dryly. “Everyone makes mistakes on a new job. It’s expected. You’re human, Honey, even if you are spectacularly sexy and smart.”
I blinked at the sound of someone clearing their throat before keys jingled. I turned my head as if I was coming out of a trance to see Gina’s mom, Bonnie, smiling brightly. “Hello there! Sorry to interrupt.”
“You didn’t.” Christian rose smoothly and took Bonnie by the shoulders to gently guide her into the chair he’d just vacated. “We really appreciate you coming in tonight. We know you were well occupied with Gina. How is she?”
“A trooper. Every time she thinks it’s happening, it completely slows then stops. But as I was on the way here, Jared texted we have contractions again. I’ll head back over there once I’m done here. So you’re the next Cove hot item, hmm?”
I swiveled my neck so fast to try to keep up with Bonnie’s rapid-fire talking that I felt as if I’d gotten whiplash. “Good for Gina. I mean, so exciting. Item? Us?”
In my head, I was screaming yes but I was from the generation where showing much interest was asking to get ghosted. I didn’t think Christian was like that—and not only because he was a bit older than I was.
“Yes, you. For what it’s worth, I’m all for it.” Bonnie leaned up to pat Christian’s broad chest in his uniform while his ears tinged faintly pink. “Though next time, leave some mystery at the beginning so we can get a proper poll going. Can’t put money down if the deed’s been done when everyone practically witnessed the ring toss.”
“What?” I choked. I didn’t have a clue what ring toss meant but I was thoroughly horrified at the implication. “What poll? Money?”
Christian slid his hand around to cup the back of my neck. “It’s an asinine thing they do,” he said soothingly. “They had a poll going about Jared and Bee long before they were even dating.”
“You bet on your own daughter’s sex life?”
Bonnie nodded unrepentantly. “If people aren’t going to be honest, out comes the poll. But then there’s being too honest, if you know what I mean, so we can’t even have a little good clean fun.” She shrugged, her dark eyes sparkling. “Besides, you know who won that poll and split the proceeds? Gina and Jared. Dirty pool but fits those two. I would’ve made an even grand and I had no intention of splitting it with Ernie since he claimed to be shocked I’d participate. Whatever, I had a pair of heels with arch support with my name on them. Oh, well. At least I’m getting my third grandchild out of the deal.”
I was so overwhelmed that unthinkingly, I reached up to grip Christian’s hand. He didn’t balk. If anything, he laced our fingers together even more tightly.
I looked up at him in silent support and his steely blue eyes burned into mine with an intensity that made me forget Bonnie existed. I really liked Gina’s mom, and I’d looked forward to her training me if I got this job. But I wasn’t used to being the subject of town gossip. Apparently, I wasn’t good at it.
After all, I’d barricaded myself in my apartment after I’d been publicly talked about so joyfully at The Spinning Wheel.
“Oh, yeah, I can see why we didn’t need a poll here. How long have these fires been burning?”
“Almost a week,” I said distantly as Christian reassuringly rubbed his thumb over my knuckles.
“A week? God, to be young. In my day, we used to make the mental foreplay last longer. Okay, young buck, outta here.” She jerked her thumb over her shoulder and indicated for him to move out of the way of her rolling chair. She softened the blow with another chest pat, something she seemed to delight in.
Bonnie was a consummate flirt, but she’d been very happily married for years and years. Maybe I just didn’t pay attention to who she was feeling up under normal circumstances.
Not that I blamed her. Christian’s chest was a work of damn art. Just it was kind of mine now, wasn’t it?
We hadn’t had that exclusivity talk yet. Also not something the guys I’d dated wanted to get into. But Christian was different in so many ways.
I gripped the arm of my chair, my nails scratching the pleather. Maybe we needed to spell things out so I didn’t go feral on Gina’s mom on the eve of the birth of her grandchild.
