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“Thank God,” I murmured, the pressure in my chest easing slightly.
“I’m so glad you’re happy to see me,” Reid said as she walked in. She didn’t bother flopping down onto the sofa, or even tossing her purse onto it. She walked right up to my desk and sat in the chair in front of me.
“You say that like I’m never happy to see you.” I chuckled. “You know you’re my favorite Cameron stand in.”
“No, you just pretend to be inconvenienced by it. Plus, Cameronwishesshe was as lovely as I am,” she said with a wink. Her expression sobered. “How are you holding up?”
I shrugged, leaning back into my chair. “Haven’t really thought about it, to be honest.”
“Ah, yes.” She sighed, her grin widening. “If you don’t acknowledge the thing, it doesn’t exist, right?”
“Prettyandsmart,” I teased her. She flipped me off and I laughed. She was right; I didn’t want to deal with it, so I refused to think about it.
“Well, there’s no use trying to get you to talk when you don’t want to,” she remarked. “What’d you call me here for? I doubt it’s just for my sparkling personality.”
“I wanted your thoughts on something,” I said, sitting forward and resting my elbows on the desk.
“Ooh, this sounds interesting already,” Reid said, lacing her fingers together conspiratorially. “Do tell.”
“I’ve…discoveredthat Frankie is working another job.”
Reid blinked at me. “She’s what?”
I cleared my throat. “She’s working another job,” I repeated.
“How the fuck did you find that out?”
“I’m not proud of it,” I admitted, glancing away. “But I saw her when I was on my way to a restaurant in the area. She walked into a music store and… didn’t come out for almost three hours.”
Reid’s brows crawled toward her hairline. “And how would you know she didn’t leave for almost three hours?”
Heat crept up the back of my neck. “I had Kelly drop me off at the restaurant and circle back,” I muttered, hating the shame that wrapped around each word as it left my mouth. “I did some digging after that, and found out that Frankie is good friends with the owner of that store, and she’s pulling extra shifts when she’s done at Ivey’s.”
“So she’s helping a friend,” Reid reasoned. “No harm in that, right?”
“Right,” I agreed, my gut tightening. “But if that were the case, why is she running herself ragged?”
“What are you saying?”
I dragged a hand through my hair, knowing exactly how it all sounded to Reid. “She’s dead tired every day,” I explained, not meeting her eyes. “She’s gonna burn out and then-”
“And then what, Hayden?” Reid pushed.
Her suggestive tone stiffened my spine.
Too close, I thought.This was business. I had to protect my investment.
“I need her at the top of her game so that I can focus on things that need my attention,” I hedged.
Reid leveled an all too knowing look at me, and said nothing.
My heart lodged itself in my throat as I walked into the store, my nerves an uncomfortable bramble of knots and anxiety.
Just business.
“Hey, Hayden!” Blanca greeted, and I spared her a tight smile.
“Is Frankie in yet?” I asked, and Blanca nodded.
