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“I have to run right now, but leave your number at the front desk for me and we can get together for a drink.”
“Holy shit! Okay!” He pumped my hand again. “Thanks!”
“Great to meet you guys,” I said with a wave. “Bye, Keaton.”
I resumed my jog to the front desk, where the clerk, Addison, greeted me with a smile.
“Mr. Sellers, welcome back. What can I do for you?”
“I need to see Shea Grady. Can I go back to the kitchen?”
Addison lowered her brows. “Shea quit. Do you want me to see if I can find a number for her?”
I exhaled heavily, defeat crushing me. It was the realization of my worst fear—Keller had sweet-talked her into working for him. This was all my fault. If I hadn’t been so hesitant, Shea wouldn’t have felt like she needed to step back, and Keller wouldn’t have had the chance to steal her away.
“Hey Carl, do you happen to have a phone number for Shea Grady?” Addison said into the phone, pausing. “Because there’s someone here who wants to talk to her.” Another pause. “Oh, okay. Thanks.”
She hung up the phone. “She’s still here. You can go back to the kitchen.”
I let out a single note of laughter, my emotions riding a roller coaster. “She’s here?”
“Yeah, she’s working out a two-week notice.”
I pushed away from the desk. “Thanks.”
Had she given notice because she was going to work for Keller? If so, I was going to do everything in my power to stop her. The timing wasn’t perfect for us to go all in on a relationship, but I no longer cared.
I walked quickly, not wanting to knock anyone over, and when I finally made it to the kitchen, Shea was standing alone at the island, rolling something out with a rolling pin.
“Holt,” she said, surprised.
“I’m in love with you.”
She released her hold on the rolling pin, giving me a confused smile.
“Don’t work for Keller,” I said as I approached her. “Stay here and be with me. And my kids. I’m a package deal, but you know that.”
She put a palm on my chest. “I told Keller I can’t accept the job with him.”
I frowned, confused. “But Addison just said you quit your job here.”
“I did.”
“But you’re not leaving the Beard?”
“No. This is my home. I don’t know what I’ll do now, work-wise, but that doesn’t matter. Can we get back to the part about you being in love with me?”
I took her hand. “I am. And I was a fucking idiot for not telling the entire world until now. I thought my kids would be bothered about it, but they adore you and...I guess it was all in my head. All the worries.”
Tears glistened in her eyes. “So what are you saying?”
“I want you to be with me. Be my girlfriend, for now. Fuck the job thing, I’ve got more than enough money. Just do what makes you happy, and please, for fuck’s sake, tell me that being with me is one of those things.”
“Being with you is definitely one of those things.”
I grinned, cupped her cheeks in my hands and kissed her; a couple of people in the kitchen cheering. She kissed me back, laughing when we broke apart.
“I just got flour all over your shirt, sorry about that.”
