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Fuck.He wasn’t going to be able to fix this for her either. “Laurel,” he called, raising his voice loud enough she’d hear it from inside the cab of the truck.
Her door opened and closed. A few moments later her warm body was leaning against his side. “What does Lance want now?” she bit out at the lawyer like a venomous snake. Mick couldn’t help but be proud. She was one tough little cookie. Still didn’t mean he’d have rather dealt with this mess for her.
“We were informed that you’ve broken your non-compete, Ms. Hart. The storefront you leased in town is within the two-hundred-mile limitation placed on your signed agreement with Mr. —”
She took a step forward and shook her head. “No, I checked before I leased. It was two hundred and three miles from Dallas. Wait…informed? Who informed you?”
The slimy bastard smirked, giving Mick a sick feeling in his stomach, and handed Laurel the envelope. “No, ma’am. It is only one hundred ninety-eight miles from Love Swept Matchmaker INC headquarters to the address listed for your Matched business storefront here in Somewhere. The sheriff has already been advised of the situation and legal action will be put into place if you do not comply with the shutdown. The informing party requested to remain anonymous.” The lawyer added the last sentence with a self-righteous sneer.
“The only person who knew about Matched was my best friend and…” Laurel’s voice hitched like she’d swallowed a cotton ball.
“Who?”
“Felicity.” The defeat in her voice speared Mick’s heart.
“It’s my fault,” Mick growled.
“No. I made the mistake. This is all on me.” Laurel flipped through the papers inside the envelope, her shoulders sagging a little further with each page turn.
Mick slipped an arm around her waist. “We’ll figure out something.”
“There’s nothing to figure out. I made the mistake in my calculations. I can’t open Matched where I leased storefront. I have to eat the cost of the lease and close.” She glanced up at the lawyer, anger flaring in those stark blue eyes. “You can go now,” she said, some of the venom returning to her voice. “Tell Lance hell will freeze over before he gets those client passwords from me, especially after this and his stunt with the video.”
The lawyer swallowed and nodded, backing slowly toward his vehicle. It didn’t take him more than a few moments to scramble into the driver’s seat and peel out of the driveway throwing gravel in his wake.
Mick squeezed her tighter, taking small pleasures in the feel of her curves melded against his body. “Let’s go inside and I’ll get you some food and something to drink.” They walked together, up the steps to his front door, and inside. The lights were dimmed and rose petals lined the floor, trailing a path from the stairs to their right. His Valentine plans had been laid to waste…well almost. He still had the food from Meg’s Bakery. No one made muffins quite like Meg. He’d gotten them each a blueberry and a thermos of her vanilla caramel coffee.
Laurel paused and he watched her gaze follow the trail of pink and purple rose petals. There was more upstairs. Chocolate. Wine. Not that she could see any of it, but she would eventually. Eventually he’d get her up those stairs and help her forget the awful start to this day.
“I can’t believe you did all this for me. And so quickly. You didn’t have this planned before you left, did you?”
Warmth crept up his face and Mick shook his head, grinning. “I will admit to calling in a few favors around town for the flowers. The food is from Meg’s. She’s a friend too, so I guess it pays to know everyone. I wanted you to have a good Valentine’s.”
“It smells divine. Thank you.”
“I’ll be sure to pass that along to Meg. She’ll appreciate it. She and Paige both live and breathe baked goods.”
The small talk seemed to be helping. She wasn’t crying. Her eyes weren’t flashing with anger any longer. Even her posture said she’d relaxed somewhat.
He ushered her into his kitchen and pulled out a chair then poured them both a coffee and a muffin before sitting at the small table across from her. “Is there anything I can do?”
She pinched off a piece of the muffin and popped it into her mouth. The succession of small pleasure-filled moans nearly undid him right there on the spot. He shifted uncomfortably and took a sip of the hot coffee.
“I’m sorry you got dragged into my mess. It was supposed to be over. He was supposed to leave me alone.” A tear rolled down her cheek. “I can’t believe I made such a huge mistake with the storefront though. I don’t know what I’m going to do.”
“We’ll look for a sublet for it,” Mick said, straightening. There was a solution. She was only two miles off—at least per the lawyer. “In the meantime, I’ll get the guys to help you move the office furniture into the rear living space on your home. That closed in garden room would be perfect for an office. This neighborhood is five miles from the center of town. It’s got to be outside the two-hundred-mile marker for your non-compete.”
Her eyes widened. “Really?”
The escalating hope in her voice made Mick’s heart pound.Surely it was, right?He pulled out his phone and opened the mapping app on it. “What’s the address on the Dallas business?”
She recited it slowly and he typed it in. Then filled in her home address. A slow sigh slid from his chest with the results—two hundred and two miles. He lifted the phone screen and showed it to Laurel. “I’ll get a friend down at City Hall to verify and then have a lawyer sign off, but I think you’re going to be safe operating out of your home.”
“You do have a lot of friends.”
Mick chuckled again. “Comes with the territory. I grew up here.”
“Thank you so much.”She leaped from the chair and threw her arms around his neck, capturing his mouth with hers, and sinking into his big arms. His strength. His positive thinking had kept her from completely losing it after the lawyer left. He’d made it seem like there would be a way. A way for her to still do what she loved and stay in Somewhere.Hopefully.He was right, though. It needed to be verified by the city and signed off on by a lawyer. Otherwise Lance would be after her again faster than she could put out an open-for-business sign.
