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That she was aware this was a possibility.
And that she had to learn to deal with it or end it now.
She was going with the “learn to deal.” She had to figure this out and get over it.
She didn’t need to have a man jumping through hoops for her and being there when she wanted it.
The fact that he not only showed up on her birthday but also knew it was her birthday without her saying anything was more than she could have hoped for.
He gave her a gift she didn’t expect. One that he had to have gone out of his way to find because she’d never even known those truffles existed and she was a chocolate connoisseur.
It wasn’t that he just got her chocolate, but he got her ice cream-flavored ones. Something that he knew she loved due to her upbringing.
That might be one of the nicest most considerate things a man had ever done for her.
It made it easier for her to keep the smile on her face while she said the words she’d practiced for days.
“I was disappointed that you had to cancel on me. I told you before that I was going to tell my sisters about us for the main reason that they’d be a good reminder that I knew what I was getting into with you.”
“Oh,” he said.
“Nothing more than that.”
“It didn’t look it,” he said. “Not with the way Dahlia was staring you down.”
“I tend to be dramatic,” she said. “I told you that. Maybe I was horny last weekend and you burst my bubble when you canceled. I know it’s not your fault. If you knew what I had planned you might have left your job to come get me.”
She said that as a joke. He turned his head. “I don’t or can’t leave my job for sex.”
“Iknowthat,” she said. “I was kidding.”
Guess he wasn’t loosening up as much as she would have wished. But she liked him the way he was.
She liked this rough side of him that had touches of softness that he wanted no one to know or see.
Or if they did see it, he was embarrassed.
“It’s going to happen again,” he said. “We are short staffed and criminals don’t take breaks because I might want a social life.”
“And my schedule has been tight too,” she said. “I know. Now that the holiday rush is over, we’ve been spending time putting the shop back to normal. I’ve been busy too.”
She worked a couple of late nights because they wanted to pull all the holiday decorations when the store was closed.
They jumped right into Valentine’s Day on January second. She loved that Lily, Poppy, and Rose were giving her creative license now to market the store. Something that only came about in the past few months.
Christmas was the first she was solo and worked so hard to prove she could do it. But that meant setting it up and taking it down herself. It had to be perfect.
The same with Valentine’s Day and then Easter. Memorial Day and July Fourth would be next.
She had all these plans and had to work them out along with all her other job responsibilities.
The marketing online and newsletters were taking up so much of her time now, but she’d been afraid to let Lily know she was struggling and doing so much at night.
She didn’t want them to think she couldn’t handle it all.
“I’ve got more traditional hours on a day-to-day basis,” he said. “But as you know, I get called in at all times too.”
“I do know it. It’s a nice reminder. Or Dahlia was reminding me. And as I said, I think I need that. You don’t need me getting upset or frustrated. If I’m horny, I’ll take care of it myself. I’ve been doing that since I’ve been here. It’s just not the same and all. More so since I know what you’ve got in your pants.”
