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“You can’t prove?—”
“Yes, I can prove it, Melissa. We took in a combined total of over twelve hundred dollars in cash sales in the week that I was gone, but not one red cent was deposited into the bank account. There were no deposits made in the night drop the way there was supposed to be.”
“Maybe that was Katie,” she says, but she won’t look me in the eye.
“Both you and Katie signed off on the slips at the end of the day,” I reply, watching her closely. “And I find that weird because you didn’t actually close out the computer at the end of the day, so you were messing with numbers there. But I left you in charge of making those nightly deposits.”
She licks her lips, still not looking at me.
“Leave the key on the counter, get your things, and get the fuck out of my place.”
With her face blazing red now, she turns on her heel and marches into the back room. I stay close, wanting to watch her every move, but she simply takes the key off her key ring and drops it onto the floor—classy—and then stomps out of the shop.
This means that I’m down to just me and Katie, and Katie only works after school and on Saturdays, so I have to hire someone new soon.
“That was fucking hot.”
I whirl, my heart thumping, and I’m shocked to see Ryan standing next to a table of T-shirts, his arms folded over his impressive chest.
“Holy shit, Ryan.” I cover my mouth and take a deep breath. “You scared the shit out of me.”
“I came in when you were screaming at that former employee,” he says. “I have to say, watching you in boss mode is pretty damn arousing.”
I shake my head and sigh. “She fucked up.”
“Big time. I miss you, babe.”
Without another word, I walk to him and into his arms. He hugs me close and rocks us back and forth, and for the first time in a week, my system settles.
“I miss you, too.”
“I thought maybe you were avoiding me.”
I tilt my head back so I can look up—way up—at him. “No, it’s a shit show around here, as you can plainly see. There have been some long days. And maybe I was giving you and Jake a little time to settle back in.”
“We’re settled.” He cups my face in his hands and leans in to rest his lips on mine. “I told you before that you wouldn’t stay away.”
“I’m not doing that,” I assure him and step back so I can pace a little. “I admit, after I got home on Saturday, I had a minor case of being overwhelmed, and it took me a minute to settle. Okay, maybe I’m still figuring it out. You’ve done too much, Ryan.”
“You don’t like the kitchen? The photos are great, but if you don’t like it, I’ll have?—”
“What’s not to like?” I interrupt. “It’s freaking amazing. But I told you not to go overboard.”
He simply smiles at me, and I can’t help but laugh.
“Anyway, just as I was getting the being overwhelmed thing under control, I found out about what was happening here, without my knowledge, and I went into full-blown boss bitch mode.”
“You didn’t answer my calls.”
“My phone died.”
“And you didn’t charge it for a week?”
“No, it died when I spilled the coffee in your beautiful car—just let me know what I owe you for the detail—and I haven’t had time to replace it. And no.” I point at him and narrow my eyes. “You’re not going to have one brought to me.”
“Why not? I can have one here in about thirty minutes. Also, you don’t owe me anything for the car.”
“I can order the phone myself.” I’m not even going to argue with him over what it cost to clean that gorgeous car.
