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“Fuck!” Freddy wanted to rage and throw things or wave a magic wand and put her house back together. He didn’t want to work at HQ with his brother and Holly being all lovey-dovey. Then it hit him. “Come to my place. We’ll pack up all our computer stuff and set up our office there. You can have the spare bedroom, so you don’t have to worry about finding a place right away, and then we can still game together.” The more he spoke, the more excited he got. It was perfect.
“Your mom will not like us turning your very nice living room into a giant office. I’m sure Patrick will let me use one of the spare rooms at HQ.”
He was shaking his head before she even finished. “Holly and Patrick will make you crazy. Besides, there’s a reason we allwork remotely. If you make me work under the same roof as my siblings, we won’t all survive.”
Sabrina cocked her head and squinted at him in thought. “Youdon’t have to work there.”
Recoiling as if he’d been slapped, Freddy grabbed the porch railing for balance and almost toppled off the side when it wobbled without the other half to support it. Righting himself, he ground his teeth together in frustration. Fine. She didn’t want to work beside him. That was fair. Maybe she’d spent the last few years wishing he’d work from home and leave her in peace. Sabrina usually spoke her mind, but she was the kindest person Freddy knew. If she understood how much it meant to him to come work here each day, she’d have let it continue no matter how she felt about it.
He swallowed his hurt and nodded at her. Then he slid past her, careful not to accidentally touch her, and pulled out his phone to take pictures of the damage. Her insurance company would want to see them. They’d still send out their own representative, but seeing the extent of the destruction might help speed the process along.
Sabrina followed him in, and when he stopped in the bedroom doorway, she placed a hand on his back to shift him far enough to the side to slide past and head for her closet. Her touch sent sparks zinging up Freddy’s spine, alighting every nerve ending and sparking goosebumps across his arms. He ignored his reaction and snapped a picture of her standing in front of the busted bifold doors that used to protect her closet.
As she moved them out of the way, he got a look at everything that remained of her wardrobe. A little black dress hung, dripping wet, from a flimsy white plastic hanger that likely came with the dress. Beside it, he saw three similar hangers. Two had fancy, flowy blouses that he’d never seen Sabrina wear, and couldn’t see her voluntarily putting against her skin. Thefabric looked shimmery, instead of soft, and he caught flashes of color streaks from where the rain made the dye bleed. The final hanger held something red. It was almost as short as the shirts, and the straps were just strings. He couldn’t see anything else, but his imagination wasted no time picturing Sabrina’s trim figure hugged by the vibrant red garment. She’d look hot as fuck. Then he pictured the way he knew she would squirm and wiggle with discomfort while glaring daggers at anyone who dared to stare at her.
When she went straight to that dress and ran her fingers over it, Freddy knew exactly what dress it was.
Chapter 6: Sabrina
Taylor Industries had been a godsend for Sabrina. After college, she’d gotten a job closer to DC. It paid well enough for her to send money back to her mom, but the work sucked. They hired twenty graduates to fill four positions and made everyone compete to earn a permanent role. The pressure had been insane. Within the first year, Sabrina dropped enough weight for none of her clothes to fit right, and she ate tums like candy. When she’d started losing her hair, her doctor said it was stress-related and prescribed self-care.
She changed jobs, but her new position required business attire that made her feel like a clown pretending to be a doctor. They also believed in policy and procedure over thinking and common sense. To say it wasn’t a good fit would be kind. She’d stuck it out for a few years, hating every minute, but eventually they compiled enough dress code and procedural violations to fire her.
Sabrina’s next job was the worst. Her boss was rude on a good day and verbally abusive anytime someone blinked wrong. She’d never forget the image of his shocked face when she’d told him to shove his fancy pen up his ass. She’d lost that job in an instant.
Without thinking, she’d gathered every garment of professional clothing she owned and donated it to a local charity, swearing she’d never wear uncomfortable clothes to sit behind a screen again. Then she’d been called in for an interview with Taylor Industries. The pandemic hadn’t hit yet, and Nathan was still running the business. Since she’d be working with Freddy, he’d been part of the interview, along with Patrick as he learned the ropes to take over when his father retired.
Having been out of work for a few weeks, Sabrina hadn’t been willing to spend much on clothes, so she’d visited thrift stores until she found the softest red dress she’d ever felt. It had ruching along the sides of the bodice and fit her like a glove. She still hated dresses, and this one was better suited for a date than a job interview, but Sabrina bought it anyway. On the morning of her appointment, she realized that she’d also donated her dress shoes and hadn’t bought a new pair to go with the dress. She’d thrown on her canvas Ked sneakers and decided it would have to be good enough.
“Bring the red one,” Freddy said quietly from behind her, his voice huskier than usual. “I drooled on myself that day, you know?”
She turned around. “What?”
He nodded to the dress she now held in her hand. “The day of your interview. Patrick thought I was hungover, and Dad told Mom I was getting sick.”
“You don’t drink,” Sabrina said.
“Nope.” He popped thep. “But you look good enough in that dress to make me want to. Keep it.”
His words confirmed what she already wanted to do, so she draped it over her arm and turned back to check the rest of the closet. There wasn’t much there.
Looking around the rest of the room, she wasn’t sure what else to do. With scraps from the roof, busted beams, and insulation everywhere, climbing over the tree to search for her phone wasn’t an option. It was probably smashed anyway.
Freddy spoke again. “Start packing up the office. I’m going to get pictures of the kitchen for your insurance.”
“Okay.” She followed him out of the bedroom, pulling the door shut behind her so she wouldn’t have to continue seeing her bedroom like that. “It’ll only take a second. I just need to shove my laptop and charger into my bag.” Sabrina hadn’t even thought about taking pictures, but she was glad Freddy did. “Will you get some of the laundry area too? I think they’ll need it to cover the clothes I lost.”
He was standing in the big entryway in the middle of the house with his jaw set firm and his brow furrowed. “You can’t leave any of your stuff here,” he winced as he spoke. “Any of your computer stuff, I mean. It’s too open to the elements. Pack it all up, and we’ll take it to my place.”
Damn, she hadn’t thought about that, but he was right. She grabbed the giant storage tote where she shoved old cords, dead keyboards, and other random accessories she’d likely never use again. Pawing through it quickly, she decided none of it was worth keeping and flipped the whole thing upside down, right there in the middle of the floor. Then she disassembled hercomputers and monitors and packed them into the tote before shoving the throw and pillow from her loveseat between the parts to protect them from banging against one another.
Once she and Freddy both finished their tasks, he helped her disconnect her TV, so they could take that as well.
“Thank you for helping,” she said. It felt like something had shifted in their relationship, and Sabrina didn’t like it. She never should have kissed him. He was her person, which wasn’t something she’d experienced before, and now she was fucking it up.
Freddy’s face was still set in the fake, cheerful expression he usually reserved for his family dinners or dealing with obnoxious people he had to be nice to, and Sabrina hated it.
“It’s fine. Let’s load everything into my car. It’ll fit better in the hatchback,” he grunted.
