Page 14 of The Overtime Persuasive

“Why not?”

Because Liam Snyder is annoyingly handsome, relentlessly confident, and far too entertained by my refusal to be impressed with either of those things. He turns every conversation between us into a game, as if my attempts to ignore him are simply an invitation for him to try harder.

Usually, I can handle it, but tonight, I don’t want the teasing and I especially don’t want Liam looking at me closely enough to realize I’m not handling any of this nearly as well as I’ll pretend to be. He is the last person I want to see when my entire life feels as though it’s coming apart.

“There’s no point,” I say. “I’ll only be terrible company and I have things to do.”

“And you can do them after you eat.”

I close my eyes. “I really don’t want to go out, Lucy.”

“I know,” she says. “That’s why I came.”

“Fine,” I say after pausing for a few seconds to really think this over. “Give me ten minutes.”

“You have five.”

“Lucy.”

“Don’t make me honk again.” The call ends.

I set my phone on the table and look down at Mitch. “As much as I’d love to stay here with you, apparently we’ve been overruled.”

I lift him from my lap and place him on the floor before pushing back my chair. The binder remains in the middle of the table with the notice sitting on top.

Twelve thousand dollars. Ten days.

Yesterday morning, I had a growing business, a café people loved, and enough money saved to hire the help I desperately needed.

Tonight, the café is closed, the money is already gone, and I have no idea what happens next.

I grab my purse and keys, then stop and look around my apartment. Nothing has changed. The throw pillows are still arranged on the couch. The little ceramic pumpkin is still on the counter. Mitch is already washing one paw as if this has been a perfectly ordinary evening.

But it isn’t. Everything has changed.

I switch off the light and close the door behind me.

CHAPTER 4

LIAM

All I want for Christmas is a fire. Which, considering it’s still September, feels like asking the universe to hurry things along just a little.

Mug of hot chocolate in hand, I slide open the back door and step onto the deck, and warm air immediately smacks me in the face.

I sigh. “There’s Virginia for you.”

The forecast promised cooler temperatures by the weekend. Fingers crossed they’re right. I’ve spent the better part of a month splitting firewood, stacking it just so beneath the covered rack, and imagining the first crackle of a fire in the living room. Owning a house has done strange things to me. Twenty-nine-year-old Liam gets excited about hardwood seasoning and weather forecasts.

I lean against the railing, taking in my backyard. The grass could use another mow. A couple of stubborn leaves have started collecting beneath the maple tree. The fence still needs staining before winter.

Not bad. Not bad at all. My little kingdom, the space I’ve carved for myself here in Alexandria. Growing up in a busy household of active family members, I never found space for quiet. I shared a room with my older brother, and since Lucy and I are twins, if I did something, she was always there too. Not that I minded it, but it’s nice to have something for once that is mine and only mine.

I take a swig of the hot chocolate my mother dropped off last week and smack my lips. Ever since I moved out, she likes to stop by and leave a bag of groceries on my porch, “just in case.” I think she’s still adjusting to having all of us out of the house these days.

I’m in my head, reminiscing about homemade dinners only my mother can make when I spot him. Perched on the back fence like he owns the place, twitching his furry appendage.

No one told me when I was looking at this property it would come with a resident squirrel who is also full of opinions.