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“I’ll keep that in mind.” I pointed a finger at Skye after I finished securing the shelves I’d been working on. “You look more cheerful. Any reason for that?”
She exchanged a glance with Tess, and even with Josie, who looked our way when she heard my question. Wait a second, what was going on?
“Well, things with our investor are going great,” Skye said.
“And?” Cole urged. Clearly, he’d picked up on this strange energy in the room. Even Hunter was paying attention.
“If you must know, I’m dating someone. And it’s going really well,” Skye declared.
“Define really well,” I said.
“He’s not dating someone else at the same time. That’s a winner in my books.”
Cole groaned. “Sis, your standards are just too low.”
She shrugged. “I’m not demanding. I’m hoping he’ll join me at the next Ballroom Gala. Then you’ll all get to meet him.”
That meant they were serious. Things were changing for everyone. I’d come in here thinking I just had to put up some shelves...
But then again, things in the Winchester clan rarely went according to plan.
We finished just in time for Skye and Tess to open the store. I was the first to leave, because I had an early meeting at the office. On the way, I took out my phone, calling Heather. We hadn’t made plans after our dinner on Sunday, but after the conversation with my family, I wanted to see her tonight.
She didn’t answer, but I shot her a message.
Ryker: Dinner tonight, if you don’t have plans?
Heather: YES! Now I finally have something to look forward
to. It’s going to be a crazy day.
I was right there with her. Wall Street was a fast-paced environment to work in even on calm days, but when international key performance indicators were confusing, fast-paced turned to breakneck speed. It was paramount to calm everyone down, talk them out of hasty transactions.
After my twenty-third phone call for the day, I went for a coffee break. Several of my colleagues were gathered there, discussing today’s developments in hushed voices. Most had their shoulders up to their ears from stress. I was just bone tired.
“How can you be so relaxed?” one of them called to me while I filled a cup with coffee.
I shrugged. “When you’re relaxed, you pass that calm on to the clients.”
“I’m shitting my pants right now,” he said.
“Stop. They’ll feel it. That’s the only piece of advice I can give you.”
He rolled his eyes. “Drinks after hours? To blow off steam?”
“I already have plans,” I said before strolling back to my office.
Meeting Heather and Avery for dinner sounded a million times better than going out drinking and mourning over the day.
Only a few months ago, I would’ve looked forward to performing tonight, or just enjoying a glass of whiskey in the quiet of my apartment. But now the things I was looking forward to were different.
Back in my office, I saw a missed call from Heather and called her back right away.
“Hey! So, I can’t make it tonight. A source I’ve been after forever just agreed to meet with me for an interview. I can’t say no. I’m sorry.”
“No problem. We’ll have dinner another day.”
“Thanks. I would rather be with you, but I just can’t pass this up.”
