Total pages in book: 36
Estimated words: 34934 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 175(@200wpm)___ 140(@250wpm)___ 116(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 34934 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 175(@200wpm)___ 140(@250wpm)___ 116(@300wpm)
“No, I’m not.”
I shake my head and step toward her. “I love your brother, but I’m not doing this because of him. We’re friends, Sass. We may not have been around each other much over the past five years, but that doesn’t mean we’re not friends, and as your friend, I want to help you. Let me do this for you.”
She’s wavering. She’s staring at me, overwhelmed. “But…”
“You were worried about having a car. Done. You have one. I know you were worried about doctor bills. Done. You don’t have to worry about it now.”
I’m ready to continue to convince her when she starts crying. Big fat tears start to roll down her cheek. “Fuck, I’m sorry. Please don’t cry. I can’t… I don’t…”
I wrap my arms around her and hold her to me. “Fuck, baby, I’ll do whatever you tell me to do if it means you’ll stop crying.”
“Why are you being so nice to me?”
I kiss the top of her head. Maybe I shouldn’t, but I need to comfort her. “Because you’re my friend, and I want to be nice to you. You deserve to have nice things. You deserve to be given things that make your life easier. You deserve to be treated right.”
I lean back and wrap my hands around her upper arms. “Honey, if there’s one thing I want you to know, it’s that. You deserve so much more than just a car and paid time off. You deserve more.”
She lifts her hand and wipes her eyes. “Gah, I promised myself last night that I wouldn’t cry around you anymore, and look at me now.”
I reach for the center of the table and pull a tissue from the box, and instead of handing it to her, I wipe under her eyes. “You know, you can cry with me any time you need to. I’ll listen, but I have to tell you, Sassy, I’m going to do everything I can so you don’t want to cry. That’s going to be my mission over the next few months. If I can make your life easier… let me.”
She eyes me curiously. I can see the questions, the doubt, everything in her eyes, but finally she nods. “Okay. Thank you. I feel like I’ve thanked you a hundred times since yesterday and it’s not enough. I can’t thank you enough.”
I run my thumb across her soft cheek. “You don’t have to thank me.”
The sound of the front door opening has me reluctantly taking a step back.
“Sis… you still here?”
I call out to Kane, “We’re in here.”
Kane walks in and looks between me and his sister. “Shit, you’re crying again?”
Sassy bursts out laughing, and I can’t help but join her. She walks over to where she was sitting and starts packing up her stuff.
“What’s going on? What happened?” Kane asks.
I fist my hands at my sides, hoping that Kane goes along with this. He can easily blow my cover. “I gave Sam the keys to her company car.”
“Company car?” he asks speculatively.
Sam looks up at Kane, trying to read his reaction, and Kane finally chimes in. “Right, right, company car. Sounds good. Have you checked it out yet?”
Sam shakes her head, and Kane grabs the bag she’s holding. “Well, let’s go look at it. Elijah, you coming?”
I want to, but instead, I shake my head. “No, I have a few things to finish up on. I’ll see you two in the morning.”
Sassy hands the keys over to Kane and stays back as he goes outside. She looks at me with full-on gratitude in her eyes. “Thank you, Elijah. Really, thank you for the job opportunity and—”
I hold my hands up. “No more thank-yous. Just do what we talked about, okay? You deserve this, honey. This and so much more.”
She nods and then follows her brother out the door. I watch through the window, and as soon as I see Sassy’s face light up, I know I did the right thing. Yeah, people usually work here a minimum of three months before they get a company car. And insurance doesn’t usually kick in until after ninety days of employment, but that all changed this morning. I made calls to put it all in motion. And seeing Sassy smile like she is right now is one hundred percent worth it.
CHAPTER 6
SASSY
I’m exhausted but happy.
I thought for sure that Elijah had created some kind of fake job for me out of pity, but my list of things to do is growing every day. It’s challenging but also rewarding. I actually feel needed and wanted here, so it has been a great experience.
I love the job, and it’s not just because of the work I’m doing.
I had hoped by working here, I could forget about my attraction to Elijah that consumed most of my younger life. But here I am, pregnant by another man, and my insides get all gooey just looking at Elijah.