Total pages in book: 115
Estimated words: 111980 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 560(@200wpm)___ 448(@250wpm)___ 373(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 111980 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 560(@200wpm)___ 448(@250wpm)___ 373(@300wpm)
I’ve got a new home, a fresh location for my newest business, and a clean slate in a town where no one sees me as the guy who got screwed over by his bride-to-be. Darling Springs truly is perfect for that. There’s so much happening here that my backstory hardly matters. I’ve got plans for Dog Tails. Meetings with other business owners around here to line up partnerships and events to sponsor. Not to mention the partnerships I’m overseeing in the other locations too.
That’s why the life I’m building ought to be my focus, not these insistent questions in the back of my mind: What’s Chloe doing? What’s she up to? Does she still hate me?
But I can’t get distracted by her. I need to find my rhythm. I clear my head and turn to Banks. “Let me treat you to a cup of coffee.”
“I won’t say no to that,” he says.
We grab a table outside at Pick Me Up and shoot the breeze.
* * *
The thing about sharing space with someone is…you can’t help but hear things. Like the commotion among the staff. They think they’re whispering, but they sound like a Greek chorus—Levi, Zuri, Hazel, and Nisha. I’m in the office later that morning, crunching first-week sales figures and comparing them to the other locations, when their voices float to my half-open door.
I cock my head at another high-pitched sound. Did someone just shriek?
“Shut up. I love her!” It’s Levi.
“Shut up. She can hear you probably,” Hazel hushes the groomer.
“Shut up, she’s outside,” Levi volleys back to the daycare staffer.
“How about we just behave,” Nisha offers, no-nonsense, as always. “You two are worse than a pair of yappy Pomeranians.”
A louder, authoritative voice chimes in. “Huskies. They’re worse than Huskies. No one whines like a Husky.”
That’s Zuri, but she’s drowned out by Hazel again. “I love Saffron. I just love her so much. She was so good on The Invitation.”
“I know! When she seduced the hotel wellness director on the second night, I died,” Levi says. And hell, he’s right. That was a jaw-dropping twist in the show.
But that’s also my cue to intervene. Those must be Chloe’s new clients they’re talking about, and while I’m not a star gawker, I do know an opportunity when it comes my way.
And the opportunity is simple—we’d better not stare slack-jawed, googly-eyed, and phones at the ready when the high-profile new clients stride in.
Which means it’s boss time.
I push back in my chair, the wheels scraping against the concrete, loud enough for everyone to hear and scatter back to their posts. But even when I leave my office and enter the chaos of the main room, it’s just that—chaos.
An Irish Setter is taunting a Greyhound mix with a rope toy. A Mini Aussie Shepherd is covering up a rubber bone under a dog bed. And a Husky is…well, yammering in the middle of the room.
But that’s nothing compared to my employees.
Who are, unfortunately, staring at the window that leads to the street, where a black SUV—the electric kind made by a Swedish EV maker that’s become all the rage—appears to have just let out two women with glossy hair, big sunglasses, and big smoke-gray dogs. One wears jeans and the other a sundress, and they’re giggling as they chat with Chloe.
Who’s kneeling and saying hi to the pups.
The actresses are rising stars—Chloe told me their names—but I can’t take my eyes off the redhead and the way she handles both the dogs and the talent. Even from a distance, she’s got both a sense of calm and charm, from her smile to the easy way she has about her.
But…I can’t get distracted either. Tearing my gaze away, I clear my throat and survey the chaos in front of me, focusing on my job, just my job. “Listen up, team,” I say, my voice loud enough to be heard over my team but not too loud so as to startle the dogs. It’s enough for the staffers to turn around. “Every now and then we’ll have a high-profile client. It’s not our place to take pictures for social media, for friends, or for cred. Treat them the same as you’d treat any other client—with love for all creatures, and with kindness and compassion. And respect for privacy.” I gesture to the place—the grooming stations, the daycare, the front counter. “Let’s get back to work.”
Hazel sighs. “Okay, Mister Serious Boss.”
My ears perk. Is that what Chloe called me? Even though I’m not technically her boss.
“Yeah, Grumpster,” Levi adds in a playfully pointed jab.
Nisha shakes her head, standing closer to me. “I’m with the grump. We need to look busy.”
“You need to look busy because it’s your job,” Zuri says, backing me up, but then side-eying me as she adds to the staff while gesturing to me. “But he is all business. I mean, that suit.”