the present me could speak to past me, she would have told me to run. Given how stubborn past me was, though, I’m sure that she wouldn’t have listened.
I was only at work for about an hour when I noticed a familiar face come in. It was one of the brothers from the night before, casually talking on the phone while wandering around the store.
They were all so hot, in different ways. I didn’t know which one I preferred, given the choice.
Of course, I wasn’t given the choice, and I told myself that I had to stop thinking like that. He hadn’t come in to throw himself at my feet.
That did raise the question of why he had come in. He was looking around a store full of knock-offs that were sold at his ranch. Was he about to serve us with a cease and desist order? Was something about to go down, in the middle of this peaceful store?
He looked up then, and smiled at me, and I felt all my fears melt away.
“Hello again,” he said, and I stayed at the cash register.
“Again?” I asked, with a smile plastered on my face. I figured that my best chance at keeping things neutral was to pretend like I didn’t remember him.
“We sat by each other at dinner last night?” he said like everything had been fine. I put on my best shocked face.
“Oh, yes,” I said. “Right, I remember. I am so sorry about…”
“That’s all right,” he said. “No need to apologize. I just wanted to make sure that you were OK.”
“Oh, yeah,” I said. “Totally OK. Everything is fine.”
“Great,” he replied, and came a little closer. “What’s your name?”
“Uh...Jenny,” I said. “Is there something I can help you with?”
He looked around the shop, and I saw his eyes land on the cowboy hats that were basically a direct knock off of the products he sold.
“Can you tell me about these?” he asked. I nodded, mutely, and walked across the shop floor. I told myself that he didn’t own the copyright on cowboy hats, and if our shop was open and operating, it was perfectly legal. That did not stop me from feeling like a total asshole, though, as I told him about them.
“I love them,” he said. “And since you are selling them at a much lower price point than ours, I assume your wholesale cost is lower?”
“Oh,” I stuttered. “I just work the register. I don’t know too much about that.”
“I see,” he said. “How long have you been working here?”
“About six months,” I said. “Maybe a little bit less.”
“And do you like it here?” he asked. I shrugged.
“I just work a few hours a week,” I replied. “Just to...you know, get out of the house.”
“Right,” he said. “And what do they pay here?”
I could not believe he was asking me these questions. Under normal circumstances, I probably wouldn’t have answered them. However, his gaze was mesmerizing, and the information came tumbling out
“I, uh...minimum wage,” I said, and he nodded.
“I see,” he replied and handed me his card. “Well, if you want to make twice that doing the exact same type of work, give me a call. It’s very hard to get someone part-time to cover the few hours that are left as gaps between regular shifts. Sometimes, we just need someone to pull two or three hours in a week between the full-timers, but nobody wants that type of job.”
“That type of job would be perfect for me,” I said. The only downside, and I didn’t say this to him, would be that I would be out of the house for fewer hours than I was now.
It occurred to me, of course, that I could just tell Matthew I was at work, and then have some freedom. However, as soon as the thought entered my head, I dismissed it. There was no way I would ever get away with something like that.
“Sure,” he said. “Well, it was nice to meet you, Jenny.”
“Wait,” I said. “What's your name?”
“Jacob,” he replied with a twinkle in his eye and sauntered off like a proper cowboy.
I watched him go with a flutter in my heart. He was so handsome, and I literally felt like butterflies were going to burst out of my stomach, like in the movies.
“Was that the ranch owner?” Sarah asked as I went back to the cash. I nodded and tucked his card inside my pocket. “Was something wrong?”
“I, uh...I think he was maybe scoping out the