both naked. I mentally chastised myself as I walked toward the front door.
I didn’t even know if he swung my way. That was something that Ford had picked on me endlessly for years. I was gay, but I had absolutely no gaydar and had to rely on being the one to be hit on. Or, Ford would tell me and I’d take a chance. He’d never been wrong.
When I reached the door, I unlocked it and pulled it open, letting Sawyer in.
“Thanks. I wasn’t sure what time to be here, so I’m a little early.”
“I actually live in the place upstairs, so right around nine is fine. I’ve never yet had a line of people waiting to get inside at opening time,” I said. Sawyer nodded as he unzipped his coat.
“Is there somewhere I can put this? That is, I assume I’m actually working today? You let me in the door.”
“Yes. And you can put it in the office. Follow me.” I led Sawyer to the back and showed him where the office was. After that, I gave him a quick tour, showing him where everything was. By the time we were back out front, it was already half past nine and we’d yet to have our first customer.
“Is it always so dead?”
“On and off. We have spurts. Most of our foot traffic shows up in the afternoons.”
“Hmm” was all Sawyer said.
What the hell did hmm mean? I was about to ask when Sawyer asked a different question.
“About that sign. Did you look for something last night?” Sawyer asked.
“No. I thought about some ideas, but that’s as far as I got.”
“No problem. I can help if you want. I didn’t bring my laptop though. I’ll be sure to bring it tomorrow.”
“No need. Give me a few and I’ll be back.” I went back to the office, and after I saved the spreadsheet I’d been working on this morning, I unplugged the laptop and took it out front. “Here. Feel free to use this. It’s full of shop stuff, and I only use it for the store.”
Sawyer nodded before he set the laptop on the counter in front of us and opened it. When it came to the log-in screen, I entered the password and stepped aside for Sawyer to stand in front of the laptop.
“There are several different sites that have good-quality decals. I’ve used these two the most, but this one here is better for custom designs,” Sawyer said as he clicked on a tab.
I had no idea how he even knew about these places, but I was going to bookmark them for sure.
“I don’t really have a design. Something with books maybe?” I said. Sawyer looked at me, offering half a smile.
“Do you have a logo? Something you put on your business cards? Or your bags even?”
I winced because I had none of that. “We’ve never had business cards. We’ve always just been here, and that was it.”
“All right. What about a website? Do you have one?”
“No.”
Sawyer pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger. “Okay, it's highly unconventional, but I need to run and grab my laptop. My programs are on it, and by the looks of things, you have an older version of a combo suite and that’s about it on here.”
“It’s not that I’m unwilling to update,” I said.
“No, I realize that. I just need my computer so I can play around with logos and stuff. You don’t have any design software on here that I could find.”
Sawyer looked to me, and I shook my head. I’d never needed it, so it was an expense I didn’t expend.
“There is a list of things we’ll need to do, and that’s just one of them.” Sawyer took a step back before he pointed around me to the space that used to be a gathering zone for Grandma’s friends. “That area over there.”
“What about it? I was thinking of putting more magazine racks when I found some.”
Sawyer blinked at me. “You should consider a coffee counter. A small one that only offers just basic coffees. Nothing too fancy,” Sawyer added when I started to disagree. That meant another employee, and I wasn’t exactly rolling in the dough. I didn’t have rent on the building, which helped. But I did have quarterly taxes, and although not high compared to some places, they weren’t exactly low either.
“From the ages of sixteen to twenty-one, I worked in the same coffeehouse. Well, I worked in a different location while