Love In Secrets (Love Distilled #3) - Scarlett Cole Page 0,50
say anything you weren’t thinking?”
Cassie shook her head. “You didn’t. I’m scared because I think this already means more to me than I thought it would. But I guess if we stop now, we could miss out on a month of wonderful.”
Jake took her hands in his. “A month of wonderful. I can live with that.”
“And I get it. I trust you to tell Liv and Em when the time is right for you.”
“They’ll understand.”
“I hope for both our sakes, that’s true.”
“What the fuck, Cassandra?” Carter said, as she video-called him three days later.
Sitting in her car in the early morning light of the distillery parking lot, she grinned as he fumbled with the light switch. “Good morning, sunshine.”
Carter huffed. “It’s after midnight, sis.”
“Do you happen to know anything about the two thousand dollars in my checking account?”
Carter rubbed a hand across his face. “I’ll take it all back if you call me after midnight again.”
“So, it is from you. Why?”
“Because you’re there and I’m not. I was chatting with Dad. Why didn’t you tell me you gave up your job to help him out?”
Cassie took a deep breath. “Because I knew if it came down to it, that I was the one who could help him now. Get Cunningham Construction back on track. He’ll need your help later. To get back in shape. To stay on track with his physical therapy.”
Carter pursed his lips. “Yeah. But I can do that from here over video. That’s why there’s money in your account. You can help Dad in ways I can’t. But I can help you out. Like flights, your rent in Brooklyn, cabs, whatever. So just say you accept it and let me get back to sleep.”
Warmth trickled through her. “Thanks, Carter. As brothers go, you aren’t bad.”
“Same, sis. Good night.”
It was a better way to start the day than she had been expecting. She was here for a meeting with Emerson, Olivia, and Jake to tell them the distillery was going to have to shift to a new plan, putting them six weeks beyond their current date.
And she wondered how Jake would take the news, seeing as she’d been in his bed hours earlier. When she’d fallen headfirst into whatever was going on between the two of them—which she was well aware meant a lot more than sex—she’d only thought about the implication on their friendship, and their families’ friendships.
But sleeping with a client . . .
How had she made such a rookie mistake?
At a minimum, they should have discussed it on Monday when they’d had their heart-to-heart.
Now she was tied up in knots over something she wouldn’t have thought twice about in New York. The timeline was the timeline. The issues were the issues. All that mattered was the pragmatism over what to do about it.
Emotion didn’t come into it.
As she walked over to the construction site, she dialed the scaffolder. “Hey, Jerry, it’s Cass,” she said when he answered. “Any idea when you’ll get here to take down the scaffolding on the east face? We could do with the space clearing before the windows go in.”
Jerry coughed, loudly, and Cassie grimaced, moving her phone away from her ear. “Can’t get a crew out until Thursday.”
Cassie shook her head. “Not going to work. You promised me Monday on Friday. It’s already slipped.”
“If I can’t get a crew, I can’t get a crew.”
Dealing with contractors was more like parrying with fencing foils. She wanted to shout En garde and begin the dual. “You might want to find one or I’ll be deducting from what we owe you for every day you stop us.”
“That’s not part of our agreement,” Jerry spluttered.
“I know,” she said sweetly. “But neither was the scaffolding still being up against the building a week after it was supposed to.”
“Fine, I’ll get someone there tomorrow.”
“Thanks, Jerry.”
Cassie hung up and wandered into the tasting room where she could see Olivia. “Good morning,” she said, stepping inside.
“Hey, what can I make you?” Olivia asked, glancing at the barista station.
“Flat white with almond milk if you have it.”
“I can do that.” Olivia got to work behind the bar, making their coffees. “I meant to offer, if you feel like a change of scenery, our home is open to you.”
“You know, that’s really sweet of you, and perhaps one of the weekends, I’ll take you up on it and we can go drinking in the city. But after New York, I’m kinda enjoying the fresh air.”