“So what’s going on with Nick?” she asks, wiggling her eyebrows.
I lean over the desk and wave her off. “We slept together. Whatever.”
She places a hand over her mouth to stop herself from shrieking. “Uh, excuse me? Whatever? You’ve been lusting after that dude for, like, ever, and now you’re telling me that you jumped his bones and it was NBD?”
I rest my head on the counter. “I’m just really tired,” I mutter.
Tracey reaches over and gently pushes my head up. “Pull yourself together, woman! Go see your dad, then go home and take a nap.”
I sigh. The word nap provokes a Pavlovian response and I nearly start to drool. “That sounds great, but it’s not gonna happen.”
Tracey shrugs. “Well, your dad’s pretty tired from that big family bingo thing we did earlier today.”
I freeze. “Family bingo was today?”
“Yeah.” Tracey glances at her computer, already back to work, uninterested in the fact that I’m having a personal crisis over here.
“But I was supposed to go to that,” I say, my voice rising. “I must have . . . I must have forgotten. Did any volunteers play with him, at least?”
Tracey looks back at me, eyebrows raised. “Uh, no? Milo was here. I figured you asked him to fill in.”
“Why didn’t you remind me?” I ask her, my voice sharp.
Tracey sits back in her chair, then gestures around her. “No offense, but I do have a job, and it isn’t as your personal assistant.”
I shake my head quickly and rub my hands over my eyes. “You’re right, you’re right. I’m sorry. I’m being a bitch.”
Tracey leans forward and smiles. “You’re being a cranky baby. Go take a nap.”
I nod. “Okay. I’m sorry again. I’ll see you later.”
As I walk down the hallway to my dad’s room, I stare at my red flats moving slowly over the beige carpet. How have I dropped the ball on so many things lately? My dad. School. Wedding prep. I’m behind on everything, and why? Because I was spending so much time with Nick. Entire evenings I could’ve been working, could’ve been with my dad. Gone.
My phone buzzes and the screen shows a text from Nick. Nick. Pinpricks of sweat form at my temples and I toss the phone back in my purse. Not right now.
I knock on my dad’s door, mentally trying to figure out how I’ll possibly catch up on everything I have to do. One thing’s for sure: I was right when I said I didn’t have time for a relationship.
Chapter Twenty-Six
I show up for my shifts all week, providing our customers with the high level of Chloe Sanderson service to which they’ve become accustomed, but I avoid Nick like it’s yet another job. I don’t meet his eyes. I don’t look at him when I can feel him staring at me. I definitely don’t go into his office for any reason, lest I find him shirtless in there. It’s pretty difficult, but as I remind myself, it’s for the best.
“Hey,” Nick says one night as we clean up. “Is everything okay with you? With your dad, and Milo?”
I shrug, wiping off a counter. “Um, as okay as it ever is. Which is to say, not okay at all, but that’s normal.”
He nods. “You seem a little off this week.”
I bristle. “I’m sorry that handling a job, school, and the care of my sick father occasionally makes me into a less-than-pleasant person.”
“That’s not what I meant.”
“Okay.” I know it’s not, and I know I’m not being fair. It’s not Nick’s fault I’m a screw-up who can’t handle normal relationships because her life is so full of responsibilities. “Sorry. I’m being an asshole.”
“Can I talk to you about something?” Nick asks. He leans against the counter until I’m forced to put down my cleaning rag and look at him.
“Talk away,” I say, leaning away from him, wishing I’d never looked into those brown eyes.
He takes a deep breath, then says in a rush, “I think we should be partners.”
I raise my eyebrows, then tilt my head, then squint at him, then make vague movements with my hands. Basically, I run the gamut of facial expressions and hand gestures before settling on one word: “What?”
“I think we should run the shop together. You and me.”
“What?” I ask again. Apparently that’s the only word I know now.
He shakes his head. “I don’t want to be your boss, Chloe, not when you do more to keep this place running than I