Page 14 of Always Be Mine
“So I’ve been blackballed.”
“I’m sorry, Lucy. It wasn’t your fault, none of it. I’m sure he’s only acting like this because his pride’s hurt. He thought he could get away with it forever.”
And he would have, too. If she hadn’t discovered his secret.
“It’s fine.”
But it wasn’t. She’d worked hard to build her career and her reputation in the industry as being an excellent manager. She was good at her job. Really good. She’d never planned to go back to work for Ross, but she’d never considered that she’d have a hard time finding work anywhere else.
“I’m sorry, Luce.”
“Really, it’ll be okay.” She sat up and inhaled a breath of fresh mountain air. The folder with the printed résumés sat in her lap. “I actually just got a new job.”
It was only a little white lie, because she didn’t technically have the job yet, but there was no doubt shewouldhave it. She just needed to give Craig her résumé first.
“You did? Where? Doing what?”
Lucy hated lying to her best friend, so instead of digging herself in any deeper, she did the next best thing. “I’ll have all of the details for you soon. But I actually need to rush off to a meeting with my new boss right now and if I don’t get off the phone, I’ll be late.”
If Mandi knew she was full of shit, she was too good of a friend to call her on it. “Okay,” she said instead. “I can’t wait to hear all the details.”
Me either.
“I’ll call you soon. And, Mandi?” She took a breath. “I took your advice, and I kissed a guy.”
“What? No way?”
She knew that snippet of information would send her friend into a nosy spiral.
“Who? What does he look like? What’s his name?”
“I’ll tell you, I promise.” She winked. “But not right now. I’ve got to run.”
She ended the call and tucked the phone into her purse as she realized the truth. She couldn’t tell Mandi who she’d kissed because, unbeknownst to her when she’d done it, she’d just kissed her soon-to-be boss.
Dammit.
One thing was for sure.
She definitely had a type.
He hadn’t actually hired Lucy on the spot. That would have been beyond unprofessional.
As it was, Craig was treading in dangerous territory because every time he spoke to her, he couldn’t stop looking into her bright-blue eyes or picturing their brief kiss and imagining another.
But if she wanted to drop off her résumé, it certainly couldn’t hurt. And hedidneed someone to replace Tom, who’d been quite happy to grab his things and head out the door to his new career opportunity as soon as Craig returned from the meeting.
Craig had only been in the shop for a few minutes before the bells over the door chimed with the arrival of customers. He’d begun to offer fancy hot chocolate and other hot drinks for the winter season, and although they’d proved to be a big hit with the tourists, it wasn’t enough to make up the difference in the colder seasons, but it was a start.
Craig had just finished making the last of the drinks when once again the bells over the door rang. This time, instead of customers, it was his youngest sister Kat with Meri, whom she’d picked up from school to give Craig a few minutes to clear his head.
Not that he’d had that chance yet.
His daughter ran full speed toward him. “I had thebestday, Daddy.”
Craig picked her up and swung her around before setting her down and bopping one finger on her nose. “Of course you did. What was so special about today?”
“Not the snacks.” She rolled her eyes with so much sass that Craig had to swallow back his laughter. “But it was okay because Savi’s mom brought in cupcakes in ice cream cones for her birthday. Have you ever seen cake in an ice cream cone, Daddy? How come we don’t have those here?”
