Page 68 of Cheap Shot

Sebastian’s employees shot him a worried look when he unlocked the door for them, and he wondered how big the bags under his eyes actually were. He hadn’t looked too closely in the mirror.

He gotreallyconcerned when Morgan quietly asked him if he wanted to stay in the back while she staffed the front this morning. He shook his head, thanked her, then refilled his coffeemug, silently making a note to use some of those moisturizing eye patches Brie swore by during his lunch break.

He sent off a quick text to Crawford that said,Hope you’re feeling okay today,figuring he might not hear back until later in the day.

He doubted Crawford checked his messages when he was around the team.

Thankfully, it was a slower morning, and Sebastian was able to browse his laptop. He answered a few emails, including one with a recruiter. It felt like overkill to hire a recruiter to find him someone to work in his shop, but he was starting to get desperate.

When lunchtime rolled around, Sebastian slapped some eye patches on and took a twenty-minute nap. He was still exhausted as he ate his meal, but at least the skincare treatment made him look less like a zombie.

He returned to work and he’d just finished a gorgeous arrangement of peach-colored roses and solomio, creamy white anemone, and dusty green eucalyptus when his cell phone buzzed. He picked it up, half-expecting to see a text from Crawford or maybe from a friend back in New York, but he straightened when he saw it was from Brie.

Harper’s fine but I have an emergency. Can you call?

“What’s going on?” he asked as soon as his sister picked up.

“Ugh. I have a surprise meeting at work. It’s just a video call, thank God. I don’t have to go in to the hospital for it, but I was supposed to go pick Harper up and there’s no way I can do both.”

Sebastian frowned. “Where is she now?”

“Physical therapy.”

“Ohh, got it. You need me to pick her up?”

“If you can.”

“I can make it work.” Sebastian ignored the laundry list of arrangements he needed to do for tomorrow. Whatever. He’d make it work. He’d stay up late tonight if he had to, even if pulling a late night two days in a row was a terrible idea.

“Are you sure?” Brie asked.

“I wouldn’t have said I could if I didn’t,” he pointed out.

“That’s a fucking lie,” she said with a laugh. “You’d tell me you could do it even if it would massively inconvenience you.”

“You and Harper are never an inconvenience,” he said firmly. “Will I have to change my plan for the day? Sure. But you two aren’t a problem and you never will be.”

“Fuck.” Brie sniffled. “Now you’re gonna make mecry.”

“Well, we don’t want that,” he said lightly. “You’ve got a video meeting to do.”

“Ugh, tell me about it. It’s with my manager and my director, too. Kathy didn’t tell me what it was about either, so now I’m stressed. Ican’tget fired, Seb.”

“You’re not gonna get fired,” he assured her, but he was already thinking of ways he could help if she did. But he really needed to solvetoday’sissue first. “You want me to keep Harper here after, or do you want me to drop her off at your place?”

“Do you mind keeping her at the shop for a couple of hours? I’ll get a lot more work done but I know it’ll slow you down.”

“I don’t mind,” he assured her.

“You’re a lifesaver.”

“Nah, just a brother,” he said. “Do you want me to drop her off after you’re done with work?”

“Yes, and I’ll feed you dinner. I know you’ve been eating too much takeout and pre-packaged shit lately.”

“Sounds perfect,” he said with a wince because that was definitely true. He could cook, he just … hadn’t lately. Hadn’t had time. Hadn’t cared as long as his belly was full and not growling with hunger. Besides, he got the good stuff from the bougie grocery store, so it wasn’t total crap. “Text you later. Oh, wait, what time should I go get Harper?”

“Can you make it there in an hour? If not, I’ll let the PT clinic know. They’re usually understanding about it.”