Page 48 of Demon On Deck

“Per hour,” Neeve finishes.

The world goes sideways as I begin choking on the exhaled breath.

“Per hour!” I exclaim while trying desperately to breathe through my rising panic attack.

“I know. It’s terrible, but I promise you it’s absolutely worth the expense.”

All I can do is nod my head. Shock is setting in. My whole body is going numb, to include my brain.

I’m so incredibly fucked.

Neeve stares at me with utter sympathy. “We need to move fast on this, Kallie. I’m afraid your snake of an ex will try to make a move and catch us unprepared. I can set up a meeting with someone next Tuesday. If you can bring all your financial statements as well as access to any accounts to that meeting, we can get the process started.”

“Ok,” I say weakly, just barely managing to stand on legs that feel like jello. I thank Neeve for her time and make my way to my car. I shoot off a quick text to Mel, giving her the cliff notes of the meeting, then head for work.

The drive from Neeve’s office to the shop is a blur as my mind scrambles to form a plan to pay for a forensic accountant that doesn’t involve a bank heist.

When I enter the shop, I’m met by Grey, standing behind the counter.

“Hey, Kal,” he says.

“Hey, Grey. Thanks for covering. I’m so sorry the meeting took so long.”

He waves away my words. “Not a problem. I told you, you didn’t have to come in at all. I know how stressful this all is. How was the meeting?”

I can feel my body going as rigid as the lucky bamboo plants on the counter.

“I know, and I appreciate it, but I was gone for a week, and I still feel awful. And the meeting—It was…informative. How were things here? Busy?” I ask, avoiding the question and hoping my voice doesn’t betray my anxiety.

The look Grey gives me is screaming, “I see you dodging my question, but I’m gonna let it slide…for now.”

“Steady this morning, but pretty slow this afternoon.”

The tension building in my body ratchets up another billion notches as I try to play it cool. We just restocked the grocery stores, so the likelihood of a new set of orders without a major holiday was slim. Still, I was hoping.

”You did get a call from that fine piece of hockey-playing ass named Jackson Frost.” Grey says, fanning his face.

”Grey!” I laugh, cause he is so not wrong.

“Yes, Ma’am,” he says, looking me up and down, no doubt noticing my face flush.

“He’s a customer,” I stammer.

“Mhm. A customer with muscles sculpted to perfection, an ass you could bounce a quarter off, and lips I’d kill to have wrapped around certain unnamed parts of my lush body. And judging by the way you’re blushing, you agree.” He says sassily with a snap of his fingers.

I can’t help but laugh, shaking my head as I head for the back room to call Jackson back.

“That’s what I thought,” Grey calls after me with another snap of his fingers. I can hear him snickering as I dial.

Jackson picks up on the second ring.

“Hello?”

“Hi, Mr. Frost. This is Kallie from Bloomhaus returning your call.”

“Hey, Kallie. Please, just Jackson. Give me a second.”

“Of course,” I say as I hear him call for his financée, Grace.