Page 30 of Help Wanted

Chapter 6

Zane winced as he watched the expression on Kenley’s face change from horror of an impending attack to a different kind of horror. She was embarrassed, and now she was leaving. He’d messed up again. He desperately needed to come up with some way to fix this.

“I got in late last night.” Seven could be late. “And I had some other things to do today.” Like hide from her. “I was planning to leave tomorrow again, so I didn’t think it would matter if I was in town.” Well, that sucked.

“You don’t need to explain.” She paused at the door, and then turned to face him. “Look, I know you didn’t want to hire me. I know Sidney pressured you into it. I have an older brother, so I understand how sometimes it’s easier to give in than to put up a fight. I get it.” She looked down at the floor. “If you find someone you really want to work with, I’ll train them before I go so you don’t have to bother Sidney.”

This was definitely not what he wanted, although it would make things so much easier. But he didn’t want her to go. She must have sensed his delay as affirmation.

“However you want to handle it is fine. I can quit or you can fire me. It’s up to you. I’ve been fired before.”

“You don’t like working here?” he asked. Maybe she wanted out.

“I do. I like it a lot, but I guess I thought…” She shook her head.

“What did you think?” He had to know.

“I thought we would be working together, like a team. It’s stupid, but I really wanted to learn about boats. I wanted to belong here.” She laughed. “I can’t believe I just made this situation worse. God.” She shook her head. “Like I said, it was a stupid expectation. I mean, this is your business. I’m sorry it didn’t work out.” She turned to leave again and his heart nearly stopped.

“Wait. I don’t want you to go,” he said more seriously than he needed to. “I mean, not tonight—you can obviously go home. But I want you to come back. Tomorrow.” He sounded like an idiot.

“Sure. I wouldn’t leave you hanging. I can stick around until you find someone else.”

“I don’t want anyone else. I want you.” More than he should. “You’re doing an excellent job. Everything’s going according to plan and ahead of schedule. I actually like the new billing system. And you saved me a bunch of money by finding that other freight company to move our equipment and tools. I should have said something about that. Thank you.”

“It’s not like we’ve spoken.”

“Right. I’m sorry about that too. I guess I just…” What was he going to say?

“I get it. You don’t like change. No one does. Sidney was with you since you started your business so it’s probably difficult to get used to someone else. Especially a stranger.” She gave him the perfect excuse, and like a coward he took it.

“Still, it was rude. If you stay, I promise I’ll do better. I’ll make an effort to communicate and be here in person. So we can work together. Like a team.” This idea put his stomach in knots, but he needed to do something drastic. This was his business. She was an asset he couldn’t afford to lose. He needed her on his team as much as he needed Paul and Brady. He would only think of her in that aspect.

“It gets kind of lonely here all the time.”

“Maybe we could get a parrot.”

She laughed at his feeble attempt at humor. “I don’t think that would be a good idea since I’ve killed a cactus.”

“That takes some effort.” His body responded to her laugh, but instead of running away, he stood there hoping he would eventually become desensitized to his reaction. If they were going to work together, he needed to figure out how to be close to her. And stay there.

“So I guess you don’t need me to schedule your flight home.”

“Um. No.” He smiled. “I’m already here.”

“So I see.” She smiled back at him. Were they flirting? It seemed like it.

“Have you eaten?” he asked without thinking as she turned to go. The temptation was almost gone, but he’d called her back.

“No. I was going to go home and have a bowl of…” She waved her hand. “No.”

“Do you want to go grab something to eat? My treat. I won’t need to run out to take a call. We could get to know each other a little better,” he suggested. What was wrong with him? Had he just suggested they go on a date? Before he had the opportunity to backtrack, he saw her eyes light up with excitement.

“That would be a great idea.”

He couldn’t believe he’d just asked her out to dinner. Did employers take their employees out for random dinners? He went for drinks with Brady and Paul. It must be acceptable. He swallowed and followed her out of the office.

Despite his expectations, dinner wasn’t uncomfortable at all. Kenley seemed happy to forget about his appalling manners and sneaking around, so he let it go. They chatted easily about the boat he was working on and how he was going to be looking for a boat for Wes at the boat show in Montauk.