“I can handle that,” Cash says. “There’s no reason for Millie to go.”
Millie seems to curl in on herself, staring at the table like she’d rather be anywhere but here.
“Millie is going to assist you because she’s far more organized than you are. Plus, while she’s there, she can meet Stanley and learn her secrets.”
“Millie doesn’t need to learn anything,” Cash says. “She’s already perfect.”
Millie’s chin lifts, and she stares at Cash with wide, shocked eyes.
Cash clears his throat. “As a receptionist. She’s already perfect as a receptionist.”
“I’m not suggesting she’ll learn how to be better at her job,” Sebastian says, relaxing and looking back and forth between Cash and Millie like he’s trying to figure something out. “But Stanley can teach her about working specifically for a construction company like ours and give her advice for dealing with us.” He lowers his head and looks at Millie. “I’m sorry again for biting your head off this morning.”
“It’s fine,” Millie says with a soft smile. “It was a stressful morning.”
Cash glares at Sebastian so hard I’m surprised his head doesn’t explode. I don’t know if it’s because Millie seems to prefer Seb to him or because he wants to kill Seb for being mean to Millie.
Cash refuses to talk to me about Millie at all.
“Do you mind taking a week in Aspen Cove?” Sebastian asks Millie. “I’ll double your pay for the week and cover all of your expenses. It would be helpful if you could still handle scheduling and paperwork remotely…” He looks over at Levi. “Can she do that remotely?”
“I’ll set it up so she can,” Levi says.
“A week?” Cash asks. “You want me to stay there a week? I’ve got a job—”
“I rescheduled it,” Millie says, with an uncharacteristic bite to her words.
“You did what? That’s an important—”
“Stop,” Sebastian says. “The client was perfectly happy to wait, and Mom and Dad need you more than they do. Cash, you’ll stay with Mom and Dad. I’ve booked a hotel room for Millie downtown so she can have everything she needs within walking distance. The two of you can leave Friday night.”
“My car can’t make that drive,” Millie says.
“I’ll drive,” Cash says. “But I’m not staying a week if I can get done what needs to be done more quickly.”
Clearly annoyed, he gets up from the table and storms to the kitchen.
I hand Harper over to Amelia. “I’ll be out in five minutes with dessert, but I need to talk to Cash.”
She nods and settles Harper against her chest. There’s probably no need for dessert, since Harper’s eyes are already drifting shut, but I’ll bring some just in case.
Cash is elbows deep in soapsuds, washing pots, his dress shirt sleeves rolled up. He glances over his shoulder at me and rolls his eyes. “Would it have killed Sebastian toaskme if I want to take on this job?”
“Probably,” I say as I scoop up three slices of store-bought apple pie onto a heavy-duty paper plate. “He doesn’t really do it on purpose, you know. He just slots us all into place like puzzle pieces and figures it’ll make sense to us, since it makes sense to him.”
“If he’d talked to me, he’d have known sending me with Millie is a terrible idea. She hates me.”
I set down the dessert plate and move to stand next to my brother. “Maybe you can change that on this trip.”
He clenches his eyes shut and groans. “I’ve been managing to hold it together, but riding in my car with her, being in the same hotel with her...” He opens his eyes and looks at me pleadingly. “You can go in my place. You don’t have anything pressing, do you?”
I roll my eyes at him, because he knows I do. “What are you worried is going to happen, Cash? You think you’re going to grab her and kiss her against her will? You aren’t an animal.”
“Of course not,” he says, pushing his shoulders back. “But I’ll do something stupid, like let down my guard and tell her how good her hair smells or how pretty her eyes are when she smiles. I cannot spend a week in constant proximity to that woman. It’ll…” He lowers his voice to a whisper. “It’s going to fucking hurt.”
Damn, he’s got it bad. “I’ll talk to Sebastian. I’ll convince him to send Millie separately and—”
A gasp from the doorway has me spinning to see Millie standing in the doorway, her eyes already glistening with tears. “I don’t like this any better than you do, you know,” she says. “I don’t know why you hate me so much, but I promise I’ll beentirely professional. I’ll bring plenty of work to do, and I won’t even speak to you unless absolutely necessary.”
