“What if your intuition is broken?”
Fair point. I have a history of making the worst life decisions when I suffer the kind of injury that causes me to be benched for the rest of the hockey season. My last one was marrying Devlyn. My judgment isn’t clouded right now. I’ve made peace with the fact that my old career is behind me. “I see something in you, Harley. I have since the first day I met you.”
A heavy silence hangs between us.
She blows out a breath. “All right, I’m ready for dessert now.”
I frown.
She’s dismissing me?
“If becoming your in-house social media manager slash public relations liaison is the only way I’ll be able to have thattempting dessert I can’t live one more second without tasting, so be it.”
“You’re accepting the job?”
“Yes.” She worries her lower lip. “Your blind faith in me gives me wings, Kaz.”
Chapter 14
I’m not like them
Kazimir
After too many yawns, followed by too many apologies for yawning, Harley padded upstairs to the guest bedroom on the third floor. She’s been through the wringer.
It’s only ten-thirty—way too early for me to sleep. I change into gray sweatpants and a white long-sleeve t-shirt and ready myself to go back down to my office to catch up on the day. I’m sure I have a long list of urgent things that require my attention.
My phone rings.
I snatch the device off the console and accept the video call.
Erik’s face fills the screen.
“Hi, Erik. Sorry I didn’t call you back. I didn’t respond to your voicemails or texts, because summarizing this day warrants more than just a few lines of reply.”
“Things didn’t go well at Grazie Mille?”
“Everything went according to plan. Étienne Leveaux was arrested before the restaurant opened its doors for the lunch service.”
“Good on you for putting the crook out of commission,” he says. “Were you able to get in touch with Harley? I can’t imagine Étienne was agreeable to divulge that kind of information once the police had him in cuffs.”
“With the help of the owner, I got in touch with Harley.”
“How is she doing? Did she find another job?”
“No, she didn’t. And this day rail-rolled her. But now that she moved in with me, it alleviates some of the stress she’s been under.”
He tilts his head to the side. “Come again? Harley Lancaster moved in with you? Why?”
I fill him on today’s tumultuous events.
He rubs a hand over his face. “Holy shit. That’s insane.”
“Thank God I had the PI team I hired to dig dirt into Étienne still on retainer. Harley gave me her keys and I was able to let them into her apartment so they could take photos of every inch of the dump she lived in.”
“What does the landlord have to say?”
“Harley’s still waiting for a call back from him.”
