“Sorry.” Shane gave me a small smile. “Is everything okay?”
“I just really hate not having money,” I blurted. Where the hell did that come from? This house was paid off, so I couldn’t complain there. But with the bar not doing as well as it should have been, besides these new feelings regarding Shane, money was all I thought about. Clearly.
“Don’t we all.” He came up to me and reached into the fridge. Pulling out two beers, he handed me one. “Let me take a look at your books.”
I nodded, following him out of the kitchen.
“All of my stuff is in my office,” I told him, walking through the living room and down the hall that led to my bedroom and my office. “Sorry about the mess. I randomly decided to redecorate after having a few too many drinks one night and ordered a whole bunch of stuff online. Piece of advice, do not drink and shop at the same time.”
“Noted.” Shane laughed and went up to my desk. He started rummaging through papers and bills, the frown between his brows getting deeper as time went on. “This says you spent five grand on expenses but there’s no details as to what those expenses were.”
“It was just a lot of little things.”
“Yeah, that added up to five grand.” He placed the paper back on the messy pile and took a swig of his beer. “Listen, you have to keep track of every single penny you spend. It’s the onlyway you’ll figure out where your money is going. The small shit adds up. Trust me. I keep telling Noah that we don’t need half the crap he buys but he always insists. But at the same time, he writes it down. I taught him that.”
“But what’s that going to do?” I grumbled, rubbing the back of my neck.
“It’s going to help you realize that you’re spending money on things you either don’t need or it’ll help you limit that spending.” Shane placed his beer on a coaster and began going through more of my unpaid bills. “This could take a while. I can get started tonight or we can make plans for me to come over a couple times a week. I can help you with this.”
“I can’t pay you.” Fuck, this being in debt shit was enough to drive me insane. Money never used to be this tight but insisting on opening my own business and being my own boss, took over my damn life. I should have thought this through but thank small mercies I was able to at least get my house paid off before things got real bad financially.
“I’m not asking you to pay me, Rhett.” Shane paused, staring at me a little longer than what was probably appropriate. “Not in cash anyway.”
“What sort of payment are you referring to?” My throat went dry at what he could possibly be suggesting.
“We do have to collaborate on something that could benefit both Coffee Beans & Love and your bar.” He sat back in the chair. “You can pay me in food for now and we can think of other forms of payments later.”
I sat there, staring at him. He couldn’t mean sex when it came to other forms of payments, could he? That was definitely where my mind went. Maybe I was hopeful because it had been so long for me that I was desperate.
“I can cook you something now.” My stomach rumbled at the thought of food. “I haven’t eaten anyway.”
“Sounds like a good idea.” Shane’s voice dropped an octave, sending a shiver down my spine.
Leaving my office, my body was hyperaware that Shane was following close behind me. I had been attracted to him for a while, but it was only getting worse as the days went on. Now that he was older, I no longer looked at him like my son’s best friend but someone I could have some fun with.
While Shane sat on the couch in the living room, I went to my kitchen to figure out what to actually cook us for supper. I settled on a pizza I had made a few days ago and threw in the freezer. I remembered back to when Shane would spend the night to hang out with Brady and how they always wanted pizza.
After I took the pizza out of the freezer to thaw, I grabbed us two more beers and joined Shane on the couch. “I pulled a homemade pizza from the freezer and will let it thaw about an hour before I throw it in the oven.”
“Sounds good.” He placed his bottle on the coffee table in front of us. “What are we doing?”
“Having a beer.” I gave him his second one, hoping he didn’t ask anything else because if he did, I couldn’t be held responsible for the things that would leave my mouth. While I was currently questioning my feelings for him, if he got me into bed or even on the damn floor, a part of me would take over. I was into some kinky shit and I prayed it wouldn’t scare him away.
“Yeah, I see that.” Shane turned toward me and took a long swig. I watched as he swallowed, the tendons in his neck stretching and moving as the liquid went down his throat.
My mouth went dry.
“You’re staring,” he finally said, licking his bottom lip.
“Am I?” I knew I was. I couldn’t help it. Shane was hot as fuck and being there alone with him, only made these feelings more intense. I needed to get control of myself before I did something stupid. His hair was longer on top and shorter at the sides. Hisskin was tanned like he often spent hours in the sun. He had a single freckle on his upper right cheek. It was the only mark on his otherwise blemish free skin. My tongue tingled, itching to lick it.
“Rhett?” Shane raised an eyebrow, tilting his head.
Jumping from the couch, I began pacing.
“What’s wrong?”
“I can’t do this. I shouldn’t want to do this. This can’t...I can’t...” I wasn’t making any sense, and my words were coming out jumbled.
