“She’s my employee,” he said. “It’s my call.”
Maybe I should have shut my mouth, given Jamie technically had the power to recommend Cassandra let me go off this sub-contract. But she’d never do that. And besides, Heartbreaker Plumbing was Reilly Contracting’s go-to plumbing subcontractor. I’d done every job the company had hired usfor faster, better, and with far more satisfied customers than any other outfit in town.
“Jamie,” I said, anger winning out now at his rudeness. He was being a dick to Sarah,andhe was trying to undermine Heartbreaker Trades. And what I’d told Mitchell last night about Heartbreaker being the dream of my life was dead true. I wouldn’t have counted Jamie as one of the men I was creating the collective to protect women from—not by a long shot.
“The last time we talked,” I said, “you were all for Heartbreaker Trades. You said yourself you’d been wanting more women in trades for years. It’s why you hired Sarah, wasn’t it?”
“Seamus hired Sarah,” Jamie snapped.
For a moment, the room was silent. Even Jamie, grimaced.
I was just opening my mouth to tell him off completely when Sarah spoke first. “Jamie. I’m joining the collective. I believe in what Winona’s doing, and I believe in the importance of women on job sites. If you don’t, then I’m not sure we’re a good fit anymore.”
Jamie’s face drained of color. “That’s not what I’m trying to do here.”
“Then what exactly are you trying to do?” I asked.
Cher cleared her throat. She’d been carefully staying out of it until now, but her nostrils flared, which was always a sign she was going to hand someone their ass.
Fuck yes, Cher.
“Would it help if I reminded you about what Sarah’s involvement will be at Heartbreaker?” Cher asked. She looked somehow more commanding sitting down than we did standing up, with her ankle resting on her knee and hands steepled under her chin. “This innovative partnership will rely on the combined efforts…”
Bless her. As Jamie looked like he’d rather be anywhere else, Cher rattled off all the ways Heartbreakerwas going to revolutionize trades, and how board members would be directly involved in changing the future. “This is your one opportunity, as a dick-haver, to get in on this on the ground floor.”
I laughed out loud at that. Jamie glowered, his jaw popping. But I’d never felt more validated in where this dream was going. I was so very proud of both my friends.
But I was also suddenly desperate to see Mitchell. It hadn’t been brave leaving him the way I did this morning. It had been a cheap attempt at trying to make things hurt less. But it was going to hurt no matter what, and seeing Jamie so tied up in his dysfunctional feelings made me miss Mitchell as if he was already gone.
CHAPTER 31
House Call
WINONA
Cher came out on my heels. “Sorry,” I said. “I need to take care of something.”
“Go,” she said. “I’ll handle things until he’s gone.”
She meant Mitchell.
I hugged her fiercely, swallowing back tears.
Then I pulled out my phone.
WINONA: Are you busy?
He answered right away.
MITCHELL: Never for you. Please come back. I can’t breathe without you.
This didn’t bode well for our separation. But it didn’t matter anymore. I headed downstairs and jumped into Flo.
Mitchell met me just inside his front door. The door opened to him standing wide legged, his arms folded, wearing nothing but a white towel slung low on his hips. My stomach swooped as I took in the ridged length of his torso; the dark hair peeking out the top of the fold. And the stern look on hisface. Swap out the robe and grow the beard a little longer, and he’d be that taciturn beast I first met right here.
Was I attracted to him, even then?
“You got clean for me,” I said.
