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wasn’t right at the moment to try to talk it out, but maybe that wasn’t still

the case. She could always try, and if she got nowhere, she’d either see if

she could tough it out at work or, as much as she didn’t want to, she’d apply

for a different job somewhere else and put it behind her. As unbelievable

and difficult as that seemed. She wasn’t saying she could forget. Just that

she’d know it was time to move on, no matter how hard that was.

“So? Are you going to eat that or should I help you out?”

Romi sighed. “I’m going to eat it. But you can drink my beer if you

want.”

Chapter 16

Kiera

Romi Belleview was the personification of everything Kiera had tried so

hard to avoid in her life. She couldn’t actually pick just one word to

describe how she felt. Hypocrisy. Inadequacy. Dishonesty. That one

probably fit best. She’d learned to live with the fake life she created for

herself, but over the past few days, she felt like she was drowning.

After avoiding the store for three days, by Thursday, Kiera was out of

picks, trailers to sort out, meetings to book, and other general excuses. She

managed to get through the entire day without having to see or interact with

Romi by locking herself in her office with claims of accounting, scheduling,

and what not to work on. As soon as everyone left, she planned on locking

up the store and going home.

It seemed like a sound plan until a soft knock sounded at her door when

everyone should have been gone. Wynn always locked the front door right

at closing time and the staff let themselves out the back. The door locked

automatically when it was closed, which meant that only staff could be left

in the store, and none of the guys knocked that softly.

Kiera braced herself, hoping against hope that it was Betty or Sylvia.

Of course, when she unlocked and opened the door, it wasn’t.

“Hey,” Romi said softly.