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Ryker shrugged yet again. “You use human comparisons a lot.”

“Hazard of living in their culture. Don’t evade.”

“I don’t do that.”

“Slaking is a life necessity, and nobody has to earn those with productivity.”

He gave a low hum of contemplation. “You’re not the first person to hassle me about my slaking habits, but nobody’s ever explained it quite like that.” Before she could push any further, he said, “I’ll think it over.”

She didn’t want to let this go. It was important to Ryker’s health, to how he perceived himself. But she hadn’t known him long enough to earn that place in his life. Then again… “If you can be worried about whether I’m taking PTO, I can definitely be worried about whether you’re slaking regularly.”

A smile pulled his mouth. “Fair point.”

An image flashed before her—herself and Ryker together, laughing and holding hands, their ring fingers tattooed as the vampire sign of…marriage.

“Leslie?”

She blinked. Met his eyes. “Yeah?”

“You okay?”

She was thrumming from the inside out. Strange that he couldn’t see it. “Sure.”

She wanted to tell him what she’d imagined. He’d grin his face off, no doubt.

But no, not yet. The picture felt strangely real and strangely sacred. For now Leslie would hold onto it and try to decide what it meant.

Ten

Leslie’s fingers tingled with adrenaline as she used her phone app to punch out, then slipped down the corridor from the restaurant’s break room to Brent’s office. She tapped on the open door, and he looked up, unaware of her until she knocked.

“Hey, what’s up?” He was grinning, because he had no idea what she was about to say.

“Um, we need to talk, if that’s okay.” Shoot. Must be more forceful.

“Sure.”

Life was so much simpler when she didn’t push too hard, when she let day-to-day routines carry her along like a leaf in a mountain creek. But instead here she was, digging into the creek bottom with both heels and forcing the water to part around her.

When she shut the office door, Brent’s eyebrows arched. “Everything okay?”

“I think so.” Depending on how this conversation went. He motioned her to the chair across from his desk, and she tried to adopt a relaxed posture as she sat. “So…about my request for time off.”

“Oh, that.” His signature grin slipped a little. “Of course I’d love to say yes, Leslie, but you know how busy we are halfway into August.”

“Right. And I know how busy we are halfway into every other month of the year, too.”

His face froze. He didn’t blink.

“I’m always here, Brent. I don’t get sick. I take shifts the others don’t want. I’m a really good head waitress, and you know it. And I’m asking that you please approve my request for time off that I have earned.”

The words she’d recited on and off all day. They’d all come out of her mouth in the right order without a single stammer. She’d tried to push herself to this confrontation after Ryker’s encouragement, but instead weeks had gone by while she continued to use the timeclock app to request a long weekend…and Brent continued to ignore the requests. Then, yesterday at dinner with her parents, they’d weighed in too.

“Is that the only reason you haven’t gone to see him yet?”Mom had said with genuine shock.

Dad had shaken his head and said the thing that finally pushed her all the way to this moment, sitting in Brent’s uncomfortable office chair and delivering her speech.“Les, I know sometimes it goes against your grain to make waves, but at this point you’re letting your boss take advantage of you.”

Brent’s face slowly thawed, though his eyes remained a little frosty. “You know I’m not obligated to let you cash out your PTO.”