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Before Marina could answer her phone buzzed and she quickly excused herself to answer it. Her voice echoed through the open door and she was back seconds later.

“Ms. Voss is on her way up to see you,” she said. “I’ll go get drinks ready.”

I grumbled an assent and sat back in my seat, not looking forward to whatever Reid was there to grill me about.

I had my suspicions already.

A few moments later, Reid walked in, her pixie cut styled in edgy waves as usual.

“Good morning, my friend,” she said smoothly, dropping her purse onto the sofa and collapsing on it. She stretched her long legs out, the lace of her black bralette faintly visible through her sheer black blouse.

Effortlessly chic.

“Is this how Cameron feels when I barge into her office for nothing?” I chuckled.

“I believe the correct way to reply is: Good morning, Reid. How are you?”

“How are you, Reid?”

“Splendid, thanks,” she said with a wink. “I wanted to check on you, see how you were doing.”

My spine stiffened and I sat up a little straighter. I didn’t want her to worry for no reason.

“I’m okay,” I told her as sincerely as I could manage. She raised a disbelieving brow. “Really. I’m just sorting through some stuff.”

“You’ve sorted through stuff before but it’s never gotten to you this much,” she pointed out, and I silently agreed. “You know you can talk about it, right? I won’t drag you over the coals for it.”

I sucked in a deep breath and let it out slowly with a nod. “I know, it’s just I’m not a hundred percent sure what it is just yet.”

“Maybe talking about it will help you get there,” she said, patting the spot on the sofa beside her. I leveled a heatless glare at her, but she only patted the sofa harder.

“Fine.” I groaned, only a little exasperated because, in truth, I was always happy to see my friends.

I got up from my seat and walked toward the sofa. As soon as I was within arm’s length, Reid grabbed my hand and yanked me down beside her.

“Excellent,” she said, smiling wide. “I can’t stand to see you so wrapped up in your thoughts.”

I laughed and allowed her to pull me into a tight hug.

“Now, what’s on your mind and how do I get my Hayden back?”

“It’s the store,” I admitted, tucking a few curls behind my ear. I leaned back on the sofa, draping an arm along the back and crossing one leg over the other. Reid turned to me, her knees bent beneath her. “I’ve never hit such a wall before and it’s affected me a lot more than I expected.”

“What kind of wall?” Reid asked carefully.

“The immovable kind,” I mumbled. “It’s such a unique store, and with a few tweaks it could be huge. But Frankie doesn’t want that at all. It’s making everything incredibly difficult.”

“Hayden,” Reid said flatly, “be honest with me. It’s more than that, isn’t it? It’s not just her aversion to change.”

“Why can’t itjustbe that?” I argued, my gut twisting in response.

“Because Iknowyou, obviously,” Reid answered. “And you’ve dealt with egotistical megalomaniacs in the past and it never got to you.”

“Frankie isn’t an egotistical megalomaniac,” I countered and glanced away. “That’s the problem. She’s just trying to protect her parents’ store, even if it is a little misguided.”

“And she’s hot.”

“And she’s hot- Reid!” I snapped, covering my eyes with a hand.