Page 18 of Take My Love

“Yeah, I do but?—”

“You can stay in my spare bedroom,temporarily, until you find your own place.”

“Seriously?”

“You gotta follow my rules or I’ll kick you out.”

He grins. “Of course.”

“We’ll go over ’em later.” I step past the wheelbarrow to walk back to my work area.

“See ya then, roomie!” he calls out, and my back stiffens.

“Most definitely, do not call methat,” I shout over my shoulder and find him laughing.

Oh God.I regret this already.

“Who’s the new hottie?” Amaya asks after watching Silas’s poor attempt at running away from a few goats trying to eat hisjeans. We took a quick break to eat before going back to pouring soap.

“Silas. But don’t get any ideas. Work relationships are strictly prohibited,” I tell her while recording a video of her wrapping soap bars for the social media page. The ones with music do the best, so I don’t have to worry about talking or background noise.

Most of our sales come from online orders, but we do wholesale for a few shops in town so the local customers don’t have to worry about shipping. The sample-sized soap goes into the resort self-care welcome basket, so those get separated.

She snorts. “Since when?”

“Since always. Especially when there’s a power imbalance. It’s unprofessional and could lead to termination.”

“You’re makin’ that up.”

“I am not!” I click off the camera and turn toward her. “It’s in the employee handbook for the ranch and resort, which includes the goat farm.”

“I don’t recall signin’ anythin’, so I think he’s free bait.” She waggles her brows, and I snort at her implication.

“Well, you did, and he’s not. Plus, he’s on a week trial. You might never see him again after Friday.”

I wouldn’t be surprised if Silas was interested in her. Amaya’s sweet and gorgeous, and knows how to have a good time. Although we didn’t go to high school together, she’s been a loyal friend and employee ever since we met a few years ago.

Her long brown hair is pulled up into twin space buns with a few loose curls in the front. It’s adorable and cute, which is why I love making videos with her in them. They get the most views versus ones without her.

“In that case…” She seductively bites her lower lip. “He’ll be eligible if you fire him.”

“His engagement just ended. Maybe wait until he’s not heartbroken anymore to hit on him.”

“That’s the best time! Get ’em when they’re freshly wounded and lookin’ for a rebound.”

“Can we get back to work, please?” I ask pointedly. “We have five hundred orders to send out by Thursday and three new scents to make.”

I set my camera aside so it doesn’t get dirty. I do most of the editing at night after I eat dinner and then schedule my posts for the next day or two.

“I thought you were gonna hire more help for the summer season,” she asks, grabbing more molds off the shelves.

Considering it’s mid-August, the summer peak season is almost over.

“I wanted to but I haven’t had time to go through job applications. Silas is only here ’cause he begged for a job, but I wasn’t about to let him work directly with me, which is why he’s now Ian’s problem.”

“Why? You two have history?”

I blow out a breath. “If I say yes, will you drop it for now?”