Page 27 of The Finder

“I work here,” she responded.

He closed his eyes before opening them again. Emma gathered that he was trying to keep his cool. She didn’t know what he was so upset about. “You aresupposedto be resting,” he said. “You’re recovering from aconcussion.” The last word was practically snarled at her.

Emma widened her eyes at him. She crossed her arms. “Well, the doctor gave me the all-clear, so I came to work.”

“Well, the doctor’s an idiot. Anybody with a brain knows you shouldn’t be working after you just had a concussion,” he said in anger.

Emma leaned forward, gripping the counter for support. “You’re trying to tell me what I should or shouldn’t be doing again. I would think that yesterday’s events would have taught you that that’s not going to work.”

“Emma.” She heard the warning in his deep voice.

“Garrett,” she threw right back at him. She was done being bossed around by domineering men. She had grown up that way and had finally escaped it. She wasn’t going back to that.

Chapter 17

They were locked in a stand-off when Levi came and stood next to Garret. “Hey, Emma, I think I might get that coffee now. Boss, you want anything?” He looked at Garrett. Garrett didn’t say anything. He took a slight step back and crossed his arms. Emma looked away from the man in his expensive suit who looked way better than any man had the right to and tried to focus on getting Levi’s drink. After she passed it to him, she turned to Garrett.

“Are you leaving now?” she asked pointedly.

His dark eyes met hers. “I’m not leaving until you go home and rest,” he said.

“Well, then I guess you’re not leaving for a while because I’m staying,” Emma retorted.

“Then I guess I’m staying,” Garrett said.

“Well,” Emma drew out the word. “Technically you need to order something if you’re going to stay. That’s the rules,” she said and shrugged, hoping to get rid of him.

His eyes grew darker. “Black coffee,” he said and dropped a twenty down on the counter before turning and walking away.

Emma blew out a breath as he walked away. She felt exhausted from their interaction. Her hands were shaking as she got a cup for his coffee. She might portray that she wasn’t afraid of that man, but that was as far from the truth as possible. She peered over the counter and saw that Garrett had taken a seat with Levi. She debated just leaving his coffee on the counter but decided against it. He was still a customer. Before she could bring the coffee to him, the door opened once again. Emma looked up and was shocked to see Amy and Olivia. She walked around the corner and hugged each of them.

“We were so worried about you,” Amy said. “Are you okay?”

“I am,” Emma said with a genuine smile. “I had a concussion, but I’m okay now.”

“That’s so awful what you went through. Was it near the house?” Amy asked in a low, worried voice.

“Yes,” Emma said.

“I feel like it’s my fault,” Amy said.

“Oh, no,” Emma rushed to correct her. “It just happened. It’s not anybody’s fault.”

Amy still looked like she felt guilty. Emma wanted to move on from the conversation entirely. “How’s the new job?” she asked.

“It’s really good. I’m really hoping it works this time for me to be able to keep it. By the way, I need to thank your friend for sending a babysitter for Olivia. That was so kind of him. Do you have his number? I wanted to personally thank him.” She looked at Emma expectantly. Emma was silent for a moment.

“Uh, yeah. I can get that for you.” She felt Garrett’s gaze on her, but she didn’t dare look his way.Stink. I’m going to have to face him, she thought to herself. “Actually, he’s here right now if you want to, you know, talk to him,” Emma stumbled around.

“He is. Really? Where?” Amy asked. She looked around the shop. Emma saw exactly when her gaze fell on Garrett and Levi. Levi was faced the other way, but Garrett was facing their direction. Amy turned back to Emma wide-eyed. “That’s him?” she asked incredulously.

Emma nodded. Amy turned and looked again at him then whistled softly. “Now that is aman,” she said. “Are you,” she bobbed her head, “you know...”

Emma just stared at her, confused. “Am I what?”

“Sleeping with him?” she whisper-asked.

Emma choked on her own spit. “What? No!” she whispered right back.

---