Page 20 of Might as Well

“I’m not sure; you like to keep me up late and leave me tired the next morning.”

That boyish grin appears. “Tired, but satisfied, right?”

With a shake of my head, I laugh. “I have a lot of work to do today still. And there’s Graham.” Surprisingly, his car is home.

Zane frowns. “So…” His voice trails off.

“You can stay as long as you behave.” It’s so easy to fall in bed with him and I really want to get a few more things done. I also don’t want another confrontation with Graham.

Zane crosses his heart. “You’ll barely know I’m here.” As if he’s worried I’ll change my mind, he gets out and rushes around to open my door for me.

Once inside, Zane takes a seat on the couch and I step into my office to grab my laptop before returning to sit next to him, handing him the remote.

“You seem to work a lot,” Zane comments as he turns on the TV and flips through the channels.

“Hazard of being your own boss and only employee. I don’t make money unless I’m regularly tending to my business. It’s bad enough that my migraines get in the way.”

“Do you take vacations? Time off?”

“The first time I purposely took time off in the past five years was for that bachelorette party.” Before I can stop myself, I speak my other thought. “And why would I take a vacation by myself? What would I do with time off? What’s the point?”

Zane frowns. “To relax. Your friend Cassie could go with you.”

“I suppose.” I turn my attention to my laptop.

Only fifteen minutes pass before Zane speaks. “So, ah, would you want to come over to my house for Thanksgiving? My parents will be flying in.”

My chest seizes. “Can I think about it?”

“Absolutely,” he answers easily. He hesitates and then adds, “Graham can come if you want.”

All I can hear in my mind is how his mother is understandably pissed over his recent life choices. Is it really a good idea for us to meet? I don’t exactly have a good answer for my decision either. Nor do I want Graham and Zane spending a lot of time together.

“Can I see what you’re working on?” Zane asks after about another ten minutes.

I raise an eyebrow at him. “I thought I wouldn’t know you’re here.”

He laughs softly. “Right. Sorry.”

I scoot closer to him and show him my screen after finding what I want. “Here are some of my designs. I like to do landscapes, puns, animals, and things for commemoration. And I’ll do some that…that I know my grandma would enjoy doing.”

It’s a little nerve-racking to have him look at what I do. Does he like it? Does he simply want to feign interest?

“That’s pretty cool. People seem to love them.” He points at the reviews and ratings for one of the designs. “Over five thousand for just that one.”

I nod. “I try not to pay too close attention to reviews. I create whatIwant and if someone else likes it, that’s great. But reading too many reviews just gets in my head and messes me up. If they really have a complaint, they email it.”

“Do you actually stitch any of these?” Zane asks.

“Yeah, come on; I’ll show you.” I stand and lead him into my office. After depositing my laptop on my desk, I motion to the walls. The only thing on the walls are finished patterns I’ve stitched. “I like to stitch each of them to have a photo and it helps with ensuring the pattern comes out the way I want. I have some pattern testers who do it for me too, but I feel better if I do it myself as well.”

“This is pretty cool. What?” Zane asks as I raise an eyebrow at him.

“You honestly like what I do for a living?” No one has ever shown a ton of interest or appreciation for my designs. My grandma would have loved them, though, I’m certain.

“Yeah. I mean, you clearly have a passion for it and anyone who gets to do their passion every day is lucky. Not everyone gets to do that like we do.”

I nod, feeling a little guilty for being skeptical. Zane takes me by the hips and walks me backward.

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