Page 22 of The Main Event

“Right.” Daisy’s gaze was dark when it went to me. “What are you going to do?” She looked braced for disappointment, and for some reason that didn’t sit well with me.

Instead of answering right away, I decided to prolong my agony. “Do you really think you can bring in that sort of money with your little parties?”

“Don’t be a condescending dickwad,” Daisy fired back. “My parties aren’t little. They’re amazing.”

“Everybody raves about them,” Fred agreed solemnly.

“Fine. Do you really think you can bring in the money needed with your amazing, never to be topped again parties?”

Daisy didn’t hesitate before nodding. “I know I can. I want to save George’s legacy.”

She was fiercely determined, which only served to make her prettier. Was that even possible? Geez. I found myself blurting the next part out simply because I needed some air. “Then let’s do it.”

Fred and Daisy openly gaped at me.

“Seriously?” Daisy said after a beat. “You want to finish the whole renovation?”

“I want to do the first part,” I cautioned. “I can’t sign on for the later phases until I know we can actually bring the money in. I’m sorry but … I have to be sure. That’s the smart move. I want to try, though.”

Daisy was contemplative for several seconds. Then she nodded. “I’ll put together some numbers for you.”

“I will too,” Fred said. “We can get rolling on the estimate next week and the construction right after peak season.”

“Are the numbers going to be different from the ones you provided my grandfather?” I asked, suddenly worried.

“No. If you have those numbers. That’s what we’re dealing with.”

“Then we’ll use those numbers.” I was resigned. I could practically hear my father complaining about my decision from forty miles away. That didn’t stop me, though. “Let’s try to save Grandpa’s legacy, shall we?”

To my utter surprise, Daisy threw her arms around me for a hard hug. All of the oxygen was practically depleted from my lungs when she pressed herself against me. For a moment, I forgot the words on her butt and thought about other things … like the breasts I could feel smushed against my chest through her hoodie and tank top.

It was over far too quickly, and her eyes were glassy when she pulled back. “Thank you,” she said in a raspy voice.

“I’m doing it for him,” I said. “I just … want to try.”

“We’ll get to it then.” Fred looked as happy as Daisy. “For the record, I think you’re making the right decision.”

I could only hope he was right.

7

SEVEN

“I’m not drinking on the job,” I insisted to Levi. “That’s not what a professional would do.”

“If you want to put up with our new boss, I don’t see where you have a choice.” Levi was the picture of reason. “The dude is talking about making everybody dress up like witches and wizards … except he doesn’t understand that Harry Potter wizards are not the same sort of wizards that Salem should be embracing.”

“I’m not wearing a hat.” I was adamant about that. “I look stupid in a hat.”

“It’s because your face is too round to pull off a hat. You look like an onion with a dunce cap on when you wear a witch hat.”

Well, that was a bit much. “I do not look like an onion with a dunce cap.” Three days of working in close proximity with Jax and I was close to losing my infamous cool. I was not the person who lost her shit on a regular basis. I was the person the other workers came to when somebody else lost his or her shit.

“I’m just saying that somebody needs to talk to him about the hat thing,” Levi said. “Hats are a pain in the ass. It’s one thingto wear them when we have a party with a specific theme or it’s Halloween week or something. Year round is not cool, though.”

I rested my elbows on the bar and regarded him. “I’m guessing you want me to be the one to talk to him about the hats.”

“You are his righthand woman.”

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