Page 20 of I Did Before I Do

“That’s a shitty name.”

“It’s not great, but whatever. It’s across the river, in West Virginia. But like…rightacross the river.” Benny shook his head. “Too close for comfort.”

“Yeah, I hate that. What, is she trying to steal our clients?”

“Yeah. She is. She’s advertising a lot, using photos of work she did when she worked for me. And telling people they can get work just as good as ours without going as far.”

I wrinkled my nose. “So, what, are you trying to sue her?”

Benny shook his head. “No. Not at all. I’m gonna take the fight to her.”

I raised my eyebrows. “What—you want to open a shop on the other side of the river?”

“Yeah, but it’s kind of a good opportunity to make some other changes.” He pushed his bottle across the counter, thinking deeply. “Good changes, I mean. Nothing bad. Nobody’s getting fired or whatever.”

“You can’t just drop it there, Benny.” I shook my head. “C’mon. Tell me. I’ll keep it quiet.”

Benny looked up at me. I could tell from the look on his face that he was weighing his options, trying to decide what was the best choice. Finally, he nodded. “Okay. Just don’t talk about it. To anybody else. Not even Bradley. He knows, but he doesn’t want to talk to anyone else about it yet.”

“Sure, yeah. You know I’ve never let you down on shit like this before.”

He had to nod in agreement. I’d never betrayed his trust before.

That he knew of, anyway. The envelope may have been sneaky, but I was still letting him tell me on his own.

“So, we’re going to open another shop. In West Virginia or Ohio, whichever is going to be a better deal for us. And as a thank you to you and the other guys, and Zoe, we’re planning to give you all stake in No Regrets. As a business.”

That had the potential to be really good for us, especially if No Regrets kept doing so well.

“Are you serious?” I asked.

Benny nodded. “Yeah. You and the others have stuck with us, and it feels like the right time. Let’s see if we can make this bigger and better, right?”

I had to smile at that. I picked up my bottle, tapping it against Benny’s. “Hell, yeah!”

Benny laughed, shaking his head. “All right, all right. Quiet down.”

“Yeah, yeah.” I shook my head, drinking deeply. As I lowered my bottle, I turned my head.

Lora was here. I wondered what Bradley was up to, since she seemed to be with some girls. I leaned to look. Kenzie was there, and beside her…

Sydney.

She looked up at just the right moment and our eyes met.

She looked amazing.

She wasn’t wearing her pencil skirts and blouses tonight. I couldn’t tell what was going on with her lower half, but the top… she was wearing a tight-fitting shirt that hugged her body just right. And the neckline was perfect. I wasn’t sure if it was the way she was sitting or the cut of the top, but her tits were half-exposed, the lace edges of her bra peeking over the top.

Just looking at her was a tease. I felt my cock stir and looked away. But then I looked back.

I couldn’t help it. She was stunning.

She leaned forward at the table, speaking. I wished I was closer. I wanted to know what they were talking about.

And then she stood up.

Her jeans clung to her curves. There wasn’t a lot left to the imagination. I was glad I was sitting so I could try and keep my half-erection from being too obvious.

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