Page 43 of Choosing You

And did her best not to run out the door and book the first flight back to Florida.

It was after eleven when they got back to Will’s place, and he could tell that something was wrong. At some point this evening, Sloane had gone from the happy and carefree woman he was getting to know to being a bit withdrawn and almost hostile. When he had suggested they leave the party, she practically sprinted out the door without saying goodbye to almost anyone.

Tossing his keys on the coffee table, he went to the kitchen to grab himself a bottle of water. “Hey, can I get you anything to drink?”

“No, thanks.”

Water in hand, he walked back to the living room and found her sitting on the couch, looking miserable. “You want to talk about it?”

Surprise was written all over her face as she looked up at him, but she shook her head.

“I have to go into the shop for a couple of hours tomorrow in the morning. I tried to get out of it, but in order for me to have the entire weekend off, I need to work until noon. Two, the latest. Then the shop’s closing so we can all get ready for the festival.”

She was disappointed and wasn’t very good at hiding it, apparently, because when Will looked at her, his shoulders sagged. He was about to say something, but she stopped him. “It’s okay. I know it will just be for a couple of hours and maybe I’ll go over to Hailey’s and hang out with my family for a bit.”

She didn’t sound particularly enthused about it, although he had no idea why, and thought he maybe had the solution to whatever this was all about.

“Actually…I had something else in mind. If you’re open to it.”

“Like what?”

He thought about saying something silly, like waiting for him in bed or maybe thinking sexy thoughts of him while he was gone, but he decided against it.

“I thought maybe you could come to the shop with me.”

Her eyes went wide. “To the shop? You mean the garage? Why?” The pinched expression told him she wasn’t the least bit interested, but he had a reason for asking her.

“Devin’s business has been growing fast and he’s trying hard to do everything himself. He’s the owner, lead mechanic, bookkeeper, carpenter, customer service rep, and our IT guy.”

“Wow. That’s impressive.” Standing, she walked into the kitchen and came back with her own bottle of water. “Why is he doing it all? Is the business making money? Can’t he hire out some of those positions?”

Will nodded and stood back up just as Sloane sat down. He hadn’t eaten nearly enough at the bar and now he wanted a snack. He grabbed a box of cookies from the pantry and came back and sat down beside her. “He definitely is, for the most part, and his load is getting lighter thanks to MacKenzie, his wife. She’s managing most of the office stuff, but Devin is a bit of a control freak and likes to have his hand in everything.”

“O-kay…”

“But the shop really needs a good website and better social media presence. He’s got a very basic website that is little more than a web page with a picture of the shop, our hours of operation, and phone number.”

She nodded. “With this kind of business, it would seem that he doesn’t need much else. He’s not selling products through the website; he’s simply letting people know where to come to get work done on their cars.”

“Why can’t it be more?” Will asked casually.

Taking a cookie, Sloane thought about it. “What are you thinking? Or…what is Devin thinking?”

“He would love a new logo for the shop and for the site to be a little more informative—show some of the restorations we’ve done, and a page where people can ask the mechanic a question.”

“Sure. I can look at it and take it to my boss and see?—”

“I thought you’d like to do it,” he interrupted, a sheepish grin on his face. “You know, on your own. As a side gig.”

“Oh. Um…wow. Okay. I guess I could. I’ll have to talk to Devin and see exactly what he wants and…it’s not a fast fix. Especially to design a new logo. So it wouldn’t be done tomorrow, but I can certainly come in and talk to him to get a feel for what he’s looking for and then work on it over the next week or so. Unless he’s in a rush. Because if he’s in a rush, he should probably take it to someone else who has the time and resources to put into it. Maybe Levi. I hear he’s a whiz with advertising.”

“Sloane?”

“Hmm?”

“You’re babbling,” he teased and leaned over to kiss her on the nose. “Why does this make you so nervous? You said you’re not happy at your job. Why not take this as a little test to see if maybe working on your own is really more of what you want?”

“Hailey’s mentioned it to me several times recently,” she admitted after a moment. “And it’s not that I don’t want to; it’s just a little intimidating to get started.”

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