Page 64 of Choosing You

“That’s how you know I’m comfortable with you,” she said sweetly. “I can be myself and be as blunt as I need to be to get my point across. I’m not going to coddle you on this because that’s not what you need. You and Sloane are going to have to have a serious conversation because…well…sometimes it doesn’t matter how much you want something to work because…” She shrugged. “Sometimes they just don’t. Logistics aren’t on your side and it’s too new of a relationship to start asking anyone to move.”

“I think she’d move here,” he said. “She has family here, she has the potential for a job with her cousin, it just makes sense.”

“And what if that isn’t what she wants? What if she asks you to move? Would you be willing to pack up your life and move to Florida?”

The laugh was out before he could stop it. “Pfft…no way. She wouldn’t do that. She knows I just took on this partnership. Besides, this is my hometown and where my family and all my friends are!”

“Have you thought that maybe she feels the same way about Florida? That’s where she was born and raised. Why is it okay for you to put your foot down about not wanting to move, but you’re not extending the same grace to her?”

Crap.

“Will, I get that you’re crazy about her, but I think you need to take a step back and do some serious thinking.” She paused and gave him a hard stare. “But when you’re home and by yourself. Not here. When you’re here, your head needs to be in the game. Got it?”

He nodded.

Standing, she gave him a small smile. “Are we good?”

Another nod.

“Come on, let’s hug it out. We’re still friends and I hate to be all snappish with you, but you needed a little tough love.”

Getting to his feet, he gave her a hug. “I know. And…thanks, Mac. I appreciate it.”

For the rest of the day, he and Devin didn’t say another word to each other and Will kept his head down and worked on several cars. When it was time to call it a day, he ended up running into Devin in the break room.

“Hey,” Devin said. “Are we okay? Mac said she was a little rough on you, and…”

“We’re good, Dev. Really. She said all the things I didn’t want to hear but needed to hear.”

“Oh. Okay. Good. So, um…what are you gonna do?”

“Honestly? I don’t know. Sloane and I talk every night, but maybe tonight I’ll skip it. I really need to do some hard thinking.”

“Is there a reason she hasn’t come back?”

“She’s having her fair share of work-related issues. Her boss is a total ass who keeps adding a lot more work to her plate—but not the kind she wanted. Every night we talk on the phone and she gripes about it. It’s like this guy is continually having an adult version of a temper tantrum and making her do all the grunt work around the office—filing, making copies, and running for coffee for everyone—while still giving her the crap social media accounts.”

“Damn, that sucks. Doesn’t he realize how talented she is?”

“Obviously he doesn’t. But Sloane’s one of the few women in the office and it sounds like her boss is a total sexist. I hate it for her. She’s being run so ragged that she’s too exhausted to look for any freelance jobs on the side.”

“Yeah, well, living in a city as big as Fort Lauderdale makes it a little harder to make a personal contact with some businesses she might want to do work with. That’s the perk to small-town living. Word of mouth is easier. If she ever wanted to move here, it wouldn’t take long to get the word out and see which businesses needed her help. And with Levi’s help, she’d get her foot in even more doors.”

“I just don’t know if that’s something she’s willing to do.”

“You mean move here?”

He nodded.

“The thing is, I’ve already been asking around—you know, just asking a few questions and gauging interest—and it seems like there’s actually a lot of interest in what she does. At last count, I know of at least a dozen customers who would love to work with Sloane. It didn’t even take much to convince them. The only one who would require convincing is Sloane.”

“I don’t even know what to say to that, Will. You’ve got a lot of thinking to do.”

“And I will.”

Which he would put some serious effort into—just as soon as he found a little extra time to breathe.

Later that night, he didn’t skip talking to her, but he talked via text instead of on a call.

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