Page 15 of His Virgin Woman
“I’d still have to start the regular time, and I can’t afford to hire anyone,” she said.“Don’t worry about it.I’m perfectly fine and I love what I do.”
“Yeah, but what if you love what you do and it is slowly killing you?”His arms were folded across his chest, and that meant he was not going to back down.
“I’m not killing myself.”
“Peyton, you struggled to stay awake during dinner last night.You think I didn’t notice your head, diving fast toward your parmesan chicken?”he asked.
“Look, some days are good and some days are bad.With Halloween next month, I’m doing extra planning, as it is a good time to turn a profit.That is all,” she said.She was tired.
Her parents had each other to rely on.Where one would come in and bake and give the other time to sleep, she didn’t have that.The truth was, her business was still in dangerous territory.Sure, they were out of the red, and she no longer had to worry about finding rent.Also, miraculously, her wardrobe was expanding at an alarming rate, and she had a feeling Shae was the one to answer to that.
But, if he grew tired of her, or if something broke in her shop, or something happened, she knew she was on that fine line that would send her straight back into the red.She didn’t want that to happen.
Hiring someone always came with a risk.It was why her parents worked as a team.They had hoped she and Lily-May would be a team.There was no chance of that happening.Her sister was not a team player, but more like a team destroyer.
“Don’t worry about it.I’m not hiring anyone else.”She didn’t want to keep on telling him she couldn’t afford it.
Shae was wealthy.He had so many employees, and she knew he had so many different businesses.His home screamed wealth, not that she had a problem with it, but she wasn’t going to ask him for help, or a loan, or run the risk of jeopardizing what they had.She could handle this, just as she had for a long time.
“What if I paid them?”he asked.
“No, you’re not going to pay them.You’re not going to hire anyone else.”She pushed some of her hair off her face.
“Do you have a problem accepting my money?”he asked.
“Yes,” she said after a long pause.
Both of his brows went up, and she knew she had surprised him.
“Look, it’s ...you are wealthy, and trust me, I’m not.This place was knocking on death’s door when I took over from Mom and Dad.I just don’t know how they managed to keep this place afloat.”She blew out a breath.“At times I’m terrified someone is going to come marching through that door, demanding I pay them ridiculous money.”She hated to admit it stressed her out more than she even thought.
No matter how often she went over the books and tried to figure out exactly what they did or how they did it, she kept coming up blank.There was nothing here to help her.
But someone had helped them.She just didn’t know who, and the not knowing was scaring her.
“You don’t have to worry about that happening,” he said.
“What?”
“No one is going to come marching through that door demanding you pay up,” he said.
“Do you know who it is?”She hadn’t been wrong then.
Shae moved closer to her and he reached out, tucking some of her hair behind her ear.
“Yeah, I do.”
“Who?”she asked, afraid of who he was going to say.
“Me,” Shae said.
This surprised her.“You?”
“Yeah.”
“What?”she frowned.
“Your parents were good bakers and they were honest people.They didn’t think to invest back into this place when business was booming, and they took the money, used it to raise you two.I also believe some of the money was used to help send you to culinary school,” he said.“Unfortunately, your parents didn’t change with the seasons and offered the same things all the freaking time.It didn’t take the locals long to get bored, and then they got desperate.They needed money to run, and when the bank attempted to take it, I took over the lease.”
