Page 45 of Kiss and Tell
I grabbed the shampoo and, after checking to make sure the bathroom door was locked, I entered the glass-walled shower. I didn’t need Connor to accidentally walk in on me naked. It was like he’d said — we weren’t in some rom-com, and I wasn’t going to risk some embarrassing incident. I already still felt vaguely embarrassed over the few tears I’d shed in the hot tub.
I heard the hotel room door open while I was rinsing the soap from my hair. I dried off and changed back into my jeans, then exited the bathroom. I’d expected to find Connor on the sofa flipping through the hundreds of available TV channels, or maybe flipping through social media on his phone.
He was sitting on the sofa like I’d expected, wearing what looked like casual sweatpants, but he had one of my work folders open in front of him, along with a platter of cheese, sliced meat, and crackers. There was a laptop on the coffee table. I hadn’t known he’d even brought one.
“I got us some food,” he told me as I approached, toweling off my wet hair.
I hadn’t realized how ravenous I was until I saw the food. I crammed a cube of cheese into my mouth with haste.
“Looking at work stuff?” I asked when I’d finished chewing and swallowing.
“I hope you don’t mind,” he said. “I wanted to see what else is on our to-do list, look at timelines and things.” He flipped the file folder closed and leaned back against the sofa. “Do you have an itinerary for the brewery tomorrow, or are we winging it?”
“You’re asking about itineraries?”
“Sure,” he said. “Gotta make sure we accomplish everything we need to on this trip, right? Make the best use of our time here. I want to stay on top of things.”
My heart warmed at how earnest he sounded. Connor really did want to take this seriously. For me. My throat closed as emotions welled up inside my chest. How long had it been since someone had truly cared this much about me? Since someone had listened to my problems and worked to help me with them?
It felt like I’d been going at it alone for so long. I’d forgotten what it felt like to have someone who had your back.
I sat down on the other end of the sofa and pulled out a single piece of paper from the folder with one hand while snatching another piece of cheese with the other.
“This is a list of preliminary questions I’ve got for the brewery,” I told him. “I’ve told the owners to expect a visit, so they’ll be ready for us. They’re excited about this potential partnership.”
“And I’m excited for the chance to try out a bunch of award-winning beer,” he said. “Like a bar-hop but I don’t have to go anywhere.”
“You are aware that real wine and beer tastings usually have you spit the alcohol out before swallowing, right?”
“Really?” he asked. “Where’s the fun in that?”
His expression was so disgruntled, so unamused, I couldn’t help but laugh. Connor’s handsome face was enough to make my heart race with a simple smile or a wink, but when he looked put out like this, he was almost boyishly cute.
“The fun is not getting completely trashed during a professional business activity,” I told him.
I set the list of questions on the coffee table and sorted through the papers in the file folder Connor had messed up while he’d been perusing them. I didn’t mind that he’d gotten things out of order. He wanted to do extra work because of what I’d told him. He wanted to help me.
My insides squirmed happily at the thought.
“If you want, we can go over the to-do list,” I said.
Connor leaned forward expectantly, feet flat on the floor and resting his elbows on his knees.
“Hiring employees was on the list, right?” he asked.
“You not only need more bartenders,” I told him, “but you also need a manager to take care of the business side of things, like making shift schedules, keeping track of stock and ordering products, doing the paperwork, accounting and finances…”
Connor looked dismayed.
“Finding someone to handle all that is going to be more difficult than finding more bartenders,” he said. “I’m going to need someone with experience, someone I can trust.”
“You or Jessie can do the work at first, until you find the right person,” I told him.
We continued discussing the details, with Connor nodding and taking notes. Everything was going smoothly, until I mentioned the guest list for the grand opening.
“We’re going to need to get invites out sooner rather than later, so we really need that guest list,” I told him.
Connor pressed his lips together and looked down at the papers on the coffee table. He picked up a few and shuffled through them.
