Page 90 of Seven Year Itch
The truth is, I feel closer to my dad when I’m working out there. Even though he never stepped foot in that shed I built, I can feel him there with me when I work. I hear his laugh, and him bitching at me to sand with the grain of the wood, not against. He’d growl at me if I used the wrong vise for a softer wood. He really did teach me everything I know.
How did she read so much into that?
I shift awkwardly in the bed. “I guess I might have started designing the furniture pieces because of him, but it’s not like it’s easy to make a business out of it. Not all of us are entrepreneur badasses like you.” She rolls her eyes like she doesn’t believe me, so I continue. “Having a brick-and-mortar store in downtown Boulder for over a decade is nothing to sneeze at, you know.”
“I know,” she replies with a funny smile and then covers her face to add, “I’m actually getting an award.”
“You are?” I pull her hands down to get a look at her. There’s a red flush to her cheeks and she’s biting her lip in an adorably shy way.
“It’s just the Best of Boulder business award. It’s like a committee-voted thing. There’s this fancy dinner and award ceremony I have to go to. It’s not really that big a deal.”
“Bullshit, that sounds fucking awesome. Congratulations.”
Her nose wrinkles as she squirms under my praise. “Thank you.”
I’m a bit awestruck. My dad started the construction business, and my brothers and I practically got it handed to us. Wyatt morphed into the visionist, and Luke became the brains behind the operation. I’m just the brawn. So to see Dakota do so much all on her own is fucking wild.
“You really are kind of inspiring, though. You’ve been running your own business since college. That’s so unheard of.”
“I got lucky.”
I chuck a pillow at her, and she shoots me an offended look. “You worked hard, and you earned that shit.”
“Fine. I worked hard, and I earned that shit.” She smirks and then squints at me for a moment, pondering something. “Hey, would you let me list your pieces on my website maybe?”
“What? Why?”
She shrugs. “Because I get a shitload of traffic, and it would take my web developer less than an hour to get them posted. We could price them really high just to see if we get any bites.”
“I don’t know...”
“Why not? What do you have to lose? They’re just collecting dust out there as they are anyways, and that’s a shame. Because they’re really beautiful.”
I make a noise of contempt in the back of my throat, but I willadmit it’s getting annoying having to shove stuff up in the rafters to make room. And my dad would be giving me so much shit for how cluttered my shop is. Maybe there’s no harm in trying to sell a few.
“All we have to do is go out to your shop, snap a few pics, you write down some of the details of the pieces like type of wood, finish, et cetera, and I’ll send it all off to my guy. Easy-peasy.”
I feel myself giving in. Dakota is fun to watch when she’s like this. I can see her brain churning with a plan and actionable items she can check off another damn list.
“We do this, and then I’ll show you the sex toy I picked out,” she offers, waggling her eyebrows suggestively at me. “A little work before a little reward.”
“If it’s that big purple dildo, I’m going to take a hard pass on it all.”
“It’s not the dildo.” She laughs and leans over the bed and the sound of a rustling bag draws my eyes. When she pulls out a leather whip with nine braided tails on it, her smile turns devious. “Cat ’o nine tails for the cat daddy.”
I pinch the bridge of my nose and sigh. This woman is going to be the death of me.
Chapter 28
Is This Sexting?
Dakota
My phone pings with a text from my web developer, and I click the link to see that he’s got Calder’s furniture live on the site already. I scan through them, reading the details and proofing for any mistakes. They look amazing. A little out of place on a clothing boutique website, but my developer placed them on their own tab, so it works.
I send the link off to my social media girl and tell her to do a few posts, just to get the clicks going on it before I text to Calder.
Dakota:Check it out! You’re live, baby!
