Page 58 of A Surefire Love
She bolted upright. “As if church is what? A middle school playground?”
He didn’t disagree. “It convinced Greg that Eric’s trying to have me fired. Until now, he didn’t believe it.”
“What are you going to do?”
“I’m still praying about that. Initially, my plan was to double the youth groups like he wanted. I have to admit, watching the kids care for their friends is rewarding, even if that hasn’t resulted in a huge numbers boost.”
“I’ll pray the leadership board sees the value you bring.”
“Thank you.” The clock by the TV turned to 11:00. He stood. “I might not need to say this, but anything I tell you about church leadership has to stay confidential.”
She frowned even as she nodded. “Though if most people knew, they’d come to your defense.”
“Defensive people can easily lead to church splits instead of de-escalations. That’s why I usually keep these things to myself.”
She rose and ran her hand down his arm. “Okay. Nothing leaves this room.”
If only that were literally true and he didn’t have to go. She walked him to the door and rested her hand on his shoulder as he stepped outside. The warmth from the contact cooled before he reached his SUV, but his feelings for her?
Those only strengthened the farther away he got.
22
Blaze groaned at the estimate from the service department. If preparing the trade-in for resale cost this much, her salesperson had overpaid the client by almost a thousand dollars. How had he overlooked such worn tires?
She forwarded the invoice to the service department manager and asked if his team could watch for used tires in the right size. Swapping the nearly bald ones for a used-but-not-shot set would bring the bill back into the margins she needed if she hoped to improve her department’s profits.
The email sent, her screen returned to the inbox view. She blinked hard, her body craving a nap right there in her office chair. This prescription was killing her. Staring at her screen would be so much easier than talking with the salesperson who’d made the mistake. But movement would wake her up.
She shook her head to rouse herself and pushed back from her desk.
Her phone buzzed in her pocket as she stepped onto thesales floor, but she knew the dangers of distraction. Instead of checking it, she set her sights on Thomas, only to find him with a client. When he looked at her, she pointed and mouthed,My office.He acknowledged her with the slightest nod.
She treated herself to her phone as she headed back for her desk.
At Anson’s name, her stomach swooped.
I set up a motion camera in the youth room. You’ll have to let me know if you spot it tomorrow.
Hard to say whether she’d remember, but her brain did favor Anson. If she was going to remember anything at the right time, it’d be something for him. For example, she could replay almost every word they’d spoken last night.
Will do,she replied.I’m glad it’s up and running.
The next most recent conversation was the one with Marissa.
After he left the night before, Blaze found a message from her friend.Let me know how things go.The string of kiss-blowing emojis had left zero doubt what kind of update Marissa expected.
We’re friends,Blaze responded.We had a good talk, but that’s it.
Her swoopy stomach needed that reminder today. If only, as they’d pulled back from that last hug, he’d cupped her face, been incapable of looking away from her lips, and asked to kiss her. Or, better yet, just gone for it.
He seemed like the type to ask, though. She’d heard that was the respectful, politically correct course, and he was nothing if not respectful and politically correct.
Not that it mattered how her friend—no air quotes—went about kissing people.
She rubbed her forehead and set the phone aside to tackle the paperwork her team had handed in that day. If she procrastinated, she’d fall behind again, and she lacked the willpower to fix it.
She lacked the willpower for anything these days. Even keeping her eyes open.
