Page 68 of The Holiday Clause
Jocelyn rolled her eyes. “He absolutely has, Wren. I’ve watched him watching you. The man is completely enamored by you. Why do you think he’s always hanging around The Haven?”
“He’s our contractor.”
“When’s the last time he accepted money for any of the work he’s done?”
“What do you mean? I pay him.”
Jocelyn gave a disbelieving look. “Really? Has he cashed the checks?”
“Of course, he has.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.” It wasn’t like she reviewed every statement with a fine-tooth comb, but she wrote the checks, and he took them. “I mean, wouldn’t the bank notify me if he didn’t?”
“The bank wouldn’t know the checks even existed if he didn’t deposit them.”
She frowned. “That’s ridiculous. Why wouldn’t he cash the checks I pay him?”
“Because he’s in love with you.”
“He is not, Joce!”
“See if he cashed them. Where’s your phone?”
“I’m not going to check?—“
“Because you know there’s a chance I’m right!”
“Fine.” Wren pulled out her phone and logged into her bank app while grumbling, “I don’t know why I’m friends with you.”
Jocelyn sat back and swirled the rocks in her glass. “I keep your life spicy. I’m like a vitamin that gives you a little edge. You need me for moments like this when your sweet, little granola vibe isn’t savage enough to get the job done.”
Wren rolled her eyes.
Once logged into her business account, she scrolled down. “I just paid him last week for plowing the parking lots, but he probably hasn’t deposited that check yet.”
“I’m sure that’s it,” Jocelyn said dryly. “Go back a few months. When did you pay him for the studio fit-out?”
That was September. She scrolled back, reviewing each statement for images of checks cashed. She saw deposits from the food supplier’s checks, the plumber’s, the vet bills, the payroll checks for the massage therapists and estheticians, but nothing cashed for Greyson Hawthorne.
Her stomach twisted. She went back further. In June, he’d done some work on the Zen garden for her. That was a few thousand dollars. “What the hell?”
“Find anything yet?”
Not a single check had been cashed. Her fist tightened around her phone as she lowered her hand. “I’m going to kill him.”
“Because I’m right?”
“You’re not right... I mean, yes, he hasn’t cashed any of the checks, but you’re wrong about him being in love with me. It’s because he doesn’t need the money.”
“Really? That’s what you’re taking from this? Chalking it up to him being a Hawthorne?” Jocelyn tsked. “How the hell are we ever going to get him inside of you if you keep making excuses?”
“I’m not making excuses!”
“Wren—” She sat up and set her whiskey aside so she could grip her shoulders and look her in the eye. “I love you, honey, but sometimes a girl has to take the Viking by the horns.”
“I can’t with Greyson. He’ll see it as manipulation. The moment anyone tries to control him, he purposely goes in the opposite direction.”
