Page 42 of Pretend You Love Me
“Hey Grumps, you’re hurting my arms.”
He drops his hands immediately and then says, “You’re fired.”
“I’m what?” I say.
“Fired, leave,”
“You can’t fire me.”
Sadie walks by the open door and then stops. “We really need the hands tonight. Beth called in sick. All the customers like her, Kip.”
“Don’t care.”
Sadie cocks her head to the side. “She told me you knew she was here.”
He doesn't look at me.
“Why would I need his permission?” I say.
Sadie ignores me. “Is this because you two are trying to get pregnant?”
Oh, my god. Does the whole town know?
“Yes,” Kip says, quickly.
“Oh Kip, quit being so protective. Women aren’t that fragile. We can work and have babies too. You only have to stop working if...”
“I got it. I got it.” He raises his hands.
“Okay, boss, whatever you say,” she says as she turns to leave.
Boss?I open my mouth, and he immediately clamps his hand over it. He shoots me a look that shuts me up immediately. There’s a small crowd gathered at the end of the hallway now, and he just leans out into the hallway and yells, “Get the fuck back to work.”
He pulls me all the way into the office, and then slams the door shut with his other hand. Once it’s closed, he finally takes his hand off my mouth.
“You’re lucky I didn’t bite you,” I snap.
He just glares.
“Boss?” I say, hands on my hips. “You work here?”
“No.”
I narrow my eyes.
“I own it,” he says.
When his words hit my ears, I stumble back a step. “Own it?”
“With Hawk. It was our parents’ place and our grandparents’ before that. I run things as long as Hawk promises to leave me alone. He’s allowed in the front, and I stay back here.”
“Why the heck didn’t you tell me earlier?”I ask.
“Wasn’t any of your business.”
I just hold eye contact with him, unflinching.
“I’m not quitting.”
