Page 101 of Daily Grind
She nodded, and eyed him. “When was the last time you saw Rob?”
God. It was like sheknewhim. Then again, they’d worked together for how long? He rubbed the back of his neck. “About a week ago?”
“Quality time?”
She was either asking about conversation or sex, but it didn’t matter. “More like me passing out in his arms.”
A grunt and she pulled out her phone. “You’re working Saturday night, right?”
That was the current schedule. “Yup. Mark in the morning, with Rich, and me in the evening with Lamont.”
“Switch with me, since you’re taking mine today.” Miranda looked up.
He stared back. “Seriously?” She didn’t do Saturday evenings, especially on holiday weekends.
“Yup. I owe you one, and you need a day off.”
“But your grandmom…”
She winced. “Well, here’s the thing. Even if she’s out of the hospital, which she should be, she’s going to be in rehab for a while. I’m still gonna need to go see her, but she won’t be home.”
So Miranda had flexibility. “I—don’t know what to say.” Fortune from misfortune.
“Say, ‘Yes Miranda, I’ll switch shifts with you so I can go spend an entire day with my handsome British boyfriend.’”
God the heat in his face. He coughed. “I’ll switch shifts.”
“Good man.” She glanced at her phone again. “I gotta head out.”
“Mir, I’m incredibly grateful…”
“Remember that when I start pestering you for more hours.”
“You pester me for more hours, and I’ll come over and mow your lawn and wash your car in gratitude.”
She laughed and rose. “I’m going to remember you said that, Keppler!”
So would he, and if she did ask for more hours, he’d do exactly as he said. Holy fuck, that would solve so much.
He gave Miranda a wave then grabbed a cookie to tide him over. He needed to get food of some kind, but another cluster of customers came in when Miranda left, so he put that out of his mind.
“Hey,” he said to the woman who sidled up to the counter, “What can I get you?”
After this batch of slinging coffee, he’d text Rob the good news.
* * *
Rob’s phonebuzzed in the middle of his weekly leadership meeting. Normally, he’d glance at it, just to make sure it wasn’t an emergency, then ignore it. This time, two words jumped out at him:OffandSaturday.
The room vanished and he must have vocalizedsomething, because Carter stopped in midsentence. “Something wrong?”
Rob looked up andeveryonein the room was staring at him. Shit. He must have the reddest face if the heat and embarrassment creeping up his back were anything to go by. “No. Some unexpected news. Not company related.” He clicked the phone off and shoved it into his jacket pocket. “Please go on.”
He was laser-focused the rest of the meeting, even with that text burning through his blood.
Brian had Saturday off. All of it. A freaking miracle, especially given this was a holiday weekend. Memorial Day. The unofficial start to summer. And the beast had released Brian from its claws for a day.
When Rob got back to his office, he put his phone on his desk and slipped off his suit jacket. He shouldn’t be so harsh about the shop. It was a good place. But it was fucking killing Brian, no doubt about that. Every time he tried to pry from Brian what was going on so he could help, Brian shut him down. Didn’t want to talk about it. Got snippy and angry.
