Chapter 9

nine

B riar

I don’t want him to go, but it’s now Saturday morning and Esme has already missed her morning yoga session, if the schedule in my phone is correct.

And Rowan needs to go back to Fate and rest before his next shift at the firehouse. Besides, what if the whole town burns down without him, and he’s here, thirty minutes away, fooling around with me?

With my bathrobe carelessly tied around me, I walk him to his truck.

I hand Rowan a foil-wrapped breakfast burrito I found in the kitchen, freshly made and still warm.

“What’s this?”

“Breakfast of champions, obviously.”

“You love me.”

“Dork.”

He kisses my forehead sweetly and smiles at me. Rowan really is wonderfully easy to be around, and I hate to see him go.

“Drive safe.”

He takes my hand and kisses the inside of my wrist tenderly.

“Can I see you tomorrow?”

I laugh. “If I don’t get fired. Frye comes back tomorrow afternoon so I might have lots of free time after that.”

“Then I’ll come back and help you pack. We’ll talk about what happens next.”

He really does not have to concern himself with my future plans. But look at this boy. Just look at that face.

Who would have thought someone like this would fall for someone like me so quickly?

Do they make more like him at the factory he came from? The world needs more Rowans because there’s just not enough of them to go around.

I give him the code to the gate and make sure he doesn’t share it with anyone.

“I’m serious. If this code gets into anyone else’s hands, I’m dead meat. Frye already has it in for me.”

“If you’d just let me use the strobe light again, I wouldn’t have to know the secret code that would lead to me accidentally leaking it to someone else.”

“Rowan!”

He kisses me firmly, cupping my jaw. “Teasing.”

I roll my eyes.

“You love me.”

“I like you. See you tomorrow,” I say.

“Until tomorrow.”

One more kiss, and I watch him drive away. The separation hurts more than it should as his truck disappears down the hill into the woods. I wait until I can’t hear the engine any longer before getting on with my day.

I turn and head up the front stairs, the early morning light promising a beautiful day. I have one more day to enjoy this internship until Frye comes back and fires my ass, so I may as well go wake up Esme and?—

I stop short when I reach the front door.

There, in the foyer, is Frye.

From the look on his face, he’s seen and overheard everything that just occurred.

“You’re back early,” I blurt.

“My spies are everywhere. But with your performance yesterday and already this morning, I don’t need spies. The speed at which you fail to do the simple tasks, one after another, is truly breathtaking.”

I wince under his stern gaze. “Missing dinner, followed by a missed appointment this morning. Entertaining gentleman callers in your room…”

As he lists off my transgressions, the decibel of his voice grows from a standard lecture to shouting. “Stealing food from the kitchen!”

“I wasn’t stealing! I do live here, you know. I’m allowed to eat,” I protest.

“That burrito was for Esme.”

“You really came home early from your trip because of this? These are hardly crimes.” I’m just going to pretend she didn’t steal my car. After all, it was only for a few blocks.

“But giving out the code to the gate is a crime against this house. Pack your things, young lady.”

The last time someone called me “young lady” with anger in their voice, I thought about kicking them in the gonads. It might feel good to kick this guy in the gonads. But I think we’ve escalated things enough.

“Yes, sir,” I say meekly because I still hope to fix this situation and finish this internship, though it’s a long shot at this point.

Judging by his not following me to my room to ask me to stay, I don’t think Frye is bluffing.

Trudging up the stairs and staring at my feet, I don’t see Esme hovering on the landing until I hear her firm pronouncement.

“You’re not firing anybody, Frye. Not today.”