Chapter 9
Sylvie
The little nameless black cat settles on the cleared table next to where Aiden’s working, somehow pulling together a website for me almost instantly.
I’ve had to put in personal information here and there, but he’s discreetly left the room every time I’ve had to enter credit card information and personal financial details.
It all seems like a pain in the ass, but each time I wander by, he’s hard at work, and it looks like he’s having some success.
And I’m free to clean and put my shit away.
It’s pretty amazing, actually, having his help.
Aiden might be ridiculously flirty, in a way that makes me all too aware of his huge body, but he has the feel of someone who just can’t help but flirt his way through any situation.
I could have sworn I caught interest in the way he was looking at me when I stood up, but honestly, I’m too amped up about all the shit I need to get done to care.
He’s made it clear since then that he’s just a freak when it comes to business stuff, and he certainly has a better handle on setting up backend website integrations than I’d like to.
It doesn’t take long for us to settle into a rhythm, me scrubbing the countertops and floors with my newly purchased supplies while he taps away at his laptop.
It didn’t take him long to decide that I needed an upgrade and that he’d be better off working on his and then have me change all the logins once he was done.
The whole house reeks of bleach and lemon-scented cleaning products, and I throw open as many windows as I can to air it out.
Downtown New Hopewell isn’t nearly as loud as some other small places I’ve lived, though it’s certainly rowdier down at the brewery and restaurant Aiden owns.
I can almost see it from my window, the top of the circle of his logo lit up in the waning light of the evening sky.
I lose track of time as I put away dishes, cleaning supplies, and then move on to deep-cleaning the bathroom and bedroom in one of my patented spurts of deep-cleaning mania.
I’ve got the bed made before too much longer and I stand up, a bit sore from all the physical activity and definitely ready for a good night’s sleep.
My phone vibrates over and over, and I tug it from my back pocket to see several emails from aiden@saltcirclebrewing fly into my inbox.
“All done, for tonight, anyway.” Aiden stands at the open door to my bedroom, and his eyes lift appreciatively at the sight of all my hard work. “Damn, Sylvie, you did that fast.”
“I still have a lot to do, but I’ll sleep better with most of this put away. Besides, I don’t have that much stuff. It’ll probably be next year before I get the pictures hung.”
“Nah, I can help you do that later this week.”
“You’ve already done a ton. I saw the emails, by the way.”
“Good. I put all the different logins in one, and go ahead and change all the passwords tonight so I’m not tempted to log in and keep working.”
“We can’t have that,” I tell him mock-seriously. “All my unpaid employees are expected to have a good work-life balance.”
His grin kicks up a notch, and I swallow the tightness in my throat as he gaze slides to the freshly made bed behind me.
Uh-oh.
“My work-life balance has never been better.” He jerks his chin out towards the hallway.
“The first email also has links to any tutorials on each you might want, and then the second email is a virtual introduction to the graphic designer, along with a couple of ideas I had about your branding while I was working on the backend.”
That brings me up short and I pause in the doorway, staring at him open-mouthed. “You had ideas about the branding, too?”
His nose scrunches up, and it’s charming. “I know.” He rubs at his temple. “It was one of those things that once I started going, I just kept going… and then I picked a theme for your site and it just kind of… happened. Obviously feel free to ignore it and go whichever way you think works.”
“Huh,” I say, rubbing the back of my neck, then following him back down the creaky stairs to the main living area.
Which, thankfully, has aired out nicely, the cat curled up and purring on the table. She opens one green eye, then quickly dismisses us both and settles in more firmly for sleep.
“I don’t mean to overstep.” There’s a bit of unsureness in the statement, and his expression is as sincere as it can be.
“Think of it as a jumping off point. The theme is easy to change, for your site, I mean, if you don’t like the one I selected.
You can find another you like better and copy-paste all the shop policies into it.
I basically tweaked The Salt Circle’s merch policies for you.
Definitely look over what’s attached in that first email and make sure they make sense.
But yeah. You just need to narrow down branding, get the logos up, and then start processing inventory into the backend. It’s really easy.”
My head spins, and the enormity of the gift he’s given me hits me all at once.
Eyes tearing up, I sniffle, and his grow wide with alarm.
My phone vibrates again, the graphic designer responding to his introductory email.
“She has a slot for a call tomorrow,” I tell him, swallowing down the tears and laughing instead. “Thank you.”
Without a single, solitary thought, I throw myself at Aiden, wrapping my arms around him in a heartfelt, albeit impulsive, hug.
His arms go around me a split-second later, and instead of being awkward, which my brain tells me it should be—it’s lovely.
Warm.
Solid.
Safe.
In fact, I probably let the hug go on too long because it’s that good of a hug. His chest is broad, the sound of his heartbeats comforting against my ear.
Finally, I pull away with a sigh, a soft smile on my face, giving him one last pat on the back.
Only to look up and see him staring down at me with an absolutely confused expression.
Shit.