12. Chapter Twelve
Chapter twelve
B rennan
I’d spent all day Sunday baking. I’d always enjoyed being in the kitchen.
Just another thing for my father to insist was a waste of my time.
But I didn’t think it was. It was relaxing, and I loved sharing the things I cooked.
I made magic cookie bars which were quick and easy, and Keegan’s favorite treat.
I also made some chocolate chip cookies to give to Ryder as a thank you for making my first week so wonderful.
It really had been a great week. And for the first time in ages, I was looking forward to Monday.
It started off a little weird, being in his house, but once I got used to that, it had gone great.
I managed to get a good start on a system to handle Ryder’s paperwork, and it hadn’t taken me long to get the hang of taking the calls for his business.
Now I wanted to tackle another problem. His webpage, which was a disaster.
I’d mentioned it to him last Thursday, and he said he paid to have it set up but hadn’t really done anything else with it.
This week, I wanted to play with that and see if I could jazz it up a little bit.
Ryder had been telling me I should just let myself in, but I’d continued to knock on the door.
I mean, I worked for Ryder. We weren’t dating or in a relationship, or even fucking, that one time notwithstanding.
But still, the idea of letting myself into his house and finding some other guy cooking him breakfast was way too weird.
I arrived a little earlier than normal on Monday morning and was about to knock when it hit me it wouldn’t be any less weird for Ryder to open the door and let me in only for me to find some other guy there making breakfast, so I figured screw it and let myself in.
“I’m here,” I called out. The last thing I needed was Ryder thinking he was alone and coming downstairs undressed. I sighed at the memory of all that thick chest hair. Nope. I’m not going there. He was my boss, and that was how I was going to think of him.
“I’m upstairs. Coffee is ready, help yourself,” he called back.
I put the cookies on the counter and started to make myself a cup of coffee. I opened the fridge to grab some of the half and half Ryder used in his coffee, and to my surprise, the top shelf had three different types of creamer in there.
“I wasn’t sure which kind you preferred, so I picked up a few different types.” Ryder’s deep voice said from behind me.
“How did you know I used flavored creamer?” I asked.
“I noticed you used some when we had dinner at your house.”
“Oh, well, thank you, but you didn’t have to do that. I’m fine with the half and half. Unless, of course, you don’t want me using it.”
“I don’t mind you using it at all. I told you you’re welcome to anything in my kitchen. And I know I didn’t have to, but I wanted to. I want you to be comfortable here.”
“Thanks,” I said, feeling the heat in my cheeks. I hated that I blushed so easily, but there was nothing to do about it. “And I am comfortable here.”
“Good.” He looked around the kitchen, and when his gaze landed on the plate of cookies, his eyes lit up. “Are those for me?”
“They are. They’re chocolate chip.”
“Yes!” he said, grabbing one and eating it. He closed his eyes and moaned. “Damn, those are good. Let me get a zip lock bag, and I’ll add a few of those to my lunch when I make it.”
“Oh, I could make your lunch for you while you finish getting ready.”
“You really don’t have to do that, Brennan. I appreciate it, but that really isn’t your job.”
“Oh, okay,” I said, trying hard to hide my embarrassment. It was weird for me to offer to fix his lunch, wasn’t it? Shit definitely weird. Just because I was in his house didn’t mean he wanted me doing things for him personally. He hired me to run his business, not his life. “I’ll just um—”
“Hey,” he said, laying a hand on my forearm.
“If you want to fix my lunch, you can. As a matter of fact, it was nice having you do that for me that day last week. It’s simply that I don’t want to take advantage of you.
Just because you’re here in the house doesn’t mean I expect you to do things like that for me. ”
I either sucked at hiding my emotions, or he was really good at reading me, but either way, I appreciated him saying that. “I know you don’t expect me to do those things, but, Ryder, I seriously don’t mind. I like feeling useful, and I think you’re paying me too much for what I’m doing.”
“I disagree on the paying you too much thing. I haven’t had three estimates in one week in forever.
If I get those jobs, any one of them will make what I’m paying you worth it.
Not to mention the fact that we’re finishing jobs earlier because I can focus all my energy on the job instead of answering the phone or worrying about the paperwork. ”
“Well, thanks. I’m glad it’s making things easier for you. I’m excited to get your webpage all updated, and I wanted to talk to you about your Facebook page.”
“I don’t have a Facebook page.”
“Exactly. That’s what I wanted to talk to you about. You need one.” He looked absolutely horrified, and I fought the urge to laugh. “Don’t worry. You don’t have to actually do anything with it. I’ll take care of it. I just need you to create the page, and I’ll handle the rest.”
“Create the page?” Again with the horrified look.
“Okay.” I chuckled. “On second thought, I just need you to log into Facebook and then let me create the page.”
“Okay, that I can do. The only thing I use it for is to keep in touch with my family. I don’t really ever use the thing.”
“Okay, before you leave this morning, you can log in for me and I’ll take care of the rest. I’ll need some before and after pictures that I can put on the page so people can see the fabulous work you do. Do you have those?”
“Not really. I mean, I have a few pictures here and there that I took, but nothing I’d put out for people to see.”
“Okay, no problem. While I fix your lunch, you send me what you have, and I’ll see what I can do with them. But from now on, we need to get those pictures.”
“That sounds like a great idea, Brennan. I know I should’ve thought about doing that before now, but I’ve just been focused on doing the work.”
“Well, that’s what you hired me for, right?”
“Yes, it is, and you’re doing a fabulous job.”