Chapter 19
Des threw himself into work. After his “discussion” with Gabriel, he’d made it his personal mission to track down Lenny Seaver and go into hard sell mode.
Cami was a complication—a delightful one, but a complication nonetheless—and he couldn’t afford to let whatever was going on with them affect his job.
This project was too important. The fact that he could barely concentrate without being distracted by the memory of her body clenching around his cock was beside the point.
Tristan wouldn’t cough up Lenny’s phone number when he stopped by the store that evening, and it felt too much like taking advantage to ask Cami.
But Tristan did offer the tidbit that Lenny had said she needed to grocery shop.
Given that she either biked or walked everywhere, it left one convenient option.
So Des once again left his bike parked in front of Sex on the Beach and headed toward the Vons on Broadway.
He was luckier than he’d anticipated, coming across Lenny on the way there. She biked toward him with a sleek neon pink helmet on her head and a wagon full of reusable grocery bags hitched to her cycle.
“Lenny!” he called, waving as he stepped into her path. “Don’t hit me, please!”
“Then get out of the way,” she snarked, but she braked regardless, first slowing and letting the bike coast, then halting altogether. “Are you stalking me? If you have time to prowl California looking for me, you need a better job, kid.”
She was wearing a pair of odd, very wide-legged pants that cut off mid-shin and looked like they’d be a danger where bike chains were concerned, with a flowy tunic in forest green.
She’d also crammed some kind of beret under her bike helmet.
It was a ridiculous look overall, but he was sure if he said that aloud he’d get clocked, so he opted to stay mum on the subject.
“Right now, Lenny, you are my job,” he said instead.
She sighed and climbed off her bike. Then, after unclipping her helmet, she slung it over the handlebars of the bicycle and began to push so Des could keep up.
“What do you want then?” she prompted as he fell in step beside her. “Let’s get the sales pitch over with.”
“I know you’re getting sick of me. Hell, even I’m getting sick of me.
” He took a deep inhale, blew it out. Lenny turned her gaze on him and started to bore an intent hole in his temple.
“Adrien Holdings isn’t going to let this go, though.
The rest of the plaza is on board. You’re the only hold-out. ”
“Traitors,” she murmured.
“Nah, they’re not. They just know a good deal when they see it.
” He didn’t look, but if he did, she would be rolling her eyes.
“I talked to Mr. Adrien today, and I got him to agree to bump up the offer. I can get you an extra hundred thousand.” He paused, letting the number settle in.
“That’s more than the other stores in the plaza, and we both know, your shop isn’t the most desirable one there. ”
Lenny scoffed. “We both also know storefront desirability has nothing to do with the offer. Don’t play me, kid.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it. It’s not nice to dupe the elderly.”
“Oh, you better watch it, big shot, or I’ll—”
“Yeah, yeah.” He waved a hand airily between them. “You’ll knock my block off, or you’ll tear a strip off my hide, or whatever else they did to naughty kids in the 1930s.”
She socked him hard in the bicep, and he flinched, rubbing at the spot she’d punched.
“Okay! You’re a fierce, feisty young woman, I get it.
But the fact of the matter is that your store is a lot of work.
It takes your time, and sure, you’re bringing in a profit, but is it enough to make the effort worthwhile?
You pay wages, rent, taxes, inventory costs.
The list goes on. The check you’d get from the buyout would be more than the profit you’d make for the next five years at least, and that’s not even taking into account that you wouldn’t have those expenses to cut into the money.
Without those, you’ve just got—what, groceries, credit cards, and rent for your place?
Health insurance premiums? That’s a fraction of what you’re paying out keeping the store up and running. ”
“I’ve got some other, bigger expenses,” she said.
He wouldn’t have found this suspicious in and of itself if it weren’t for the hedgy way it came out.
But when she glanced away, across the street, and her brow furrowed, he wondered if she didn’t have something going on.
Gambling debts, maybe. She wouldn’t have been the first senior citizen addicted to scratch tickets.
He opted not to press her on that, largely because it wasn’t any of his business and he suspected she’d resent the implication and the intrusion.
Instead, he went for a safer topic of a similar vein: “Are you still worried about Cami? She can get another job, you know, and you’d have enough to give her decent severance if you wanted to. ”
“She lives above that store,” Lenny said, “as you well know.”
“She could find another place.” Even as he said it, guilt seeped through him like filth oozing up through the ground from a broken septic tank.
He didn’t know all the ins and outs of Cami’s financial situation, but from what he did know, it wasn’t great.
Losing her home would be a big hit. She was a smart girl, though, and if Lenny was that concerned about it, then she could offer to help her with rent somewhere else.
That seemed far-reaching for a former boss, though.
“You’d think you’d be a little more worried about her.” Lenny’s voice had gone tight like a wire. “All things considered.”
He drew his lips together and slipped his hands into his pockets, chastened.
He’d wondered how much Lenny knew about his “arrangement” with Cami, if they were close enough that Cami would have mentioned it.
What Lenny knew was more than nothing, and that complicated things. It was making her hostile.
“I appreciate that you’re looking out for her. She told me she doesn’t have any family.”
It didn’t have the soothing effect on Lenny’s demeanor he’d been hoping for.
“If you truly don’t care that she’ll be homeless and jobless by your little project, then you’re not nearly as nice as you think you are.
” He winced. “Her sex life is none of my business, but you know what is? Her emotional well-being. She’s a sweet girl, and she’s gone through a lot.
And after what her uncle did to her? I won’t tolerate you jerking her around. ”
“Whoa, hold it. I’m not jerking her around. She’s an adult, and we’ve both been clear about our boundaries.”
Even saying the words made him feel like an asshole.
They’d been true up until last night, but now he had no idea where they stood.
He’d allowed his dick to muddle things up yet again, and as a result, he’d spent the day struggling to keep his head above water.
It had been over twelve hours, and he hadn’t even texted her yet.
They needed to have a conversation, to figure out where they stood, but a sizable part of him was terrified that talking about it would end with each of them returning home to their own beds and an agreement to not take things any farther.
God help him, but being with Cami was the most fun he’d had in years.
And the hell of it was, they barely even had a relationship.
This casual sex-in-a-manner-of-speaking was the most fulfilled he’d been since Madilyn. He was a goddamn disaster.
Next to him, Lenny was frowning. He couldn’t even blame her.
What a lovely evening stroll this had turned out to be.
“Oh, so you’ve told her about your actual job then? You’ve let her know that you’re actively trying to put her out of work, and she’s still letting you play hide the salami?”
For a moment, his brain died. It shut down, went dormant for a few beats, then had to reboot to process his horror at what had spilled from Lenny’s mouth. “I wish you had phrased that in any other way.”
“Don’t distract me with delightful euphemisms for fucking, Desmond. Have you told her or not?”
“Not yet,” he sighed. Getting himself into this position was the stupidest decision he’d made in a long time.
And now he was discussing the ethics of his sex life with a septuagenarian refusing to sell him her business.
“I’m going to. I’ve been planning on it.
Other things just keep getting in the way. ”
“Other things like your dick?”
He opted to ignore that for the sake of his sanity. “You’re the one who lied to her about my job in the first place, Lenny. Don’t give me shit about it. Can we please focus?”
“Yes, Desmond, I have heard the things you said.” Her tone was nearly flat.
She was finished with the conversation for the night, and he wouldn’t get anything more constructive out of her. Besides that, they were drawing close to the store where he’d parked, and following her all the way home would only give her more time to judge his questionable life choices.
“I am old and decrepit,” she continued, “and can’t possibly run a profitable business. My impact on the community is negligible, and no one would blink an eye if I shut my doors. You’ve made your opinion very clear.”
“Oh, Lenny, come on,” he started. “I love the store. I, myself, have spent unreasonable amounts of money there recently.”
His instinct was to assure her that he wasn’t urging her to sell because he thought the store wasn’t contributing to the community.
Hell, it wasn’t even entirely out of his desire to do his job.
He truly had her best interests at heart and wanted her to be secure in life.
But given the way he’d mucked things up with Cami, he doubted she’d believe him.
He’d just have to hope he’d struck a chord, and let it sink in for a few days.