Page 156 of Worth the Fall

I wake with a start. For a minute I’m disoriented, but then I realize Grant’s still behind me, arm draped over my waist.

Crap.

“I have to get to work,” I say but make zero attempts to move.

“Call in sick,” he says in a sleep-drugged voice that sounds as tempting as his morning hard-on pressing against my backside feels.

It has never sounded more appealing than right now. “I can’t.”

“You’re picking work over me?” He chuckles.

“I’m picking money over you.”

“Pretty soon, the place will be yours, so does it really matter if you’re there today or not?”

The pang is instant. Having to speak the words aloud even more painful. “I didn’t get the loan.”

His body stiffens before he untangles himself from around me and sits up. “What did you say?”

“I didn’t get the loan.”

His face falls from shock to worry. “What does that mean?”

I slide out of bed. “It means I need to earn my paycheck while I can because I don’t know who bought Blue Skies or what they intend to do with it, if anything. For all I know, they’re going to raze the place and put something else in its spot.”

“Em . . . I don’t know what to⁠—”

“There’s nothing you can say. It’s okay. Really. I’ll figure something else out.” I force a tight smile, always mindful of how my life goes from one extreme to the next, as I pull on my clothes. I haven’t really even had time to process it all, so talking about it makes me itchy.

“If it’s a money thing, Em . . . you know I’ll⁠—”

“Thanks, but from what I overheard in the station last night, you’re suspended, so I assume you’re not making a paycheck, either.” I shrug and pull my shirt over my head. “I’m a big girl, Grant. I⁠—”

“Can handle yourself,” he finishes for me.