Leading her into my office, I wave my hand toward a chair, indicating for her to sit. I leave the door open on purpose, knowing it will both prevent me from jumping her and keep my curious employees from thinking I’m banging Jen on top of my desk.

I would really love to bang her on my desk, but not right now.

“What’s up?” she asks the moment I sit. She looks agitated, nervous, her knee bouncing up and down in quick, rhythmic succession.

“I have a proposition for you.” I lean my forearms on top of my desk and study her, thinking for about the millionth time how damn beautiful she is. “And I’m hoping you’ll say yes.”

She lifts her brows. “What sort of proposition are you talking about?”

“Well, you know how I’m opening the Redding location, right?” It’s only about ninety minutes north of here, a city of about one hundred thousand residents who love their chain restaurants. I know The District will do great there.

“Right.”

“I need someone to help me run it. And I’d like that person to be you.” I pause, letting my words sink in.

Jen stares at me, her mouth dropping open, her eyes going wide. “You’re serious.”

“Absolutely. This keeps you nearby. Actually brings you closer to your parents, though I’m not sure if you care about that part or not.”

She’s quiet for a moment, her head bent, as if absorbing what I’ve asked her. Blowing out a harsh breath, she glances up, her gaze meeting mine. “Colin, I really appreciate the offer, but . . .”

“Don’t say no,” I interrupt, my heart racing at the realization that she’s going to turn me down. I know she is. I can feel it in my bones. “I know you refused my earlier offer of helping out in the office here and I get it. You want to get away from me.”

She doesn’t confirm or deny my statement, which hurts. And makes me feel like a pussy. Instead of dwelling on my feelings, I forge on.

“You’re perfect for the position—you just need a little training, and I can do that. You’ve worked in the restaurant industry for years and you like to take charge. You’re efficient, organized, and everyone looks up to you here as a sort of peacekeeper. You manage the floor without me even asking you to and you do it so naturally.”

Her eyes widen with surprise. Did she not realize I notice everything about her? How strong she is, what a tremendous asset she is to my business? I not only care about this woman, I admire the hell out of her.

“I need you, Jen. I need you to help me run that location and it has nothing to do with our personal relationship. I swear it.”

She’s slowly shaking her head, disbelief written all over her pretty face. “I have zero experience running an entire restaurant. You know this. The idea . . . scares the crap out of me.”

I wave my hand. “Whatever you need to know, I can teach you. You learn quickly. You’re meticulous and you care. I know you won’t screw me over or let the place fail. You’re loyal to a fault, and that’s hard to find in an employee.”

“I—I don’t know how to manage people, Colin.” She’s in denial. It’s her best skill in the place. “It would be such a huge responsibility . . . and I feel like you’re offering it to me only so you can keep me close.” Her gaze goes hard, as if she just figured me all out and doesn’t like what she sees. “And Redding is even farther north—and farther away from Sacramento.”

“It’s close to here,” I point out.

“Close to you,” she corrects. “That’s it, right? You’re trying to keep me close to you? Why?”

This is my chance. I can tell her how I feel about her. I realized after she was attacked last night how much I care for her. How much I don’t want her to leave. This is the moment when I can completely change my life forever.

Nerves jump in my gut like little fish jumping in the middle of an otherwise calm lake and I open my mouth, ready to launch into the speech I’ve been preparing since late last night. “Jen, I need to tell you—”

A rapid knock sounds on my open office door and I glance up to see my goddamn dad standing in the doorway. “Hey,” I say irritably, pissed that he’s interrupted us.

“Hey, son, got a minute to talk?” He strides into the room as if he owns it, flashing a brief smile in Jen’s direction. “You understand, don’t you, honey?”

“Sure. Of course.” She stands, tugging on the hem of her dress self-consciously, her surprised, slightly irritated gaze going to mine briefly before looking away.

“We’ll talk about this later,” I tell her as she starts toward the door, but she doesn’t look back once. Her shoulders are stiff, her back ramrod straight. She looks . . . mad.

I wonder what the hell I could have done to offend her. I make her an amazing offer and she’s pissed? I don’t get it.

My dad rushes to the door the second Jen exits the room and shuts it, turning the lock with a loud click. He turns to look at me, his hands on his hips. “What the hell are you doing?”

I’m taken aback by the hostile tone of his voice. “What do you mean?”

“Offering that little floozy waitress of yours a manager position? Are you crazy? How old is she? Nineteen?”

“She’s twenty-two, not that it’s any of your business. And you gave me a f**king restaurant when I was only nineteen,” I point out. He’d done so out of guilt, and maybe I was doing the same, but damn it, I know Jen is capable. I wish she could see how amazing she is.

“That was different. You’re my son.” He settles into the very chair Jen just vacated, crossing his leg over his opposite knee. “This is just some little girl you’re messing around with. She doesn’t know the first thing about running a restaurant.”

“Don’t call her that,” I bite out. “She means something to me. I know you don’t understand that sort of thing what with your lack of a heart and all, but I care about her.”

“What do you mean, my lack of a heart? Oh, I get it.” He chuckles, shaking his head. “I’m sure your mom goes on and on about what a heartless bastard I am, right?”

I ignore what he says. This isn’t about my parents. I don’t want to talk about my mom. “How the hell do you know anything about Jen anyway? You’ve never spent any time with her, let alone worked with her.”

“I know because I’ve done a little research.” The smirk on his face is aggravating as fuck. Smug and knowing, all at once. “I found out your Jennifer Cade has a little secret.”

Dread settles over me, my gut sinking. “What are you talking about?”

“You were wrong, son. She wasn’t just a stripper at that shitty little club. A real popular one, too, not that I’m surprised.” He smiles, looking again like the very shark that he is. “She’s also a dirty little whore.”

Chapter 19

Jen

My head is spinning. Colin wants me to manage his new location? Is he crazy? Is this some sort of handout position? Of course it is. I’m not capable of doing what he wants me to do and he knows it. I have no experience managing a restaurant, running a business, handling all of the office-type day-to-day things. Just thinking about juggling all of that responsibility makes me break out into a sweat.

It’s the opportunity of a lifetime, but I’m thinking it’s more of an “I must take care of you because you’re my responsibility” offer. As usual. Does he really believe in me that much? He claims he does. Or is he making the offer because he wants to keep me around and take care of me?

God, the man makes me feel so confused! As if I can do nothing on my own. It all has to come to me as a handout. And when I do try and do something on my own, I almost always fail.

Almost? Try always, you dumbass.

Or I end up dragging myself through the gutter to make a few bucks just to live.

“You okay?” Fable appears before me, her brows scrunched in concern. “You look a little sell-shocked.”

“Colin just offered me a job,” I blurt out.

She laughs. “Um, I hate to point this out, but don’t you already work for him? Oh wait, let me guess. He asked you to be his personal sex slave. I bet that pays well,” she adds with an exaggerated waggle of her brows.

I swat her arm, both irritated and amused at her comment. “Shut up, I’m serious.”

“Fine, fine. What sort of job did he offer you?”

“He wants me to manage the new location.”

Her smile fades. “You mean the restaurant he’s opening in Redding?”

I nod. “The very one.”

“Um . . . I thought he already had someone lined up.”

“So did I, but maybe not? I don’t know. But he just offered me the job, not two minutes ago.”

“What did you say?” Fable asks.

“I didn’t get a chance to answer. He wouldn’t let me, and then his dad walked in just as he was about to say something and interrupted us. The jerk,” I spit out.

“His dad is here? Really? Wow.” She grimaces. “You don’t like him, huh?”

“Not at all.” I shudder. The man gives me a bad vibe.

“So what are you going to say to Colin?”

“No, of course. I’m not equipped to handle a job like that. Too much pressure.” I shrug, feeling let down and not really knowing why. I wish I were good enough to accept the job. I’d jump all over it. But I’m not confident I could do right by him, running the new location on my own. “Besides, it’s just a handout. I’d be his puppet and he’d be pulling all the strings.”

“God, Jen, he’s making you an amazing job offer and you still look at it as charity. Don’t you think he wants you to have the position because he believes in you? It would be a huge risk otherwise.” She tilts her head. “You are pretty good at wrangling us around here. Everyone listens to you. You tend to take command when Colin’s not around.”

She’s right, I do. But it’s just because I feel comfortable here. Colin’s never discouraged me from taking control, either. I appreciate that about him.

But leaving me all on my own, taking care of a restaurant and staff as if I know what I’m doing? The idea alone terrifies me.

“I don’t know what to think. We weren’t able to talk much before his dad barged in and basically told me to leave,” I finally answer.

“He sounds like a great guy,” Fable says, her normally sweet voice full of sarcasm.

“He’s a winner. Thank God, Colin’s not like him.” Never, in all the years I’ve known Colin, has he given me a bad vibe.

His father, on the other hand, had a terrible reputation back in Shingletown. Not that he actually lived there or anything. He’d met Colin’s mom on a whim, at some sort of wild concert weekend, or so the story went. I overheard Colin telling Danny the tale once long, long ago and I tried my best to memorize every little detail.

They had a brief affair, Colin’s mom became pregnant with him, and she called Conrad Wilder up out of the blue and told him he was gonna be a father. He had a girlfriend at the time who kicked him out of the house they shared, he came to Shingletown, moved in with and married Colin’s mom, and they were supposed to live happily ever after.

But they didn’t. They lived in a crappy too-small shack, neither of them had a job or the ambition to do anything beyond drink (him) and cause arguments (her), which led to Conrad Wilder bailing on his family right before Colin’s first birthday. Even weirder, they’re still married.

No wonder Colin has such a messed-up view on relationships. Look at the example his parents gave him.

“Families are strange. I totally get that. When I first met Drew’s dad, he creeped me out. Now I realize he was just miserable and in a terrible marriage. He’s really not that bad.” Fable offers me a reassuring smile. “Maybe Colin’s dad is stressed out or overworked. Who knows? I’m gonna say this, though. Ask Colin more questions about this potential job he’s offering you. Don’t just out-and-out refuse him.”

“It doesn’t matter. I’m leaving for Sacramento in little over a week, Fable. I lined up a roommate and everything,” I protest, wincing when I see the crestfallen expression on Fable’s face.

“You found a roommate?” she asks, her voice soft.

“Yeah. We confirmed everything today, as a matter of fact. She seems really nice. I sent her a deposit, so . . .” I hate going on about it. The disappointment is clear in Fable’s eyes.

“That’s awesome. I’m really happy for you.” Fable’s jaw goes firm, like she’s trying to pretend she’s fine. I’ve seen her give the look before. “But I’m dead serious. Talk to him. See what he’s offering.”

“Like a handout?” I say, trying to joke but secretly meaning it. All of his handouts have strings. Ones I didn’t use to mind, since they always involve Colin watching over me. He rarely likes to let me out of his sight.

But I’m really starting to resent his constant need to take care of me. I want more from him.

“Will you stop saying that? It’s like you don’t think you’re worthy of the praise or something. It’s really irritating,” Fable says, her gaze going over my shoulder. She stands straighter as her eyes go wide. “Uh-oh, here he comes. And he looks pissed.”

“Who?” I start to turn but she hisses at me, making me stop.

“Don’t look! It’s Colin. Oh my God, he’s headed over here. I wonder if his dad made him mad,” Fable finishes just as Colin approaches.