Family to the Rescue

Fantastic. As a bachelor, no one had been cooking or caring for him lately.

He took her lead and walked down the hall, trying not to breathe in her appealing scent. He’d had enough of being light-headed. “Sounds good,” he said. “Then I can get moving and get to work.”

Kim stopped cold and Seth bumped into her, accidentally pressing his nose against her soft, fragrant, obviously freshly washed hair. He jumped back. Oops. Way too close for comfort.

She turned quickly around to face him. “What did you say?”

He paused. “That breakfast sounded good?”

“No the other part.”

“About going to work?”

“Yeah, that,” she replied, peering intently at him, two cute little creases forming between her delicate eyebrows.

He shrugged. “What about it?”

She crossed her arms. “No way are you going to work today.”

Okay. So she was the bossy type. He didn’t usually like that, but on her, bossy looked good. Go figure. “Why not?”

“You suffered a concussion and had stitches put in your head yesterday. You shouldn’t be working.” She pressed her features into a stern expression. “You need to rest. The doctor said so.”

Him kicking back and resting were as likely as making it to the big league with a wife and two kids. “Well, I have a business to run, and I’m the only one who can run it.”

“Isn’t there anyone else you can call?”

“Nope. My mom, who usually helps at the store, is out of town. And my dad…can’t help out right now.” More like wouldn’t help out, but there was no need to get into the dirty details. “It’s me, or no one.”

She chewed on her lip. After a few seconds of thinking, she said, “Why don’t you let me go in for you?”

“No. Absolutely not. I can’t ask you to do that.”

“Why not? I need a job, and you need someone to help out.” She smiled, her dimples peeking out. “It’s the perfect solution.”

He forced himself not to stare at her fascinating dimples. No, it wasn’t the perfect solution. It was a terrible idea. She’d already done enough; they were even. Period.

Before he got words out, she added, “Besides, the doctor said you weren’t supposed to be alone for twenty-four hours.”

“It’s a busy place,” he replied levelly. “I’ll be surrounded by people all day long. I’m guessing I won’t be alone at all.”

She shook her head. “You never know. Why don’t you let me come with you? I could help out, and keep an eye on you at the same time.”

“No,” he said. “You’ve done enough.” More than he’d wanted, actually. It was time to disengage.

She paused, gazing at him from underneath her long eyelashes. “Actually…you’d be doing me a favor, too.”

He narrowed his eyes. Uh-oh. She needed a favor. “How so?” he asked cautiously.

“Well, I’ve been saving to take classes, and only need a bit more for one term of college, so I really need a job. You need someone to help out while your mom’s gone. If you let me work for you, we’ll both benefit, right?”

He let out a breath and looked at the floor, stalling. Oh, man. She needed a job. And he needed someone to help out if he was realistic about his limitations at the moment. The Sports Shack was a two-person operation, no doubt about it. He needed an employee.

Kim was right. Her offer made sense. And, really, how could he say no without seeming like an ungrateful, heartless idiot?

He rubbed his jaw, wishing he had more time to think all this through. He didn’t usually make important decisions on the fly. Unfortunately, the store had to open on schedule—if he remembered correctly, he had a delivery coming this morning. He didn’t have a lot of time to be cautious.

“All right,” he said, hoping he didn’t regret his decision. “You can come help out…for now.” He’d leave it at that.

“Great,” she said, beaming. “Perfect.”

He mumbled his agreement. Her working for him was mutually beneficial; he’d be providing Kim with something she desperately needed, and vice versa. The solution sounded ideal….

So why in the world was he so conflicted about working with her?

He looked at her, trailing his gaze over her face. She was smiling broadly at him, her gorgeous golden eyes sparkling, her clear, fresh-scrubbed skin glowing. She looked happy. And full of life. And so beautiful he could barely breathe.

The truth belatedly smashed into him. The reason he hadn’t wanted to agree to Kim’s deal was as difficult to ignore as a grand slam when the score was tied.

He wanted to casually date the appealing Kim, not be her boss. He gave a mental groan. Yeah. It was going to be a long couple of days.

Chapter Four

Kim spent her first morning at The Sports Shack rearranging displays and unpacking and shelving various sporting goods items that had just been delivered.

Seth, on the other hand, hadn’t come out of his office once since they’d arrived and he gave her brief, general instructions on how to manage the basic running of the store. He’d even told her that he preferred not to be interrupted unless it was an emergency, mumbling under his breath that he wasn’t feeling up to par. Of course, he waved off her concerns about his concussion.

No, he hadn’t even ventured out to see how she was doing with the job, although maybe that merely expressed his confidence in her ability to handle things by herself. Fortunately, she had been able on her own to help the five or six customers who’d wandered in from the quaint, flower-lined boardwalk.

Despite Seth’s standoffish ways, she’d made it a point to stick her head in his office a few times to make sure he hadn’t fainted dead away from his concussion. He’d been a bit terse, though civil. But other than the contact initiated by her, he’d stayed sequestered, uninvolved with the sales end of the business. And her.

Guess he left the people part of the store to his mom most of the time…?

The bells over the door rang, and a tall, thin gentleman dressed in a multi-pocketed vest, some kind of pants with straps over the shoulders and a battered fishing hat walked in and went directly to aisle four.

Per Seth’s instructions, she headed over to the customer. “May I help you?” Kim said to the older man.

The older man turned and gave her a rueful smile. “Probably not.”

She pulled in her chin. “What do you need?”

He sighed. “I’m looking for the new Fish Master 1000 surface lures that were supposed to come in today.”

“Fish Master 1000?” In reality, Kim didn’t know one lure from another. Who would have guessed there were so many ways to catch fish?

But she had unloaded some kind of lures in the shipment this morning. They’d been in a green and white box. “What color is the package?”

The man laughed. “Don’t rightly know.” He looked around. “Is Seth here?”