"Yes, sir." His eyes darken, and shit, the ache and wetness come back in full force. He's intimidating and controlling. I think I like this about him.
"Come, Charlotte."
Oh, how I want to.
We get in his sleek silver BMW and head to Pittsford. The road we're on is so busy right now and the traffic is ridiculous.
"I'm loving this weather!" I smile as the window rolls down. Turning off the AC, he looks at me and follows what I'm doing.
"Aren't you scared the wind will mess up your hair?"
"It won't be hard to fix my hair before we go into the spa. I love driving with the windows down," I laugh and shake my head. "Wait, was Andrea a little high maintenance?"
He groans. "She's the definition."
I burst out laughing. Tears are coming down from my eyes. "Well . . . even though I can be girly, I still like the wind blowing through my hair."
He doesn't respond and focuses on driving. I look around and notice there are restaurants all over and quite a few businesses.
"What's that?" I point at a plaza.
"Pittsford plaza. There's a grocery store with a lot of other businesses." Troy explains some of the places in the plaza and how big Wegmans is here in Rochester. "You'll like Trader Joe's too. All natural foods. On Sundays I shop at both places."
"Oh, wow. Can't wait."
Troy makes a left hand turn into another plaza and I notice the sign of the spa. "We're here. You ready?" Checking my hair in the mirror, I fluff it a little so I don't look like a hot mess.
"How do I look?"
"Good," he clears his throat. "Ready?" I nod and we walk out of the car and into the spa.
Walking in, two girls at the front desk stand up with smiles. The soft, classical music is soothing and I love the environment.
"Hi, how can I help you?" I look at her nametag.
"Hi, Megan. I'm here to see Jason. My name's Charlotte."
"Oh! It's so good to meet you. He told us about you." I watch her look at me and discreetly look at Troy. Both girls are blushing and I have to roll my eyes.
The door swings open and in walks a sexy guy with shoulder-length hair with broad shoulders, a little scruff on his face, and really nice brown eyes I've ever seen. His towering six-foot frame comes towards us and I have to swallow my tongue. Sweet lord, this is my boss.
"Hey, man," he says to Troy and they shake hands. Turing his head to me, he gives me his panty-dropping smile. "Hey, I'm Jason."
"Charlotte. Nice to meet you."
"You too. Why don't you guys come to the office and I'll get you all set."
We follow him into the office and Troy closes the door. I look around and see various awards. The spa was named in the ‘top one hundred best places to work' and has reached one million dollars in sales back in 2013.
"Troy filled me in with your background and history. I trust him and as long as you're okay with the position, we'll talk more about the responsibilities and get the paperwork done."
"No questions on my end right now. I'm sure I'll have a few after you're done explaining the position."
"Well, just let me know. I have to go over this shit with you for HR. But I'm one of the owners. The other three you won't see as much, so you're going to mostly be working with me, unless we have our weekly meetings."
"Sounds good."
"As a manager I'll need you to work every day and you'll have Sunday off. Since you are salary, if you need to flex your time, that's fine. The days I really need you here are Monday and Friday for meetings." I nod my head and wait for him to explain more about the position. "The spa needs to stay at or around twenty-five percent with closing sales and retail. We exclusively sell certain products and you'll learn all of this as you work. I can start you at forty-five thousand a year. Does that sound good?"
"Yes, it does." I try to keep professional. Jason hands me the paperwork and I quickly fill it out and listen to their conversation about sports.
Snore.
Finishing the paperwork Jason goes over some of the responsibilities and tells me more about the spa. I like what I'm hearing and everything sounds good. It's a membership-based spa, which I have never heard of, but it makes sense. Some massages cost well over two hundred dollars. With a membership, it's only sixty dollars and the member gets a sixty-minute customized massage. And as a manager I get discounted massages. Score. I'm going to need one as soon as possible.
"Everything sounds really good, Jason. Thank you so much for this chance."
"You're welcome. I'm excited to have you. This team's great, and the ladies will help you out."
"Sounds awesome! I can't wait."
"Okay good. Get the training done at home and I'll see you Monday morning."
"Sounds good," I smile and shake Jason's hand. "Thanks again!"
Troy's hand rests on the small part of my lower back above my ass as he leads me out of the office. I wave to the girls and see the frowns on their face when they see his hand on me. I know ladies, he's hot and he's mine.
I love his hand on me. It's a simple touch that sends tingles down my body and I feel light. He guides me outside to his car and opens the door for me. Settling in and putting on my seatbelt, Troy gets in and starts the car.
"Time to see your brother."
Internally I groan and swallow the lump in my throat. This is going to suck major balls.
Pulling into his house, my jaw drops. It's a massive two-story colonial with several acres of land and three large white columns in the front of the house. It's semi private where my big brother lives. He likes his privacy and the ability to be alone to think. Looking around I let out a sigh because after everything we've been through, he's become such a great man.
When Troy parks the car, I see the front door open and standing on the porch is my handsome brother. Rushing out of the car, I run up the driveway and jump in his arms. Hugging him tightly, I rest my face against his chest. I fight back the tears and the overwhelming guilt for not spending more time with him.
"What the hell," he says and puts me down. "How? What? You're here," he stammers.
"Yeah, I'm here. Hope it's okay."
"Of course it is. But, what's going on?"
Before I can answer, Troy places his hand on the small of my back and my body shivers from his touch.
"Come inside." He tilts his head to the side indicating for us to follow him.
The inside of the house is unbelievably gorgeous. The white porcelain tiles cover the foyer, and the winding stairs are partially covered with a rug. We follow him to the kitchen and everything looks brand new with hardwood floors, and hardwood cabinets.
"Wow, Will, this is beautiful," I exclaim and look around seeing the island in the middle of the kitchen with bar stools surrounding the outside. I walk to the sliding glass door and look outside to see an in-ground pool and the land surrounding his property. Everything is wide and open. There's a barn-style building towards the wooded area. "What do you have over there?"
"My gym," he smirks and grabs water bottles from the fridge and passes them along to both of us. "I have my clients meet me here to work out and I give them their plans for the week."
"Ah, gotcha."
I look around his massive kitchen and walk around, hearing the whispering and ignoring what they're talking about. My mind is spinning. I need to figure out what to tell Will or else I'll fall apart and I don't want him to see me when I do.
Walking into his living room I see pictures of our family lined across the wall. I miss my parents every day and hope they're in heaven watching down on us. I think they are. Look how far we've come without them, but technically they've been with us since leaving this earth. I feel them whenever I'm sad, happy, or mad.
"Hey." I turn around and see Will. He nods for me to sit down and joins me. "Are you ready to talk to me?"
I nod. "So I'm here for good."
"Wait, why? You had a great job in Michigan and I thought things were going well. Shawn told me he was proposing. Charlotte, what's going on?" His tone is soft and caring. I can see it on his face that he's truly listening and won't be upset. I have to be semi-honest with him.
"I said no. Shawn's a great guy," I quickly add. "I don't love him the way he loves me. It wouldn't be fair to marry him and not really be in love. I mean, I could have stayed with my friends Jessica and Jim, but they're getting married soon and I didn't want to be the third wheel in their love-fest. I miss you and Troy. Both of you are the only family I have." I explain looking at him and then at Troy. "This is where I need to be. This is where I want to be."
"Charlotte, why didn't you tell me any of this?" He pulls me into his arms and rests his chin on top of my head. "I didn't know you were going through this. Fuck, sis. I mean, whenever we talked you sounded okay and Shawn said you guys were doing really well. Don't get me wrong, I'm so happy you're here and you can stay for as long as you want."