Of course, Kit hadn’t explained to his employees why his ex-boyfriend was now an ex. All he’d said was that Don had done something horrible, and Kit had dumped him.
Which, basically, was true. Thanks to that, Kit had decided he was going to be terminally single.
“Right. But are they’re going to believe I suddenly hired a new employee with no warning, either?” Kit rubbed his forehead as he stared into space.
Finding out about paranormals was a huge pain in his ass. How did people deal with this stuff? Just lie all the time? He was a horrible liar. Just ask anyone who knew him.
“There’s no way around it, I’m going to have to act like he’s an employee. That’s the only thing that would make sense.” Kit sincerely hoped Beckett was willing to play along.
While Kit waited on his food, he tried to get as much painted as he could. A picture of Beckett also came in. No doubt about it, the guy was good-looking, and in the picture at least, he looked friendly. Shrugging, Kit slid his phone back into his pocket. Frankly, after the disastrous ending of his last relationship, he was kind of off men at the moment.
About twenty minutes later, he scrubbing the paint off his hands so he could eat. Sitting at his desk, he dug in. He inhaled his sandwich he was so hungry. He’d really worked up an appetite paining, which was nice since that too had been off lately.
Kit had just eaten the last chip when another one of his employees popped her head into his office to tell him he had a visitor. Figuring it was Beckett, he cleaned up the remains of his lunch, tossed his trash, and made a quick trip to the employees’ bathroom to wash his hands.
Butterflies took flight in his stomach as he made his way up front. He was about to meet a real live dragon. That was excitingly terrifying.
He spotted Beckett almost immediately, and he had to say, the picture really didn’t do the guy justice. He was simply gorgeous. As luck would have it, he was standing in a beam of sunlight that made his reddish gold hair blaze.
“Hey!” Kit came to a stop in front of Beckett and held out his hand. “I’m Kit Meadows.”
Beckett shook Kit’s hand. “Nice to meet you, Kit. I’m Beckett Newhouse. I believe you’re expecting me?”
“Yes.” Kit took note of the red hair and brown eyes. “Why don’t we go back to my office?”
“Sounds good.”
As Kit led back Beckett back, the previous mentioned butterflies were now doing cartwheels in his stomach. And get this. Now that he knew paranormals existed, he was uncomfortable having one at his back. Which was silly, really. He had firsthand knowledge how useless he was at defending himself against one, so why worry about it, right?
Yeah, no. He was not gonna relive that again. Nope.
“Come on in. I’m in the process of moving my office, so things are a mess right now. Sorry about that. Damn.” Well, he was certainly an idiot. “There’s nowhere for you to sit. Just a second, let me go grab a chair from our breakroom. Sorry.”
“Hey, it’s not a problem. I completely understand.”
“Be right back.” Kit hurried down the hall, grabbed the chair, and rushed back to his office. Seriously, where was his brain lately? He said it down in front of his desk.
“Thank you,” Beckett said taking a seat.
Kit collapsed into his desk chair and blew a stray stand of hair out of his face. “Really, I’m usually much more organized than this.”
“Kit, it’s okay. Hudson explained everything. Of course you’re rattled after what you went through.”
Kit leaned his head back and stared up at ceiling. “It’s been an adjustment, that’s for sure.” Kit straightened up in his chair and then made eye contact with Beckett. “Anyway, sorry you got stuck with babysitting duty, but I really do appreciate you being here.”
“Don’t look at it as babysitting duty, and I’m thrilled to be here. Hudson did tell you I love books, right?”
“Yes, he did.”
“And he did tell you that I am more than willing to help out around here, right?”
“He did. I don’t want you to feel obligated, though. I don’t know if you have another job or whatever, but—”
“It’s fine, I promise.”
“Okay. Okay. Sorry.” Lord, he had already apologized twice so far. He needed to stop that. Gah, what an impression he must be making. “I guess I’m still somewhat overwhelmed.”
“Again, that’s not surprising, all things considered. It’s going to be okay, Kit. I’m pleased to be here and more than willing to help out. And also? Just so we’re clear? You’re not a burden, just in case that thought may be lurking around in your head.”
“I mean… yeah. It is. And I am. I’m just sorry Hudson got stuck with… me.” Oh look, third time apologizing.
“My king was asked by his dear friend to watch over you. In other words, Kage honored Hudson by entrusting your care to Hudson. I’m honored my king gave that duty to me.”
“Wow, that’s…. Yeah.” What a beautiful thing to say. “Thank you. That helps.”
“I’m glad, because I meant it. Now, I see you’ve started painting. Would you like to have a helping hand?”
“Seriously?” Because really, who willingly offered to help paint? Who did stuff like that?
“Seriously. Between the two of us, I believe we can get this done in a matter of hours. I like the color, by the way.”
Apparently, dragons did stuff like that. More than happy to have help, Kit stood. “That would be awesome and thank you.”
“I never would’ve thought of combining those two colors, but they definitely work together. You have a good eye.”
“I know, right, and thanks! Oh hey, by the way, I’m going to tell everybody here you’re a new hire,” Kit said. “For a bookstore, we’re pretty busy, and several of the ladies here have been on me to hire somebody to help me out. So I’m going to say you’re my new assistant.”
“Excellent idea. In that case, let me assist you in painting this room.” Grinning, Beckett stood too.
Laughing, Kit led Beckett over to the cans of paint.
