“It’s been about a week, but when I’m triggered, there’s no stopping it.”

“Stress probably doesn’t help,” he notes. “Are you sure about going back to work?”

I knew it. Disappointment fills me as I prepare to have the job taken from me. “I can handle it, Gray.”

“I didn’t say you couldn’t. I just worry that it’s going to be a lot of stress, long days on your feet, running around and dealing with my family. I don’t want it to end up hurting you.”

I shake my head. “No, it’s not like that. I need this. I have felt so useless and broken, please, don’t take it away.”

He moves quickly, hands taking mine. “I wasn’t saying that. No, I wouldn’t not let you work at the inn. It’s that I’m worried it’ll make things worse.”

I sit up slowly, measuring the pain and light sensitivity. “The only thing that’s making it worse is not living. Since the crash, I’ve been here—alone. I can’t drive. My words . . . they get stuck. It’s better though,” I say quickly. “I’m doing better, and when Stella offered me the job, it was the first time I felt okay.”

Saying it aloud makes me feel stupid, but I need him to see that this job is saving me.

“And if you get a headache?”

I release a breath through my nose and shrug. “I don’t know.”

He releases my hands, sighing deeply. “What if I find you another job? One where you don’t have to worry about people or really much of anything, but you can still work.”

“No. I’m not a charity case, and I swear, I can do this.”

“I never said you were or that you couldn’t.”

“If I were just some girl and you didn’t know me or about what happened to me, would you be worried like this?”

Grayson smirks. “You’re not some girl. You were the first girl I ever loved, and trying to pretend otherwise is a mistake.”

“Maybe so, but I got this job from your sister because you need a front desk manager.”

He stands, pacing around my room. “I need a lot of things,” he says so quietly I’m not sure I heard it right. After a few more turns around, he stops and looks at me. “Okay. One condition though.”

“Name it.”

“If you feel a headache coming on or that you need a break because you’re tired . . . I mean anything weird, you tell me immediately. Don’t wait until it’s bad or because you’re in the middle of something. Deal?”

I nod. “Deal.”

“Good. Then I’ll see you on Monday.”

“Monday.” I have one week to get prepared to be around this man all the time.