while she’s still got some time on her hands before she becomes a big-time author, there will always be a role for her there.”
I grinned when I turned and held out my hand to shake Jefferson’s. “I’m glad you could make it, old man.”
The corners of his eyes crinkled when he smiled, but other than the wrinkles seeming a little bit deeper than before, he looked good. “Watch who you call an old man, young man. I prefer thinking of myself as a man who has had the benefit of time to accumulate a wealth of knowledge and experience.”
He turned to Rick to shake his hand. “It’s good to be back here, Mr. James. Please tell me you haven’t changed your recipes now that your sister is gone? I know she helped you formulate them, but I’m hoping you’ve kept them the same without her here. I’ve been dreaming about your green beans and mashed potatoes.”
“They’re all still the same,” Rick said, smiling as he greeted Jefferson. When he released the older man’s hand, he turned back to me. “So Leah’s still got a job at Killen, then? Even after this contract runs out?”
“Yep. She’s going to talk to your parents about it while we’re here. We know the girl who’s been subleasing her place is interested in making it permanent, and since she’s practically moved in with me, we’ve decided to make it official.”
“She’s moved in with you?” His brows swept up, and for a second, he looked like he was about to hurl or hurt me. But then he seemed to remember that he’d promised he wouldn’t punch me unless I hurt her, and he got his shit back under control.
I shrugged. “Technically, she’s still got the suite Killen Cosmetics put her up in for the year, but she hasn’t been spending very much time there. Between all our travels and her preferring to stay at my place when we’re home, we’ve given the hotel notice that we’ll be giving up her room.”
Rick glanced at Jefferson next. “What will she be doing at the company once this campaign ends?”
Jefferson motioned to me. “It’s Dane’s show to run now, but he ran everything past me before he made the decision on this one. I wholeheartedly supported his idea.”
“Leah was a rockstar during the castings,” I said. “She connected incredibly well with the models and built a dream team for this campaign. That’s not to mention that she’s the one who came up with having different models for every country to begin with. She’s got a knack for it, so she’ll be helping us manage future campaigns and working closely with the marketing department for any other ideas she might have.”
“Wow.” Rick whistled under his breath, but I didn’t miss the relief in his expression. It had been justified of him to be worried, though.
Leah and I had spoken about it once or twice before things had started falling into place for us, and I knew we’d both been worried about it too. She’d been willing to move to New York anyway, even if she didn’t still have a job with Killen, but I hadn’t wanted her to do it just for me.
If it had come down to it, I’d have begged her to stay just for me—no doubt. But I’d also known that I’d be working long hours and that she’d be alone in that time. Thankfully, we’d never gotten to that.
It wasn’t just me creating a position for her because I loved her, either. Marketing had come to me with it initially, asking if she’d be staying on since she’d made such a good liaison between them and the models. They’d also pointed out several ideas she’d helped them with over the time she’d been there, and it had snowballed from there.
Everything had fallen into place perfectly for us to stay together. All that remained to be seen now was whether she wanted to commit to staying with me forever.
A loud cheer went up when she entered the restaurant, and she blinked in surprise as she took in the crowd and the decorations in front her. Then she was laughing and crying a little as she greeted all of her family and friends, all the while searching me out to give me her best “I can’t believe you didn’t give me a hint about this” look.
Rick disappeared from my side as soon as she came in, and I saw him in the open kitchen beyond the dining room