caught the bug. For the first time in my life, the idea of a family sounds like a wonderful thing, not a chain that's going to keep me from escaping."
"You know, if we talked to Mom about it, I bet she'd stay on a few more years and then take over daycare when she retires."
Kate groaned. "Oh, she's going to spoil them so bad."
"Yeah," Adam agreed, "she certainly will. She did with me. I was thinking that maybe you could ask Janelle if she'd consider being the nanny? I mean, she's been struggling to find a good-paying job - and she won't consider it from me."
Kate was smiling. "And that's it, huh? We're going to get married, have kids, and just like that, it's all decided?"
"Nope," he told her. "We still have to figure out if we're adopting or having, and when you want to do this, and hope like hell I don't have fertility issues like my parents did." He shrugged. "But money fixes a lot of those things, you know. It's a lot, and I love the idea, but wedding first. I'm kinda leaning to April first, in all honesty."
Kate gasped. "Yes! An April Fool's wedding? Adam, that's perfect!"
"Then I'll make it happen," he promised. "For you, I will do absolutely anything." He cupped her cheek. "And fuck it if the employees gossip."
Then he kissed her. Just like his game name, he was cool and calm as ever and took his time about it, but Kate just leaned into him. When she moaned, he couldn't help but smile. Pulling back, he found heat simmering in her gaze.
"That is why I love you, Ms. Gaskill. Now let's get this over with so I can prove it."
Chapter 49
"I can't narrow it down anymore!" Knock yelled, shoving his chair back in frustration.
Jason knew exactly how the kid felt, but where Knock was the kind who yelled, Jason got quieter and worked harder. They were all exhausted, and with the team tournament in the morning, they needed to call this as good as it was going to get. They needed a break - both mentally and physically - before all of these people had to get back to their real jobs.
But before he could say anything, Riley grabbed a bottle and walked over to her little brother. "Take another shot, yell a little louder, and then do it again," she said with so much understanding in her voice. Then she turned to the room. "Anyone else? Looks like we're going to start priming early today, people. This is it. Tonight, we take our computers down to the gaming hall. Tomorrow, Soul Reaper will be somewhere in this building, and I don't fucking like the idea of letting him beat me."
"Most of you need to worry about your games," Jason told her. "Focus on your tournaments."
Murder scoffed at that. "Cyn, we're signed. We're gonna get paid. Maybe a couple grand less if we fuck up completely, but pretty sure none of us will notice. We're fine. We can take the risk of playing bad. Even Rhaven has a job lined up, so how she places doesn't matter."
"You're playing?" Knock asked her.
"Yep. And who knows," Rhaven said, "might make them gloat a bit if I bomb hard enough."
"I'll definitely die in the first round," Zara promised.
Murder stepped over to pull Jason's wife against his side. "You suck so bad, but we love you anyway."
"I'm better!" Zara insisted.
"Kate kicks your ass," he countered.
Zara just stuck her tongue out at him. "She's been playing longer. Besides, I've been more worried about keeping your stats up. That's why I always run in and die. Lets you see the baddies."
Murder leaned in and kissed the top of her head. "And here I thought that was just you trying to get offline to jump your man."
Jason couldn't help but smile. Those two were adorable. Murder loved Zara in a way that most guys would say crossed a million lines, but Jason knew better. Zara had told him about the nights when she'd crawled into Murder's bed to keep the nightmares away, and how the guy had never once taken advantage of it. She'd broken down, and he'd picked her back up, healing himself in the process of helping her.
But that didn't get Jason any closer to catching this guy. Pushing out a breath, he stood and turned to address the room of people. "Look," he said, just as someone knocked at the door.