a father figure, but he wasn’t sure how comfortable Shea was, finding himself so quickly inducted. “How about we both do it? Shea and me?”
“Okay.” She tugged at Shea. “Come on.” She wriggled down, and they walked her to her bedroom, Kiss trailing behind them, tail wagging. The dog was indefatigable in her energy and devotion to Stacey, and Jake blessed the rescue every day.
“I’ll run the bath for you. Go pick out your PJs.” Jake went into the bathroom and turned on the taps, leaving Shea standing in the hall, looking a little lost.
“Come,” she said to Shea, pulling his hand.
Jake had to laugh at how out of his element Shea looked, but he took it like the good sport he was, and soon they joined Jake in the bathroom.
“Okay.” He helped her take off her shorts and tank top, and she climbed in. He gave her a washcloth with soap squirted on it. “Scrub up, and I’ll help wash your hair after.”
Soon, Stacey was clean, dry, and dressed for bed. All it took was three big yawns before she fell asleep between him and Shea on the couch.
“That was faster than normal.”
“I got her all tuckered out for you.” Shea snickered and turned the channel to the ball game.
Jake picked her up and put her to bed. He gave Kiss, who lay on the rug, a pat on her head, stopped in the kitchen to get a beer for Shea, and made himself the whiskey he’d been craving since chasing after Stacey in the park, finally joining Shea in the living room.
“Ahh.” He lowered himself on the couch and took a hefty slug of his drink. “You don’t know how long I’ve been waiting for this.”
Shea took a drink of his beer, then plucked the tumbler out of his hand and set it on the coffee table. “And you don’t know how long I’ve been waiting to be able to do this.” His mouth covered Jake’s, and Jake sighed his pleasure, letting the silky smoothness of Shea’s tongue past his lips.
“Mmm…I’m feeling a little tuckered out myself, cowboy.” He needed Shea tonight to prepare him for the shit of his week ahead.
Shea cupped his hard-on. “Nope. You didn’t go for your morning ride. Time to get in the saddle.” He turned off the television.
With their arms around each other, they walked to his bedroom.
* * *
“Jake?”
From Keisha’s subdued voice, he already knew who was waiting to see him. He’d found two messages waiting when he arrived that morning, and it hadn’t even hit nine a.m.
“It’s her, right?”
“Mmhmm.”
“I’m ready.”
“Okay.”
Jake stood, and a sharp rap heralded her entrance before she opened the door. Renée Schneider came into his office and didn’t even wait for him to speak.
“Jake. I’m sure you’re thinking that I’m here to make your life miserable, but nothing can be further from the truth. I want us to work as a team. Of course, there have been some slipups, but it’s only natural with the upheaval I heard about in your personal life.”
So that’s the way it’s going to be. How fucking dare Clarke.
“Please have a seat.” She took a hardback chair at the conference table, but he remained behind his desk. As long as he still worked here, he’d maintain his professionalism. “I would never think you’d make my life miserable, Renée. And I’m perfectly happy to work as a team. I give a hundred percent to Precision every single day. I doubt you’ll find anyone who can look in the mirror and claim to be perfect. None of us are. But I can assure you that when I step through these doors, my personal life is nowhere to be found.”
“And yet there was a huge sexual-harassment issue in Richard Sterling’s division.”
“Yes. Which had I known about—”
“Isn’t it your job to know?” Her cobra-like gaze zeroed in on him. “And the fact that you didn’t has brought this company under the microscope.”
“The only fact here is that the attempt to pin the issues stemming from Sterling’s clandestine affair on me is laughable.” Unfortunately, he didn’t feel like laughing. “You can say or do or think what you want. People know my reputation.”
“Very well. I’ll need the reports for the past five years for each division on my desk by close of business.”
“I have them ready for you now, along with all our training schedules. Anything else?” He cocked a brow, determined to remain calm, though inside he seethed.