your name popped up, and when I spoke to a friend at Precision, I discovered you were looking to make a career move.”
“Oh? Who do you know, if you don’t mind my asking?”
“Oliver Washington and I went to Michigan together and were in the same fraternity. He didn’t know I was looking for a Chief People Officer, but when I mentioned your name, his exact words to me were: ‘Don’t be an ass. Get Jake and make him an offer he can’t refuse.’ ”
“Oliver is a very good friend.”
“And that means a lot to me.” Carson eyed him. “So let’s talk.”
* * *
Two weeks passed, and though Jake had several other in-person meetings and phone conferences with the company, he’d heard nothing final. Shea had extended his trip by a few days after his photo shoot, but he needed to go back to Texas. They’d taken a few hours in the evenings to look at apartments Shea could rent, but nothing struck either of them. Stacey was scheduled to start school in a little over a week, and they’d been running around the city shopping for her and trying to capture as much family time together as possible.
Because as far as Jake was concerned, this was his family.
The night before, Shea had stayed over for the first time, and it was more than perfect to wake up seeing his face on the pillow. They had to make this work between them, although Jake still hadn’t figured out how.
What he did know was that work had become intolerable, with Renée taking away almost all his responsibilities. She’d promoted Maria to her assistant, something Maria had agonized over, but with the increase in salary, Jake couldn’t begrudge her.
“I’d come to work with you in a heartbeat if you asked me,” she said, teary-eyed.
“I still haven’t heard anything.”
“Don’t get discouraged.” She gave his arm a quick squeeze. “I’m not giving up hope, and neither should you.”
On Shea’s last night, Jake came home later than usual and in a grumpy mood for being forced to stay late doing work any of the summer interns could do but that Renée insisted he handle.
He unlocked the front door to his apartment and sniffed. “Hey. Who’s making something that smells so good?” He set his briefcase down, and Stacey rocketed out of the kitchen toward him.
“Daddeeee.” She flung herself into his arms, and he buried his face in her sweet-smelling hair. When he looked up and saw Shea in jeans, a T-shirt, and an apron, all the pieces of his life clicked into place, and Jake couldn’t give a damn what Renée told him to do as long as he had these two people who meant more to him than anything or anyone else.
“I’m sorry I’m so late. Did you have a good day, baby? Tell me what you did.”
“I went riding, and then we went to the big giant library with the lions. We had lunch outside under umbrellas, and then we came home and made spaghetti and meatballs and brownies.”
“Mmm, sounds delicious.”
“Shea helped.” She let go and wiggled away, racing back to the kitchen. Shea sauntered up to him, and everything bad faded to white noise when he had so much good in front of him.
“Howdy.”
“Hi there, cowboy.”
“I was gettin’ kinda worried when I didn’t hear from you.” Shea rubbed their cheeks together and kissed him. “You don’t haveta eat the food if you don’t want. After Terry left, Stacey insisted we make dinner, and this is all I remember how to cook.”
Jake threaded his fingers through the dark hair curling at Shea’s nape and pulled him close for a kiss. “Meatballs and spaghetti are my second favorite thing to eat. Next to cowboy steak.”
“You’re silly.” But Shea kissed him back with a hungry intensity that curled his toes and left him quivering.
“Tell me how it went today,” Shea asked as they walked to the kitchen and caught Stacey with a brownie in her mouth.
He frowned. “Stacey. No dessert before dinner.”
“I already ate.” She chewed, nodding her head. “Ask Shea.”
He noticed she was already in her pajamas. “Oh, you took a bath?”
“With Terry, and then Shea gave me dinner. He only tasted ’cause he wanted to eat with you. But I was hungry.” Her big eyes held his, and he could see a reflection of worry. “Are you mad I already ate?”
“Of course not, honey.”
She smiled and stuffed the rest of the brownie in her mouth, finishing off with a big gulp of milk. “I’m