depends on what’s needed. The job determines the workers, if that makes sense.”
I followed behind Luca as he spoke, and Jonah trailed us without interrupting.
“Actually, it makes perfect sense. You want to employ the right people in the right roles. That way, you’ll get the best outcome.”
“Spoken like a true business manager in training,” Luca teased, and my heart started to pound. When Luca faced forward, I turned around and gave a thumbs up to Jonah who shook his head and rolled his eyes.
“Can you believe your dad hired me on the spot!” I spun around in a circle once Jonah led me through the hotel room door, tossing my bag into the chair in the corner. After I twirled, I went over to the bed and plopped backward, letting myself fall to the king-sized bed. The room was beautiful but not ostentatious. Hugging each side of the bed were black lacquered end tables with shiny silver handles. A squat, silver-based lamp sat on each side of the bed.
I watched as Jonah went to one lamp and turned it on, then repeated the process on the next.
Across from the bed were two huge windows. In between them was a matching black dresser with a flat screen TV hanging on the wall above it. To the left of the bed was a door that was already open, which I could tell led to a rather large bathroom, complete with an awesome tub that I figured two people could easily fit in. Imagining me and Jonah in the tub had me shivering with excitement to get on with tonight’s activities.
I popped up and went over to the chair where my bag was, shimmying as I did so.
Jonah sat on the edge of the bed and chuckled. “You’re really happy, baby.”
I grinned and spun around. “So happy! You don’t know what this means. He told me what the base salary is and it’s more than all my jobs put together! Do you know what this means? I’ll be able to finish my coursework, find a place of my own, buy some furniture, and live without fear about where my next dollar is going to come from.” I clutched the pretty kimono-style satin robe I pulled from my bag and held it up to my chest. “And I’m going to have medical benefits! I haven’t had any medical coverage since I lived at Kerrighan House and was under the government care plans. This. Is. Huge!”
Jonah patted the bed next to him. “Come here.”
I dropped the kimono on my bag and practically skip-walked to his side. Instead of sitting next to him, I put my hands to his shoulders and sat across his lap, my knees beside each of his hips.
“It seems like since the day you crashed into my life, everything is changing for the better.” I dipped my head and rubbed my nose against his. “Thank you, Jonah.”
He moved his hands from where they’d been curled around the fleshy parts of my hips and slid them up my ribcage and around my back. “This smile on your face right now, it makes all the shit I’ve had to go through worth it. You light up my life, Simone. Make me see things differently. I’m now looking forward to the future.”
I ran my fingers through his hair, and he tilted his head back. “Are you sure you’re okay with me working for your dad and your brother?”
He inhaled so deeply I could feel his chest move with his intake of air where we were pressed together. “Wasn’t it you who told me I couldn’t let my past color my future?”
I grinned. “Not in those words exactly, but yeah. We can’t take any of the past back and do it over again. We just have to move forward and make the best choices we can toward finding our happy.”
“Which also means I can’t convict you for the sins of my ex-wife,” he murmured.
I scratched at the back of his head, allowing my nails to grate across the tension I felt there. “It wasn’t all bad was it? With Helen.”
He closed his eyes and I rested my forehead to his.
“You don’t have to talk about it. Especially since this is supposed to be our night, but honey, you just lost her all over again in a way that’s very permanent. I don’t want you putting on a strong face for me, or not sharing your grief. You had a life before me, and I’m okay with