“Heath, heads up.”
I nearly run into a client coming out of the locker room and apologize profusely.
Jean-Pierre looks at me funny. “Where’d you go, my friend?”
I shake my head and refocus. “Mars, apparently.”
We make our way out of the gym and walk up the steps, where Jean-Pierre proudly points out the chair lift that’s just been added to make sure that the office is accessible.
We walk into an impressively organized space. It was obviously an apartment before, with the kitchen just off to the side, but what they’ve done with the room is a mixture of comfortable and modern and practical. There’s one big desk against the back wall, and two very comfortable leather couches facing each other in the middle with a gorgeous rug pulling it all together.
Nick and Elijah stroll out from the hallway, both a little mussed. Nick has a shit-eating grin on his face, and the super-adorable Elijah blushes when he sees us. I walk over and give my old friend a big hug, and whisper into his ear, “Hey, if you need a few extra minutes to complete the job, Jean-Pierre and I can go for coffee.”
He pulls back and pats me on the arm with a satisfied little shake of his head. “Nah, thanks, though. We don’t leave the bed until everyone is fully satisfied.”
I’ve known Nick a long time, and that sorta smug, madly-in-love smile hits me right in the heart.
Huh.
I never noticed that he and Roly have the same smile. Not that I’ve seen Roly doing much smiling around me these days.
I blink the thought away and go back to teasing my friend. “I thought these are your offices?”
“Yeah, but we have the master still set up, in case there are visitors.”
“Yeah, or the need for a bed,” I snicker.
Elijah squints at the two of us and asks, “What are you two up to? What are you talking about? I feel like this is trouble.”
I walk over to my new friend and give him a side hug. “Oh, you know it, little one.”
“Hey! I’m not that little. I’m just skinny.Rolyis little.”
“Roly is something,” I answer back with an eye roll.
Jean-Pierre looks at me with curiosity and then turns his attention to Nick and Elijah. “Gentlemen, as you know, Heath here is my business manager, and I enjoy working with him very much. In an industry where a lot of people are crooks and liars, Heath has continued to keep my portfolio healthy and aboveboard.”
Nick asks, “You take care of Scout’s portfolio as well, right?”
“I do.” Scout is Nick’s sister and a retired WNBA phenom. She’s had a few rough years with her health and finances, but we’ve been able to weather those together. Once she fell in love with Evie, everything got exponentially better.
“What do you think about this ASIC business that she was into last year?”
Oooh, that’s a loaded question. ASIC is the investment group that helped Scout grow her money, but her ex is a part of that organization, and even though she did some high-level shitty things, the organization took her ex’s side.
“I thought initially that it was a fairly solid place to land, but I always warned her that she should have an exit strategy. It’s always a bit tentative when you mix friends and money.”
“Ironic, considering that Jean-Pierre was your friend before he was your business partner.”
I kind of like that Nick is asking these pointed questions; it shows that he cares about the place and doesn’t want to ruin a good thing with infighting. Smart.
“Not really. Both Jean-Pierre and I have a strategy in place should we decide that we no longer want to do business together.”
“Oh, and what is that?”
Jean-Pierre takes this question. “The friendship comes first. I love Heath like a brother, and would happily take my money elsewhere if I thought that having him manage it was at all damaging to our relationship.”
I nod in agreement. “Scout and I have a similar deal, and it makes me highly motivated to never disappoint my friends.”
