Kiss her in front of my teammates.
Claim her.
Help her cook. Do the dishes.
Wait for a phone call from headquarters.
Realize that all of these guys who are here today are putting their necks on the line for me.
It’s enough that I have to step out of the room so they won’t see me getting choked up.
But I don’t want to be the reason any of them get fired. I don’t want to be the reason any of them get traded.
I don’t want them to choose me over themselves.
And when we still haven’t heard from Ziggy’s parents by late Sunday night, I’m getting worried that that’s exactly what’s going to happen.
“Donotcave first,” she whispers to me as we snuggle in bed together. “Please.Please. Give them three more days.”
“What difference will three days make?”
“I’m not going to work tomorrow.”
“Ziggy—”
“I don’t work for people who try to control me.”
“Zig, I get that, but are you sure this is the best way to do it?”
“No.” She cuddles closer. “But I’m still so mad that I can’t think about them without crying. I’m tired of crying.Ineed three more days. And they need to realize if they’re going to make me choose, they won’t like the outcome.”
I stifle a frustrated sigh.
There’s a problem.
I want to fix it. I know how to fix it.
I go see Roland, I apologize, I tell him I quit, and I tell himhe can come to grips with me dating his daughter and letting her be an adult, or he’s going to lose her.
Not a threat.
Just the actuality.
She’s leaving her job, isn’t she?
She’s here, isn’t she?
But no one else in my life wants me to fix it my way.
Not immediately anyway.
“Goldie’s introducing me to the people who run Sarcasm Cellars,” Ziggy says. “It’s a little winery up in the mountains. Fletcher did an ad for them last year. They’re looking for a new regional sales rep. I’d be interested even if I wasn’t furious with my dad right now. It gets me back into the wine industry, and Goldie says she wouldn’t recommend them if she wasn’t sure they’d be good about me needing maternity leave.”
I kiss her hair again. “If I told you I’d take care of you and you didn’t have to work?—”
“I’d tell you Iwantto work.”
“Thought so.”
