“Is he okay?” I asked, unable to stop myself. I liked Kwan because he was a sweet guy.
Brad peeked a look at the door. “He will be… eventually.”
With a final smile, he left.
Madden and Slater moved their seats closer to ours, Madden with pursed lips.
“So, Dare, Madden told me you were straight before Zayden,” Slater said. The imperfect icebreaker shattered the awkwardness.
Dare grinned and leaned in to have a conversation with Slater, and while they talked, Madden and I went to get drinks.
It was a great evening, and even though we had fun with the kickball boys, I couldn’t stop myself from thinking about Kwan. I hoped he was okay.
Epilogue
Dare
Two Months Later. . . .
Mansfieldand the person in charge of the Divine Conglomerate stood laughing, each with a champagne glass in hand as they tried to coordinate a comical pair of large silver scissors with each other. I didn’t know much about the other business that would share the new building with Mansfield—except that it made oodles of money.
Mansfield’s wife stood nearby, a classy lady with a lot of laugh lines, a short blonde hairdo, and long legs she showed off in a black dress cut well above the knee. A very young man—I thought he could possibly even be a teen—stood beside her. His curly dark hair was styled to perfection, and his suit was so impeccable it could have been stitched on his body by God himself. Mansfield’s wife clapped along with her husband’s antics and egged him on. The young guy at her side looked like he might be asleep with his eyes open, and his bold brows were furrowed so hard I could tell from a distance he was over the entire celebration.
After the third try, Mansfield and the other moneyman finally cut the big blue ribbon stretched across the entrance to the brand-new building and showpiece of downtown New Gothenburg.
Mirrored windows gleamed all the way up the sloped sides of the building that met at a point near the top. It was the tallest skyscraper in the city, not that it took much to accomplish that in our little burg, but Mansfield was still delighted with himself. He’d also been talking about being able to rent out the rest of the space for an unfathomable pile of money. It was a real coup all around. An unseasonably warm breeze blew through and whipped the ribbon around the poles that supported the small glass roof over the front entrance.
Whistling, I glanced up at the building. A staggering amount of steel and glass had gone into it, and the entire office had seen photos of the “sky garden” on top, which was basically just a fancy name for an outdoor lounge in between mirror-plated pillars that stuck up at each corner of the building.
The local news crew had even stopped by to commemorate the opening. Missy McPhearson, the reporter forChannel 6 News, with wide green eyes and freckles—who’d gotten upchucked on by the last mayor—wandered around. She asked people random questions that seemed to be centered more on the businesses going into the skyscraper than the building itself. I had to wonder if Mansfield had bribed her for “free” advertising.
“This is probably the only day in the history of the world we’ll get time off during a workday,” Olivia said, laughing behind her glass of champagne. She had on a cute orange dress and earrings shaped like fall leaves. I thought she was on glass number three, and I was on my second one. Z leaned against my side, smiling from ear to ear in a mouthwatering charcoal suit Mansfield had bought for him as a thank-you for all the impending work in his future. He’d been gone all morning, doing the setup for the party. I’d missed him. Maybe it was finally settling in, what it would mean to work in two different buildings, because he was a little quiet, too. He hadn’t hesitated to step in and lean against me when I’d arrived an hour ago.
“Yeah, I hear you. It’s going to be busier than ever,” Z murmured. In deference to the special occasion, he was nursing a glass of champagne, but I knew at some point he’d pawn it off on me with big, begging eyes. I held him closer and dropped a kiss on his soft curls. To hell with it, he was mine, and I didn’t care what everyone thought.
Olivia pointed at Mansfield, then wandered over to take the scissors from the two completely schnookered executives, which they happily let her have with salutes. Mansfield’s wife threw her arms around her husband and kissed him and a cheer went up. Lawyers and their teams were hard workers, but the second free booze had been put on the table, no one had hesitated. Half the office was already on the way to lit.
“I’m scared about the move now,” Z said with a huff that turned into a laugh. I dragged him closer to my side, but there wasn’t much farther to go, and we stood pressed together from chest to knee. “Not like, really scared, but what if I do fuck up? I felt good about this to begin with, but what if—” He shifted to snuggle against my front and sloshed some of his champagne out onto the sidewalk.
Holding him, I smiled to myself. I loved that he could come to me when he was upset, and I loved how sensitive he could be sometimes; someone else might’ve just pretended everything was fine. He could play his feelings off with the rest of the world, but I always wanted him to share his secrets with me.
Bending down, I whispered, “Daddy loves you, Z. We both know you’re going to do the best job. Mansfield picked you for a reason, and I trust in your abilities. And guess what? If something does happen and you need help, I also trust that you’ll ask for it. I’ll be there yesterday. Anything you need.”
He groaned and tipped his chin back, smiling. “Mr. Mansfield said he wanted me because I can be a team player as well as work alone.”
Shrugging, I nodded. “Exactly.”
His usual perky smile blazed to life as he stepped away, but a thrill shot through me as he clasped my hand with his. We hadn’t been obvious about our deepening relationship until now, but maybe the fact he was going off to man a new office was changing things. We wouldn’t have to try to keep up a professional front day to day. I squeezed his hand back.
Rowell came by, giving everyone a pained look. He brushed his blond hair off his forehead and it stuck up in an awkward way. I thought it had finally occurred to him he’d be stuck with me and have to do all the work Mansfield used to do, because he appeared positively depressed. “Hi, guys.” He glared at the impressive building and shook his head, then glanced down at our joined hands. His mouth fell open and he jerked his chin up to stare into my face, then Zayden’s. “Oh, are you dating?”
Olivia tittered nearby, shaking her head at Rowell. “I think you’re the last person to know, Brock.”
He sighed. “I was also the last person to know we were splitting the office. Looks like I’m at the bottom of a few lists. At least this is a happy thing.” He patted my shoulder and smiled at us. “Good luck.”
Mansfield had trailed after Olivia and stopped at Z’s side. He clasped his hand to Z’s shoulder and gave everyone a slow blink as he emptied his glass down his throat in one long swallow. “Of course they’re together.”
Olivia laughed and took his empty glass before he could drop it.
