He pressed Send to text the pic to Gina, then hit the button to let Josie up, wondering who “we” was. Ninety seconds later, he had his answer when Josie appeared in his doorway dressed in a twinset and loafers like a modern Mrs. Brady, a man by her side.
A tall man. A tall, handsome man.
Erik crammed his phone in his pocket and stepped back to let them into the apartment, an irrational part of him taking pleasure in the fact that he had a couple of inches on the guy following at Josie’s dainty heels. Of course, since he was six foot five, that meant the stranger was over six feet tall himself. But still.
“So this is your place, huh?” Josie swept her curious eyes over the small space. “Is this where you come to do all the talking you don’t do with other people? Does it know all your secrets?”
Hehmmmedand moved to lean against the countertop, imagining what she was seeing as she looked around. A couch. A kitchen table and two chairs. Unadorned walls. A closed door leading to the equally unadorned bedroom.
“Wow. We definitely can’t have you meet clients here.”
“Obviously.” Like he’d want anybody to be in here. He was jumpy havingherinvade his space, let alone her friend, who looked utterly out of place in an expensive suit and tie. These weren’t people who should fit into his life.
“Hi. Jake Carey. You must be Erik.” The black-haired man moved toward him with his hand extended and a confident smile on his face. Erik performed the obligatory shake and hated him the whole time, this good-looking guy who’d arrived with Josie. Guys who wore suits for a living rarely ruffled his own sense of self-worth, but he was suddenly aware of the frayed hem of his jeans and the lack of a collar on his gray T-shirt.
“Oh, sorry. Jake, this is Erik Andersson, my pet baker.”
Erik cut his eyes to her, surprised at the title. He was nobody’s pet and never had been. Then again, if he belonged to anybody at this point in his life, it was her. What a thought.
“This is Finn’s brother,” she said. “We’re borrowing his Jeep for the night.”
“And Finn’s brother needs to get back to the office.” Jake checked the time on his phone. “You’ll text me when you’re done so I can come get my baby?”
Josie slapped her hands over her heart, the polish on her short nails bright against the yellow of her cardigan. “I get to interrupt Chicago’s most successful accountant twice on a Saturday? My horoscopedidsay I’d have a lucky week.”
“Ha.” He slid his phone back into his pocket. “Remind me why Finn keeps you around?”
“My restful presence?” She fluttered her lashes at Jake, who scoffed in disbelief. Erik tended to agree but kept his input nonverbal.
“Anyway,” Jake said, “I’m here now. Do you need help before I head back to my spreadsheets?”
Erik pushed off the countertop, relieved to have an excuse to cut their banter short. He positioned himself between Josie and the guy she’d brought into his home and pointed to the rows of containers stacked on the counters. “It all goes.”
“Okay. I’m not sure how legal my parking job is, so let’s get the Jeep loaded.”
Twenty minutes later, the three of them had packed every square foot of the vehicle with baked goods and the accessories he’d need to serve them. His bun had gotten scraggly from the effort, and as he pulled out the band to reset it, Erik couldn’t help but notice that not a hair on Jake’s shiny black head was ruffled even though he’d stormed up and down stairs over and over in a suit. Fucker.
“You’ll be careful with her?” Jake rested a hand on the hood, and Josie rolled her eyes.
“Yes, I’ll be very careful with your twelve-year-old Jeep.”
She extended her hand for the keys, but he paused before relinquishing them.
“Everything’s good with Finn? She’s all set for rent? She’s still happy with that guy?”
“You know she makes bank at her job, and I’m slapped in the face with her happiness on a daily basis.” She snatched the keys from him, but her face softened as he continued to frown. “Hey, she’s good. She’s really good. If you came around more, you’d be able to see for yourself. She doesn’t want your money. She wants your time.”
Jake pinched the bridge of his nose and exhaled hard. “I know. It’s just crazy right now at work.”
“Yeah, yeah. Like always. If that ever changes, you know where we live.”
Erik listened with interest to see if he’d promise to visit, but Jake settled for patting his Jeep one more time and climbing into his waiting Uber, heading for whatever fancy skyscraper held his office.
“Shall we?” She jingled the keys at him and hopped into the driver’s seat.
“I still need to change into service clothes.” And wouldn’t that be quite the contrast to the man who’d just left?
“Well, hurry up! Your new business can’t afford a parking ticket.”
