“No,” Noah said, shaking his head. “Just knocked up my ex. We share custody.” Noah pulled his phone out. “This is my daughter, Mariah. She’s four. Looks like me, huh?”
He looked at the picture of the little girl. “Sure. Except for the blonde hair, blue eyes, and wide smile. But everything else is totally you,” he said, laughing.
“She has your nose and chin,” Farrah said. “I can see it.”
“That’s right, she does,” Noah said proudly. “I thought I heard you were married, Farrah.”
“I was. I’ve been divorced for five years. I’ve got an eight-year-old. His name is Archer.”
“Kids are great,” Noah said. “Now I need to find the rest.”
Jayce laughed. Never thought he’d hear those words either. “And you think you’re going to find it here?”
“Simon talked me into it. I’m sure he just likes to throw my job around or something. It’s like dude, if it helped get me laid I wouldn’t be out here with you tonight.”
Simon elbowed him. “Maybe we can both hook up. That’s the plan. You didn’t say what you were doing now, Jayce.”
“I’m handling all the marketing and communication for McCarthy’s.”
“No fucking way,” Noah said. “You told everyone you’d never work for the family company unless you had no choice.”
He hated having those words thrown back at him he’d said in the stupidity of youth.
“No one knows what they want at seventeen,” he said.
“I always knew,” she said grinning.
“What do you do?” Noah asked.
“I’m a physician assistant.”
“Damn, good for you. You were always smart,” Simon said. “Seriously, Jayce. Everything okay with your parents?”
“Yes, why?”
“It’s the only thing I thought would bring you home.”
“Nope,” he said. “Lots of things can and do, but the truth is, I’m loving this. Not sure why I rejected it as a kid.”
There was more truth to those words than he expected to feel.
“I wouldn’t have,” Noah said. “You can probably come and do whatever the hell you want. That company is going to you guys anyway, might as well cash in while you can and grow it.”
It wasn’t exactly how he was thinking of those things, but it wasn’t the place to argue either.
Their food was brought out before he could say another word.
Simon reached over and snagged a nacho. Just like old times.
He had done nothing like this in years.
The guys he’d hung out with in the past few years were used to ordering the most expensive food on the menu when they were at the bar.
Drawing attention to themselves and hoping to get any chick to go back to a room with them.
In the past year he spent more time cutting them off and waylaying women to avoid bad press or headaches.
As much as he wanted the time alone with Farrah, he noticed she was having a good time talking to Noah about his daughter.
