Finnand I fell into an easy relationship. He seemed to know what I needed before I even asked. He still turned up at my apartment every morning, despite me telling him that he didn’t need to, always bringing me coffee. We went through my schedule for the day, he read out emails I needed to respond to and we drafted replies for him to send, he brought me lunch, reminded me to drink water, printed off data reports, updated me on budgets, and dealt with the day to day running of my office. The man was a godsend, and I wasn’t sure how I’d do my job without him, which was why I was standing in front of his desk, waiting for him to finish on the phone.
When he hung up, he held up his finger for me to wait while he scribbled himself a note. “Sorry,” he said, putting down the pen and giving me his full attention. His emerald eyes locked on mine, and he smiled, but he looked exhausted. “If I don’t write it down, I’ll forget to do it later.”
“You should start late on Monday. No coffee, no 7.30 wake up call... I’m teaching all morning, so come in at lunchtime.”
Finn looked horrified, bringing his hand to his throat. “Did I do something wrong?”
I edged my fingers around the waistband of my black jeans, tucking the light blue button-down shirt back in because Finn had given me a lecture about how to wear it properly when we were out shopping.
“No, I’m trying to be nice,” I scoffed.
“By telling me not to do my job?” He stood, pressing his fingertips to the desk, and I stared at his hands for a moment too long. When I looked up, his expression was pinched, and the dark circles under his eyes looked darker than they had when I’d noticed them earlier today.
“You look tired.”
He reeled back like I’d slapped him. “Crap at my job,andI look like shit. Wow.”
“Finn, I didn’t?—”
“No, no, tell me how it is, why don’t you?”
I hated how upset he looked. “You’re at my house at 7.30 every morning. You work late every night. You’re looking tired, and I was worried about you.”
He sucked in a breath. “You’re worried about me?”
“Yes.”
He dropped into his chair like his legs had buckled. “I am tired. Sorry. Probably tired and a bit snappy.”
“Have you eaten?” I teased, but I could see him thinking as if he was trying to remember.
“No. Not since lunch,” he replied eventually.
“Well, come on. I’m taking you out. You like fish?”
He rolled his eyes. “Of course you want to involve fish in this, but yes, I like them. I guess we’re eating them and not swimming with them, because, I’ve told you, that won’t end well.”
FINN
“So,is there a reason you’re so tired?” Jasper asked as he focused on the road, driving us through the city to God knows where.
“I’m not.” I was still annoyed by his suggestion that I wasn’t doing my job or needed him to take it easy on me.
Side-eyeing me, he quirked his brow. “Finn, it’s okay to admit if you are.”
I folded my arms over my chest and turned my attention to the view passing by my window. It was nice to just sit. While I didn’t want to admit it, I was knackered.
“I’m doing this charity event. I can’t really talk about it, but it’s taking up more time than I thought. Lots of late nights. It’ll be finished soon, and things will go back to normal. Sorry if it’s impacting my work.” I tried to keep the attitude from my voice, but hiding my feelings wasn’t my strong point. It never had been.
He pulled into a car park, switched off the ignition, and turned to me. “It’s not... at all. What you’ve set up and achieved since you started working for me is nothing short of a miracle.” His compliment helped lift my low mood. “I mean it, Finn. I couldn’t do this job without you, but I also don’t want you to be exhausted. Have a lie-in. Come in at lunchtime, and if we need to make accommodations while you have these other commitments, then let’s talk about it. Deal?”
I chewed my lip. I wasn’t used to talking about what I needed, and more than that, I wasn’t used to people caring enough to give it to me. Opening up to someone terrified me, but there was something about Jasper that made me feel safe, and I wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or if he had the potential to damage me more than people had in the past.
“Deal?” he asked again, reminding me that I’d left his question go unanswered.
“Deal, Professor.”
He offered me a nod. “Jasper, please, or Jas. My friends call me Jas.”
