“Thank you,” I said, taking the cup. It instantly warmed my hands against the cool air conditioning of the building.
Her heels clacked over the hard tile floors as she walked beside me. “Here’s a quick breakdown of your day. Exec meeting at eight, meeting with your software engineer at nine. At eleven, we’re leaving for lunch with the head of the computer science department. They’re excited about the new internship program.”
I smiled into my next sip of coffee. Giving back to the college that taught me so much felt amazing.
“At one,” she continued, “you’re back and meeting with Quentin and the chief of staff about tech’s hours on the last payroll. At two, you’re corresponding with a news outlet about the effects of AI on the environment. From three to five, you’re in that tech mastermind. I’m ordering supper here for you, and then your new trainer will meet you in the gym. Questions?”
We were getting closer to the boardroom, and I could see Aaric coming down the hall with his assistant in tow, in a similar debrief as I was.
I gave them a wave before saying to Maya, “Can you see about a steak for supper?”
“Feeling homesick?” she asked with a knowing look.
I shrugged. Working on that project for Dad last night did have me thinking more of home and the simple life I could have led on our family’s ranch. Sixteen-plus hour days immersed in code and business operations used to fill my cup and make me feel like I was moving in the right direction. Now? The pressure of finding a wife had me longing for horseback rides with Dad and water fights in the creek with my nieces and nephews.
We didn’t have enough time to get into that, so I just said, “Medium rare will do.”
She saluted me. “Aye aye, captain.”
I rolled my eyes.
She smirked and walked down the hall just in time to meet up with Aaric’s assistant. They walked away from the conference room together while Aaric and I went inside. We were the first two there.
“What are we supposed to make of all this?” he asked me, brushing his shoulder-length blond hair behind his ear. The worried look in his eyes made him seem so much older than the foreign exchange student I met all those years ago in college. We’d been on the same sand volleyball team, grabbed beers from a random house party after, and had been friends ever since.
I shook my head as I sat in a rolling leather chair. “I don’t know, but Jasper is a nightmare. Did you hear the Dominion made the sign in front of the compound by using flaking skin from their sunburns and setting it in resin?”
Aaric gagged. “Who the fuck came up with the idea to worship the sun in Texas of all places? Maybe if they were in a Nordic summer, it would make sense.”
“Simon’s son,” I muttered, leaning back and crossing my ankle over my leg. Aaric mirrored my posture in his own seat, looking deep in thought.
Simon was brilliant. His marketing prowess and understanding of our audience was part of what made MyHome a billion-dollar company instead of just another app. But his parenting clearly left something to be desired.
The conference room opened, and Quentin’s broad frame filled the doorway. He’d been a lineman on the college team, on his way to play professional ball like his older brothers, until a knee injury took him out his senior year.
“Get your beauty sleep?” Aaric teased.
I smirked. “Heisstill wearing your eye mask.”
Quentin reached around his neck to check, and Aaric and I cracked up laughing.
A small smile competed with his glare as he said, “Oh, fuck off.”
Before we could respond, Cruz came into the room, followed by Jude and Owen. How Jude had traveled around the world for the last four days and still looked put together, I’d never know. But he strode into the room, standing at the head of the table, and pushed a button that drew down the projector screen.
Owen fiddled with the computer while Jude said, “Considering time is limited, we have to come up with a plan ASAP.” He itched at his collar, and that’s when I saw it.
Cruz called out, “Jude, she gave you a hickey! You’ve got to cover that up before your press conference.”
While Jude scowled at Cruz, Quentin mumbled something about the trip not being a write-off anymore, and Aaric said Jude should know better than to give her above-the-collar access. It was hard not to laugh, even in such a serious situation.
Jude had no trouble being serious though. He glared at us. “Shall we continue making fun, or should we find a way to get this cult leader on our side?”
“Something I never thought you’d say,” Quentin mumbled.
Wasn’t that the truth. I clasped my hands together on the table and said, “Show us the presentation, Owen.”
Jude stepped aside, and Owen filled us in on the details of the Daybreak Dominion.
