Yes, clearly, I am.
The walk signal changed, and I crossed the street before circling around the back of the bar. My phone buzzed with a text, and I quickly glanced at the screen.
Jace:I’m in a meeting. I can call you in ten, but if it’s an emergency call back and I’ll answer.
I slipped the phone in my back pocket without responding.
How could I not have it bad for this guy? How many people go the extra mile when deferring your call to give you a method to signal that it’s an emergency? He’s annoyingly perfect.
Jace was the most considerate person I’d ever met, and I was pretty sure that if I asked him to be my date to Mom’s bridal shower he’d say yes without batting an eye. But I was always the one needing him, and the thought of asking him, yet again, to do something for me made my stomach sink. I was willing to do things for him too, but he never asked. I was pretty sure asking other people to meet his needs was hard for Jace, which made me feel worse about how often I needed him.
I took a deep breath as I side-stepped a puddle in front of the back door of Harrison’s and pulled the door open. Pretending to date Jace for one event couldn’t really be that much harder than pretending he was just my friend. In fact, it would be closer to the truth—for me, at least.
Nine minutes later, I’d just closed the locker where I put my purse in the backroom at Harrison’s and started to tie my apron around my waist when my phone rang.Jace.
“Hey,” I said. “Sorry to call in the middle of the day. I should have texted first.”
“It’s fine, Liv. I’ll always make myself available to you. What’s up? Please tell me you’re calling about the job offer.”
I propped my phone between my neck and shoulder as I tied my hair back. “Yes. I want the job. If it’s still available. Or, I want to interview for it, I guess.”
Jace chuckled. “I’m not interviewing you. I hadn’t even had a chance to post it when I told you about it. It’s available and it’s yours.”
I ran a hand over the top of my ponytail and dug in my purse for Chapstick. “Okay, well do you need me to start right away? Jackson knows I’m looking for a new job, but I want to give him adequate notice.”
“I have a temp coming in today. How long do you want to give Jackson? I’ll tell the agency that’s how long I need the temp for.”
“Three weeks?” I suggested. “That’s fair right? That way I’ll only have to suffer through Kaylee’s first week of preschool with this shift.”
“That works for me. If Jackson needs more time I’ll wait for you, Liv,” Jace said earnestly, like it wasn’t even remotely putting him out.
“Okay.” I swiped Chapstick across my lips and dropped it back in my purse. “But don’t get too attached to me. This is temporary until I find a job I want. Managing your schedule is not even remotely my dream in life.”
“But working with me all day? Come on. That’ll be fun,” he said, his voice smooth like honey. “Not to mention, I’m already attached to you.”
This will be fucking torture, but sure, we can go with fun.
“Do I have to stop wearing my nose ring?” I asked. I didn’t wear other jewelry or have any tattoos. The nose ring was the only thing onmy body that felt like a small piece of my identity. I assumed it was how Jace felt about the tattoos that covered his chest—the ones that I didn’t get to see enough of.
“Of course not,” he said quickly. “Why would you think that?”
“Aren’t these corporate places all buttoned-up?” I asked, already unsure of what I was doing. Ilikedworking in the restaurant industry and now I was giving that up to work in an office building. I took a deep breath.I’m doing this for Kaylee and it’s temporary.
“We’re not buttoned-up here. I want people who work for me to be who they are and not who they think I want them to be. I love your nose ring, Liv,” he said.
“You do?” I asked before I could catch myself.
He chuckled. “Yeah, I really do. I’ll be pissed if you stop wearing it because you think you need to do that here.”
“Okay.” I glanced at my watch. “I have to go, my shift’s starting.”
“Okay. Sign the offer letter tonight and send it back to me, please. If you need any help with Kaylee’s first week of school I’m happy to rearrange my schedule and pick her up and take her out for ice cream.”
My heart melted for the thousandth time since meeting Jace. He loved my daughter.How do you take a perfect man and make him even more perfect? Have him fall in love with your kid!Kaylee loved him just as much. It was another reason why our friendship, and now professional relationship, was bound to be the death of my heart.
“Thanks,” I said. “She’s pissed that I washed her favorite stuffed animal after she covered him with boogers yesterday. Now he isn’t dirty anymore, which was apparently a problem worth crying about for three minutes straight this morning.”
He chuckled. “Hey, I’m officially moved out of my apartment. Why don’t I grab a pizza and swing by your place after your shift?”
