I laughed, trying not to choke on a piece of broccoli. “I will get you under control. If I can manage my personal schedule and that of my three-year-old, I’m certain I can handle you.”
“I know you can,” he said, grinning again. “I really am glad you took this job. Even if it’s temporary. I’m grateful for however long I get to have you working with me.”
“You’re doing me a massive favor, Jace,” I said, twirling noodles around my fork.
“I’m not,” he said. “I know it seems that way, and I would have offered you this job because you need it, but I need you here too.”
The corners of my mouth twitched upward, and I resisted a smile. “Why, Jace Cohen, this might be the first time you’ve ever let me be what you need.”
“What are you talking about?” he said. “I need our friendship just as much as you do.”
I shook my head. “You never admit that.”
He looked down at his food before meeting my eyes. “Well, I do, Liv. I need you more than I could ever put into words.”
“Thank you,” I said.
“Have you thought at all about what you want to do long term? Or did anything you saw downstairs pique your interest?” he asked.
I shrugged and took a few more bites. “I’ve been so focused on making decisions for Kaylee over the last few years that nothing seems appealing anymore unless I know it will work for her. The last thing I was excited about was bartending.”
Jace smiled sadly. “You can go back to the restaurant industry when you’re both ready. If that’s what you want to do, you shouldn’t give it up forever.”
I pursed my lips and sighed. “I feel like I’m supposed to have bigger life goals. Society is set up for us to always want more.”
“Society isn’t set up in a way that works for everyone. In fact, it can be rather closed-minded. You want to be a good mom and you want to work in a place where you feel happy while you’re there. Let that be your goal.”
I nodded. “Thanks. I’ll still check out the company while I’m here. Just in case my lifelong dream is lurking around the corner.”
He reached across the arm of his chair and squeezed my hand. “You can explore whatever you want with no pressure. This job is yours for as long as you want and whatever you choose to do next, I’m going to be there cheering you on.”
My heart flipped.Probably not a good idea to tell the boss you’re in love with him on day one.
“So, what’s on the schedule for the afternoon?” I asked, stuffing my mouth full of noodles.
“I have a meeting with my architect for the rehab facility right after this and then a couple of non-urgent things, I think. Probably. We should look though.”
“You have no idea, do you?”
He scratched his beard and gave me that charming smile again. “I just know about the architect.”
I laughed. “Damn it, you are going to be a lot of work. But fear not, Jace. I can handle you.”
Jace and I wrappedup lunch with enough time for me to get settled at my desk while he returned a phone call to Leo. Apparently, his cousin had left him a voicemail asking Jace to find out if I drank coffee while I was pregnant and if Kaylee had been smaller than average as a result. I’d laughed hysterically while Jace groaned his way through repeating Leo’s question. I’d drank one cup a day when I was pregnant and Kaylee had been fine—unless the coffee was the reason she was so high-strung.
Leo hadn’t liked the doctor “siding with Sophia” by agreeing that one cup of coffee a day was perfectly safe. The amount of love I sawbetween Leo and Sophia whenever they were at Harrison’s was adorable and I was pretty sure Jace would love just as obsessively when he fell for someone. If that person wasn’t me, I was going to have a hard time witnessing it.
I printed Jace’s afternoon schedule and pulled it from the printer, reading it as I brewed a fresh pot of coffee. Jace hadn’t asked me to make him coffee, but I was worried he just didn’t want to ask me because of our relationship. I was going to fulfill all my assistant duties, even the ones he wouldn’t ask of me. The coffee sputtered into the pot as my eyes landed on the name of his architect.Kayden Meacham. Just the name Kayden was enough to make my heart skip a beat. It wasn’t a common name, and I hadn’t met anyone else in the last four years with that name. Seeing it in black and white was enough to make my mind wander.
I wonder what happened to him. Does he ever think about me too?
I shook off the thoughts like I always did when he popped into my mind. There was no use in daydreaming about a path not taken. I poured the coffee, stirred in far too much sugar—the way Jace liked it—and walked into Jace’s office. He was typing away on his computer but looked up with a smile when he saw me standing there.
I heard the elevator ding as I walked around his desk to hand him the coffee.
Crap, that must be the architect. The first person I’m supposed to greet out there and I’m not at my desk.
“You don’t have to make me coffee, Liv,” Jace said, reaching out to take the steaming paper cup. “But I’ll never turn it down if you feel so inclined.”
