Page 4 of Grant’s Heat

“What? I’d rather stay ahead of a rising tide.”

I refrained—barely—from clocking him in return. That would only make shit worse at this point. The guy had turned a hundred and eighty degrees in attitude from where he started. Bringing Abbigail into the conversation was a game changer.

Fortunately, Nash seemed to sense that as well and just moved on. “Of the two foremen in question, one is seriously looking for other work, and the other is just playing follow-the-leader. He’s too comfortable here. Unless something falls into his lap, he won’t leave.”

“Fine,” Bas snapped. “What about you, Jerry? Are you going to up and leave?” Bas leaned forward again, hands clasped between his spread knees. “Just level with me, man. I need you to ante up and give it to me straight. Right here. Right now.”

“No, Mr. Shark. You have my word.” Jerry held his hand up in oath. “I’m going to be the man handing you the keys to the front door of this finished building. Right on time, like I promised I would when you gave me this job in the first place.”

Bas pulled in a long breath through his nose. Fortunately, the nod with which he finished spoke his belief in the man’s solemn vow. He stood up to shake Jerry’s hand, and I followed his lead. I gave him my business card and asked him to keep me posted on any developments with the potential deserter, though I sensed Bas would have the man separated from the company by the end of the workday. It was probably for the best.

At least that was what I told myself.

When we were back out on the street in front of the job site, I turned to my friend and tried to get a read on his mood. He was tense and closed off, but I wouldn’t be deterred.

“Talk to me, chief.”

“Can you believe this shit?” He kicked a small stone, sending it flying into a nearby planter.

“It’s pretty ridiculous,” I agreed.

He booted another stone.

“Okay.” I slanted a sideways grin. “I know your brain’s unfolding at least three plots already. I’m hoping at least one of them has legal activities we can implement.”

“That’s the only one escaping me at the moment.” Bas halfheartedly grinned back. “Impulsively, I want to fire them all and tell them to go fuck themselves.”

“Buuuuttt…” I drew out the word, hoping he would fill in the following quiet with a more reasonable plan. Unfortunately, nothing but chirping birds and traffic noise took up the airtime.

“But what?” Sebastian looked up from his cell phone. “Joel’s on his way. Are you heading back to the office?”

“No, I have another meeting close by. I’ll walk. Thank you, though.” I pulled out my phone to make sure the plans with Rio hadn’t changed. I prayed, with more fervency than I should, that they hadn’t.

“Who’s your meeting with?”

Shit. Why didn’t I have a fabricated answer ready? Oh yeah, because I wasn’t used to having to lie to my best friend about my comings and goings. When I didn’t answer right away, Bas grew noticeably interested.

“Twombley?”

I’d still been feigning attention on my phone and hoping he’d give up the effort, but I couldn’t ignore his direct prompt. Looking up from my device, I tried to seem casual. “Hmmm?”

“Your meeting?”

“What about it?”

“Who’s it with?”

“My realtor. And before you say anything”—I held up my hand, just like I had a hundred times before when having this conversation—“I’m just looking. I have to keep her in the game, or she will get too busy with other clients to service my needs when I need her to show me something.”

“Hey. You do you, man. I’ve got too much shit going on to babysit you too right now,” Sebastian said, wholly frustrated and condescending. And frankly, pissing me off more than it probably should.

“Guess what, man? I don’t need a babysitter. Never actually have. You’ve always made it your mission to be in everyone’s business. And I love you for that. I do. But right now—”

“Whoa. Hold up,” Bas interrupted. “Why did you just ruin a perfectly normal conversation with an ‘I love ya, man’? And we’re not even drunk?” He squeezed his eyes closed and raised his face toward the sky. “Jesus Christ.” He dropped his head and pinched the bridge of his nose. “This day is just getting better and better. I need to go home and fuck my fiancée. That fixes all the wrongs in the world.”

“Okaaaay.” I managed a chuckle. “I’ll take your word for it, man.”

Thankfully, Joel pulled up at that moment, resetting Bas’s brain into CEO mode. The man was off without another question about my meeting.