Becca sighed. “When you put it that way…”
“All I’m saying is that you could do a lot worse than Paul.”
She drew back. “Since when did you become the defender of marriage and monogamy? I thought the idea of settling down with someone for the rest of your life made you want to throw up!”
“Oh, it does,” I assured her. “Absolutely. But you and I are different. You always said, when we were younger, that you wanted to have a big, loving family.”
“And I still do,” she said. She looked like she was about to say something else, then she shoved a spoonful of rice into her mouth instead, and I decided to let her off the hook. She could tell me later if she wanted to. I put my plate down, grabbed both our glasses and got up off the couch.
“Refill?”
“Yes, please. And just so you know, when that bottle is empty, I have more wine in the pantry.”
I smiled wickedly at her. “You know, I have work in the morning.”
She smiled right back. “So do I. But when has morning responsibilities ever stopped us from opening a second bottle of wine?”
We both laughed, and I went to get us more champagne, knowing fully well that we would be making our way through a second bottle before the night was over. I’d be showing up for my first day with a hangover and probably still a little jetlagged, but I didn’t care.
It wasn’t the first time, and it probably wouldn’t be the last.
I work better hungover…
Or so I liked to tell myself.
Chapter Two
Jonah
Atext from Victoria came through just as I was walking into the office.
On days when I had to be in early, like today, Vic took public transportation to school, and I liked to know that she arrived safely. She was with her friends usually, so I didn’t worry all that much, but Boston was a big city, and it was my job as her sole caretaker now to make sure she was safe and sound, every second of every day.
I took that jobveryseriously.
“Thanks for letting me know!” I texted back. “I love you, have a good day at school.”
She sent back the heart emoji, and then I knew she would turn her phone off because they weren’t allowed to have them on at her school. Vic was a good kid, driven and rule-following, but she was also fourteen so that meant the idea of having her phone taken away was, in her mind, an absolute tragedy. She would never take the risk.
“Jonah!” A voice called from behind me as I walked into the elevator. I turned to see Dean Stevens running to catch a ride before the doors closed. I stuck an arm out to stop them from doing just that, and he hopped inside, a little out of breath. “I’m glad I caught you. I wanted to talk to you before the board meeting.”
I hit the button for the SDC floor. “Yeah? What’s up?”
“I just wanted to remind you that my daughter will be starting today.”
I frowned. “Your daughter—oh right!” I snapped my fingers. “Katrina. I’m sorry, Dean. It totally slipped my mind. I’ve had a really crazy couple of weeks. I still need to have my secretary send an email out to let everyone know she’s starting today.”
Dean flashed his famous, salesman smile at me, and I knew right away he was trying to butter me up. “Not at all. I figured you might forget, with your busy life and all; that’s why I wanted to make sure I gave you a heads up.”
The elevators opened on our floor, and I motioned for him to go ahead of me. Dean was my mentor, my old boss, but also my friend, and navigating that relationship could be difficult at times. In the office, however, I always opted for being polite and accommodating, and thankfully Dean had never taken advantage of that.
Even when he asked me to hire his daughter, he was humble about it. He didn’t just expect me to say yes out of some obligation to him, and I appreciated that. Even though I didn’t think we needed to hire another person in the marketing department, I was happy to do Dean this favor after all he’d done for me over the years.
“I’m looking forward to meeting her,” I said as we walked down the hall towards the room where the board meeting would be held. “Er, I guess, meeting her again.”
“That’s right,” Dean said. “You met her a few times when she was younger.”
“She was always a very sweet kid.”