Leasing Love: A #GeekLove Contemporary Ménage Romance (Your Ad Here Book 2) (17 page)

“Okay?” A million and one possibilities spilled through her thoughts. Did they find a replacement for Jordan? She hated the idea of working with someone else in that role. Was that why they didn’t loop her in on the interviews? Or maybe she was being presumptuous. Just because the jobs were more or less custom built for Jordan and her, it didn’t mean she had a say in his successor.

“You’ve really come through, this past couple of weeks. The situation was harsh, and it’s one none of us wanted. You could have gone a lot of different ways. Walking out when he was fired. Refusing to take on his tasks. Sabotaging something. I would have understood any of those responses. Not forgiven them, but understood them.”

“I’d never do anything like that.”

He picked at the edge of the folder. “But you could have. The thing is, you stepped up instead. I’m impressed, and I’m not the only one. I’ve talked to Zach about this, and we’d rather not replace Jordan.”

You shouldn’t have fired him, then.
She swallowed the retort. “I don’t understand.”

“If you’re interested, we want to reorganize all those groups to report to you.” He slid her the folder. “That’s our offer. You’re already doing the work. We’ve pre-approved the budget for you to hire two new managers, so you can delegate. It comes with a title change and a raise. But only if you’re interested.”

She didn’t dare look at the paperwork. Shock froze her hand in place. “The old title is already long and awkward. I don’t think a business card will hold more letters.”

“We’re simplifying it. You’ll be Senior Vice President of Creative.”

His meaning finally sank in. They wanted to promote her. Give her more money and power, because she earned it. Excitement churned inside. What was stopping her from saying
yes
?

“I get why you’re hesitating.” He nudged the paperwork closer to her. “This is a huge decision, and the job won’t get any easier. Don’t answer unless you’re certain. Take a couple of days to think about it.” He stood.

“Thank you.” She rose and shook his hand. “I’ll have an answer for you tomorrow.”

“I look forward to it.” Scott gave her one last smile, before he walked out of the office and closed the door behind him.

She needed to call Jordan. Share the amazing news. Make sure accepting was the right choice. She unlocked her phone, and his last note greeted her.
They’re not worth the lube.

Shit. That was the fulcrum of her hesitation. The pinpoint forming a sick pit in her gut. He’d gotten screwed—again—by this situation, and she had to tell him she’d been offered his old job. Damn it.

The door snicked open, and Jordan grinned. He pushed back from his desk and strolled out to meet Chloe. It took restraint not to send his news over text or email, but this was something best delivered in person, both to share the excitement and to soften the blow, in case she didn’t take it well. Not that he was too worried about the latter. Chloe said she’d be more open when something bothered her, and he trusted her to do that.

When he saw her, frowning and fidgeting with whatever she touched as she set down her purse and took off her shoes, he hesitated. Did she already know?

He met her in the middle of the room, wrapped an arm around her waist, and gave her a deep kiss. “Welcome home.”

“Thanks.” She tensed against his grip, not pulling away, but not leaning into him either.

“Sit down. Relax.” He pointed her toward the couch. “I have probably-good news.”

Her smile wavered, and then vanished again. “Me too. Or rather, I hope it is. You may not like it.” She dropped onto the sofa, and he settled next to her.

“You go first,” he said.

“They found your replacement at work.”

A vise gripped his lungs. Of course they were looking, but it stung to hear he could be replaced in less than two weeks. He held an executive position. “Anyone I know?”

Chloe gave a nervous laugh and waved.

“Meaning?”

“They want to merge the two departments and have them both report to me.” As she spoke, her shoulders slumped, as if the tension was draining away. “They offered me your job, combined with mine. New title. A little more money.” She watched her fingers as she intertwined and then untangled them. “I didn’t ask for this, but…”

He expected the hurt to worsen. Instead, it lifted. He was happy it was her. No one else was familiar with the team or the work the way she was. “That’s fantastic.”

“Yeah?” She looked at him from under her lashes. Despite the sheepishness, her smile threatened to stay.

A bitter taste still sat at the back of his throat over being fired, but the longer he thought about it, the more he wondered if it was for the best. How long had he treaded water in that position, rather than climbing to the next level? “If you want it, if you’re sure you’re up for that much extra work, you should take it.”

“That sounds like you’re trying to talk me out of it.”

He rested a hand on her cheek, holding her face and gaze. “I’m not. I swear. You have to think about it—what’s involved. All the extra work. But if you’re okay with that, I support you. I’d rather see you doing it than anyone else, and you’ve earned it.”

She grinned and turned to kiss his palm. “It means a lot of late nights, at least until I get help trained.”

“I figured. We’ve always had those, though.”

“True. So tell me your news.”

It should be a bit easier, with her in a good mood. Since Liz called earlier, Jordan had practiced this conversation over and over in his mind. How would he open? What was the best way to introduce this news in a good light? The best bit first made the most sense. “I have a chance to pitch to an angel investor. Someone who will consider backing me if I want to build a business around my art.”

“Like selling prints and T-shirts? Stuff like that?”

“That and so much more. Figurines. A tie-in web series.”

“Wow. Just...
Wow.
” She widened her eyes. “That’s huge. You mentioned it would be fun, but I didn’t realize you were pursuing it.”

“I wasn’t.”

“So these angel-investor people called you out of the blue?” Her expression shifted to hesitant.

That did sound a bit suspicious. It would have been a better truth, because it was the next bit that had him worried about how she’d react. “No. Liz hooked me up.”

“Okay…?”

“We were talking about it the other day.” He was digging himself into a hole. He had to be. There was no better way to explain, though. “She knows a guy and got me a meeting with him.”

“That’s awesome.” Despite the words, Chloe’s enthusiasm had faded. Her smile looked genuine, though.

“Yeah?”

“Absolutely.” This time she sounded more sincere.

“There’s a catch.”

She gave a light laugh. “There always is when money’s involved.”

“I have to present him with a full business proposal. Profit and loss projections. Marketing plan. All the things that prove he’ll make his investment back.”

“You don’t have experience in that.”

“No.” There was no going back now. “Liz offered to help. She’s familiar with advertising, markets budgets, and finance.”

“How convenient.”

“And if you’re going to be working longer hours, I’ll be the only one spending the time with her.” He braced himself for the fallout. Would it be pouting? A stoic
fine
? Something else?

Her chest rose and fell, and she focused on him, eyes bright. “I’m good with that. I mean, there’s a part of me that’s still going to be jealous, but I trust you. I trust her. And this is a fantastic opportunity.”

“There’s one other catch.” Might as well put all the potentially negative stuff on the table at once.

“Long list of exceptions for such good news.” She grasped his fingers and rested both hands on his knee.

“This means I’m turning down the DM job.”

“You were going to do that anyway. You don’t want to be there.”

It was true. Last-resort offer, no matter how much he tried to tell himself otherwise. “There’s no guarantee this will work out. I could spend the next two weeks doing nothing but prepping for this instead of job hunting, and it may get me nowhere. The thing is, the more I think about it, the more I don’t want any of these positions. I miss being in the trenches. Creating, rather than telling someone else what to create. If I’m in an executive position, I want to be the one calling the shots, and I want to spend my time doing, not delegating.”

“Which means a pay cut,” Chloe said.

“A serious one. At least at first.”

“My new position comes with a raise.”

“Double?” That was too much to hope for. Technically they had at least his salary to spend, though.

“Ten percent.”

His heart sank. “We can’t afford for me to do this. Not without some kind of guarantee.”

“We’ll stick to a budget.” She nudged his knee with hers. “If this is the way you want to go, we’ll make it work.”

“We’ve never in our adult lives stuck to a budget. We spend what we make, and when we get raises, we spend that too.” Why didn’t he think of this sooner?

“Maybe it’s time we learn to suck it up.”

It sounded like a bad idea. “So we’ll struggle and possibly make ourselves miserable, so I can do something that may or may not ever pay off?”

“It’ll be worth it.”

“Thank you.” He wasn’t sure he agreed, but he wanted to. If he kept talking, he’d never forgive himself for convincing her this was a bad idea. He dipped his head and kissed her. “We should take one last big blow out and celebrate your promotion.”

“We’re watching our budget.” She leaned into him, tone playful. “So… ramen?”

“I was thinking
expensive
ramen.”

She laughed and settled further against his arm.

“Seriously, though.” He trailed his fingers through his hair. “We’re going somewhere nice. Takashi?”

“That’s about as expensive as ramen gets in this town.”

“Technically, it’s udon. We’ll go Saturday night.” This was perfect. So why couldn’t he shake the feeling he was about to make a huge mistake? They might be at the edge of healing, but one more major tumble—like running out of money because he pursued his dream—and he didn’t know if
they
would survive.

*

When Mercy called Saturday afternoon, to ask if they were still on for dinner, Liz almost told her
no
. The irritation from the lunch conversation the other day had evaporated, to the point where Liz wondered if she overreacted. It was funny how time played tricks with memory.

“We’ll get sushi.” Mercy’s tone was cajoling.

The longer Liz drew this out, the bigger a deal she made out of nothing. “Okay. You’re coming down to the valley, though. I’m not in the mood for Flying Sumo.” It wasn’t the only sushi place in Park City, but it was Ian’s favorite.

“That’s fair. Meet you there at eight?”

Liz agreed, and three hours later, they stood at the host’s podium at Takashi, and Ian was trying to smooth talk the host into something less than a ninety-minute wait. In the background, porcelain clinked against saucers and weekend chatter assaulted them.

“I’m sorry, sir.” The host sounded anything but. “Your name is on the list. We’ll buzz you when your table is ready.” He looked at someone behind Ian, apparently done with that conversation. “I can help you, sir.”

Mercy grabbed Ian’s arm and pulled him back. “We’ll wait.”

“Or we’ll go get steak.” Liz should have known better that to suggest this place last minute. The scents of miso and soy sauce drifted to Liz, and her stomach growled.

“You want sushi.” Ian crossed his arms and glanced at the host again. “Besides, eight on a Saturday, everyplace is going to be packed.”

“But I bet there’s only a five-minute wait at McDonald's.” Mercy nudged him playfully.

He rolled his eyes, a smile threatening. “It’s tempting. But no sushi.”

“I’ll sate the craving another time.” Liz nodded toward the exit. “Shall we?”

“Reservation for Iverson.” Jordan’s voice made Liz’s blood run cold and then hot, and she wobbled under the wave of recognition.

Liz was debating whether or not to risk a glance, when Chloe said “Liz? No way. What are you doing here?”

Mercy raised her brows in question, and Liz turned to face Chloe. “Dinner,” Liz said.
Smart answer. Way to be witty.

Jordan swiveled his head away from the host and made eye contact with Liz, leaning on the podium. “Go figure. We’re here for the koi fishing.”

The host cleared his throat, and Jordan ignored him.

“Introductions?” Mercy prompted.

Right. Liz would be polite, let everyone know who everyone else was, and then be on their way. “Chloe, Jordan, this is my brother Ian, and my best friend Mercy.” Liz pointed as she spoke.

“A pleasure. Do you work with Liz?” Mercy shook their hands, and Ian followed suit.

God.
Liz was going to kill her. How to convey, beyond using names, who everyone was without it being awkward?
One-night stand gone longer, meet my disapproving but lovable family.

“I thought Liz worked for you.” Jordan didn’t flinch.

“Oh, right. Duh.”

Liz suppressed the desire to facepalm. “Chloe is our contact at Rinslet, for the image licenses.”
You know. The person we argued about me not talking to again a few days ago? The woman you called me unprofessional over?

“I thought the name sounded familiar. So awesome to finally meet you.” Mercy sounded as genuine as Liz had ever heard her, and Liz couldn’t figure out what she was doing. She’d say just being friendly, but the whole ditzy-blonde thing wasn’t Mercy’s typical mask.

“Are you on your way out?” Chloe asked. “You must have gotten in early.”

“Didn’t get in at all,” Mercy said.

“Join us,” Chloe nodded toward the dining room. “We’re celebrating.”

“Celebrating what?” Ian asked.

Liz flinched. Probably the opportunity with Jonathan. Which no one was allowed to discuss.

Jordan didn’t hesitate. “Life being good.”

Chloe looped her hand around Liz’s arm. The familiar contact jolted Liz into a pleasant haze and almost knocked her thoughts off track. She shook her head at the same time Ian said, “We couldn’t intrude.”

“We’re not. They invited us.” Mercy intertwined her fingers with his. “Celebrations are more fun with more people.”

“They only have a table for two.” The pit in Liz’s gut insisted this was a bad idea.

“You can upgrade us to five, can’t you, Matt?” Jordan grinned at the host.

Matt gestured toward the dining area. “I’m sure I’ve got something.”

“We come here all the time for lunch.” Chloe leaned in, voice a stage whisper.

“Love it.” Mercy fell into step behind them, tugging Ian and spinning to face Liz. “See? Sushi.”

Wonderful. Now Liz could be a fifth wheel. That was an upgrade from third, wasn’t it?

They were seated at a round table, with Liz between Ian and Chloe. Which would make Mercy a lot harder to kick if she kept up whatever she was doing.

Tea was served and orders placed, and then awkward silence fell over the table.

Ian turned to Jordan. “I don’t know what these two are up to—typical, I promise. Truth be told, we know who you are.”

Was Liz going to have to find a hole to crawl into?