by Jen Doyle
She nodded to Dorie so the second round of folders could be distributed. “If we do end up expanding the foundation’s mission, it will take up some of Nate’s newly freed time because it will be partly up to him to drum up investors. But he’d like to spend most of his time here in Inspiration running the—” she brought up the next slide “—Iowa Dream Academy.”
Having some kids come out to play sports during the summer wasn’t a stretch. The scale of it, however, was obvious on the slide. And since it bordered Wash’s land, not to mention the land and the farmhouse that Lola had had her eyes on since she was a kid, there were definitely going to be questions.
“Before I go forward, I want to say we are well aware that this would have an impact on everyone in the room whether personally,” like with Wash and Lola, “professionally,” like with the increased demand on city services and resources that Mama Gin and Tuck would have to deal with, “or both. So the packets you have present three options, ranging from a year-round operation that brings kids of all ages here from all over the country for both academics and athletics, down to a much more basic, summer-only baseball and basketball camp.”
She spent the next half hour going through the various plans, including financial projections, architectural drawings and the various lists of people Nate wanted involved. Knowing they’d thrown a whole heck of a lot at everyone, she closed with, “We understand this could change the entire landscape of Inspiration. And we know that, even if every single one of you here is fully on board with the project, we’d still have a long way to go in terms of approval from the town.” It did occur to her that she might not be part of that “we,” but that wasn’t something she chose to dwell on.
“Therefore, the only way we’d move forward with the full-scale option is if we have complete agreement from everyone in this room. And since it’s a lot to take in, not to mention a lot to ask, each packet includes an anonymous ballot addressed to the foundation’s mailbox with a simple vote: ‘Option One’ for the full-scale, ‘Two’ for in-between, or ‘Three’ for the scaled down version. We only go with Option One if it’s unanimous. If that’s not the case, then we go with one of the lesser versions and Nate gets an actual retirement.”
No one even smiled at that, which Fitz didn’t think was a good sign, but they were definitely looking through the materials, so who knew? She wasn’t sure how to take it, though, when Deke sat back in his chair and looked at her and then Nate. “With the full-scale option, who in this room is directly involved?”
From the way he asked, she couldn’t tell whether he was leaning toward it or against it so her heart was pounding even more than usual when she brought up the org chart she and Nate had spent an entire plane ride talking through. Their ideal roster, as Nate had called it, would include Jason being the main advisor on academics, Wash on community collaboration, and Deke on—
“Youth and family programming?” he asked, shaking his head and laughing. “That’s a joke, right? I mean, I’m a freaking bartender.”
Since he seemed to be the only one in the room who didn’t see himself as more than that, no one else laughed. He sat back and cocked his head. “What? You need someone to drive one of those trains around the whole place and to keep the rest of the family occupied while little Jimmy plays baseball?”
Nate, who made clear how unhappy he was with Deke every time Fitz brought his name up, sat back in his chair. “I love that.”
Managing not to give him an I-told-you-so slap on the shoulder, Fitz couldn’t help but give a smug smile. It was exactly why she’d insisted. Whatever anyone else could do, Deke would take it somewhere no one else had thought of. “Any other questions?”
She and Nate fielded some easy ones, as did Jason. Even Wash and Lola seemed interested, if not overly enthusiastic. Although Lola did seem to be genuinely smiling when she sighed and said, “So I guess it really is time for me to find an actual nanny.”
To Fitz’s surprise, that threw her more than anything else that had come up. “Um... No, I don’t think so.” They were still months away from any of this.
Which only made Lola laugh before gently saying, “Fitz, you do realize that if this all goes through, everything in your life changes. I mean, you’d be the one in charge of all this, right?”
“Um... Well...” Fitz looked down at Nate, but he was no help. In fact, as Fitz began to answer, “Not really,” he leaned forward and spoke over her, saying, “I’d like her to be.” His gaze shifted first to Sam, then to her with a completely neutral look on his face while somehow still making his opinion entirely clear.
Having Sam there didn’t help, of course. Hell, maybe if he’d done anything other than sit back with an equally bland expression, Fitz might have come out and said something. But with both of them just sitting there, she realized that she was totally on her own here. As always. And since she was well used to it by now, it should have been something she could easily handle. Instead, and for the first time in years—since the moment she’d realized she’d never see her parents again—she felt actual panic. She couldn’t breathe.
She hoped to God it wasn’t obvious. She could not lose her shit here, at her job. Not in front of Sam, of all people.
As her heart started racing, her eyes flew up to Deke’s.
And he saw it. Saw it and reacted immediately, drawing everyone’s attention away from her by saying, “Forget about Fitz, people. What about me? Jesus, you’ve got me driving a train, advising on programming, whatever the fuck that means, plus I’ve apparently got to set up a campaign fund. This is some serious shit.”
By the time he was done—well by the time everyone else was done giving him a hard time—Fitz’s breathing was almost back to normal and her heart had stopped racing. Almost. But whatever. She was about to take back control of the meeting when she realized Nate was staring at her.
Then he turned, and although his expression didn’t change, she could tell by the way he focused on Deke he knew exactly what had just happened. Maybe he even felt a little bit guilty. Either way, he decided to let her off the hook by saying loudly enough to get everyone’s attention, “So I don’t like that whatever I do means you all pay for it one way or another, which is why it only moves forward if you all give the go ahead. Because of Johnny’s visit, unfortunately, we do need to have a sense of what you’re thinking so we’ll need your ballots back by next Wednesday. Fitz will send out an email for a time to meet next week.”
His gaze moved back to hers and her response was automatic. “Anything else?”
There were a few more questions, actually, and she was grateful for it because it meant she could end on a high note. By the time they’d adjourned the meeting, she was pretty sure she’d managed to get past it. She was even able to smile when Lola came up to her afterward and said, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to put you on the spot. And I know the nanny thing was a stopgap to help me out. Deke’s been telling me I need to figure out something official for a while now. It’s just that I love having you live with us so much—” She did? Fitz’s heart started picking up its pace again. “It was what came to mind. It was entirely selfish of me to even—”
“Lola.”
Fitz’s entire body warmed at the sound of Deke’s voice. She looked up to see him very deliberately keeping his distance, but his eyes were burning into hers and she got the sense that he was as ready to take her in his arms as she was ready to be there. But she couldn’t. Not yet. Not until later tonight.
Then he smiled. Although he wrapped his arm around his sister’s shoulders, his gaze never left Fitz’s when he said, “It’s not selfish. I can’t imagine anyone living with Fitz would ever want her to leave.”
Did he mean that? Really? Because now that she mostly had hold of herself again, she wasn’t feeling at all okay with the fact that he’d been the one to step in and help and yet she’d given him not one bit of a
heads up as to what was going on. If she weren’t so scared of how it might change things between them, she would pull him out of this room and tell him right now. But it would change things. He would be angry. And since he was possibly the only person in the world who believed in her enough to jump in and take her back without even a second’s hesitation, the idea of upsetting him scared her so much that her heart went into full-out race mode again. She clutched the table. This time she felt like she might actually throw up.
Except, no. He’d said it as part of the joke. Or at least that’s what she told herself as he looked down at Lola and went on with what he was saying. “You, on the other hand, are a total slob and, personally, I’d kick you out in a second.”
Lola turned to him and pounded him in the arm. “I have four kids. I have triplets. Who are three.”
“Blah, blah, blah,” Deke said, rolling his eyes, ignoring her outraged laugh. “Next thing you’re going to tell me is that you have a job and a personal life. Whatever. The fact of the matter remains you’ve been a mess for a long time, Lo.”
With a smack on the arm, Lola spun him around and pushed him toward the now decimated trays of food. “Okay, Mr. Clean. Show me how it’s done.”
He glanced back at Fitz over his shoulder and winked.
And Fitz felt a surge of...love.
But friend love. Because that was all it was. And she’d loved him forever, so it wasn’t like anything had changed.
Well, um... The sex part. That was obviously different.
She looked down at the table and began gathering her things together. After a minute, Nate came over and leaned back against the conference table. He folded his arms across his chest. “Want to tell me what that was about?”
Fitz glared at him as she shut her laptop down. “Really? How about you tell me?”
“I want you to be part of this,” he answered, not at all apologetic. “I won’t pretend otherwise.”
Other than a huff, Fitz had no response to that. So she ignored him while she went about her business. She’d gone as far as putting the extra portfolios into her bag when he said, “So you’re still sleeping with him.”
And there went all the folders right onto the floor. “Damn it.” With a glare at Nate, she flounced down to pick them up, feeling the air in all sorts of odd ways just in time to keep her skirt from flying up. Sam crouching down next to her to help didn’t make it at all better.
Oh, for heaven’s sake.
Except, well... She did want to work for him. Panic attacks and other ramifications aside, she really wanted the job with Sam’s foundation.
Damn it. How obvious had her near-breakdown been?
Not very, apparently, if Sam’s saying, “That was a fantastic presentation,” meant anything. “Do you have time to talk a little bit?”
They weren’t strangers. They weren’t friends, either, of course, but thanks to his longstanding relationship with Nate, she figured she could at least take advantage of that fact.
She smiled. “Of course. Could we maybe meet over at Deacon’s in fifteen minutes or so? You guys can grab a table.” Probably not the best way to handle the high-powered owner of the Chicago Watchmen and potential new boss, but she needed a minute. Big time. “I’ll see you in a few.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
Deke spent the rest of the evening watching Fitz have drinks with another man.
Yes, it was work, but that didn’t make it suck less. And it was a damn good thing Sam had gotten control of his eyes and was being completely professional. Overly professional, it seemed, given they all went back a ways, but maybe that was because Nate was there with them the whole time.
Well, most of the time. There was the two-minute interlude when Nate came over to get a round of drinks. While Deke was drawing a draft, Nate smiled and said in the most conversational tone ever, “You do realize the only reason I’m not kicking the ever-living shit out of you is because Dorie seems to think you and Fitz are good for each other. She made me promise to be nice. She’s also made it clear I’ll never see her naked again if I play the baby sister card so make no mistake—if I have to kill you and end up never having sex again in my life, yours will be the slowest, most painful death you can possibly imagine.”
“Dorie,” Deke called out, his eyes never leaving Nate’s, “your drinks are on the house tonight.”
With a laugh, Dorie called back, “No worries, Deke. I’ve got your back.”
Actually, Fitz seemed happy, his friends were all having a good time and his bar was full. It wasn’t the worst of nights.
Plus, with Lola’s kids at his parents’ and Lola herself with Jules, Fitz was coming home with him. Not only did she stay until closing, as the crowd dwindled down to the final stragglers, she actually offered to help close out Betsy’s tables so the other woman could get home to her kids. Hell, she’d actually sat and talked with Tristan Tucker and his date for a while, something Deke didn’t think he’d ever seen. If it hadn’t been for Josh still hanging around, well, it wouldn’t have been the first time Deke had had sex in his bar, but it would have been the best, he had no doubt. She’d done amazing at that board meeting, even with that moment at the end. He might not like the idea of Fitz’s job getting more intense, but if it meant she wore those suits and heels every day? There were some definite perks. The idea of it made him so hot for her that, once he got her home, he barely made it to the bedroom before tearing her clothes off. Yep, he damn well ravished her. She didn’t mind one bit.
Which was why, when he was woken up by the click of metal in the middle of the night and realized it was the sound of her handcuffing him to the bed, he was taken a little bit by surprise. Before he could even process it, she took his other wrist and cuffed that one as well.
“You,” she said, “have been a very naughty boy.”
Deke—and his dick—came to full attention. “I have?”
Now that he was fully secured, she climbed off him and went over to the overnight bag she’d stashed by the windows. Her hair was all teased out, kind of the way it had been the first night they’d been together in San Francisco, and she was wearing something flimsy enough for the moonlight to shine through. Grabbing hold of the headboard, he hiked himself up enough to see...
Well, he wasn’t sure what you’d call it. An overshirt of some sort, dark but completely sheer, floating behind her as she walked toward him, not even coming close to covering up the corset she was wearing. Or the garters. Or the knee-high boots. Where the fuck had those come from?
“You, uh... Want to turn the lights on?” He hated when she hid from him, no matter what form it took. But there was also the part where the dominatrix thing was working for him big time. And, damn it, he wanted to see her. All of her.
She stopped at the end of his bed, completely out of his reach. She’d cuffed his hands down close to the mattress, so it wasn’t the easiest thing to even keep his head high enough up to see her. Especially because there was some tenting going on and it was entirely in the way.
His head dropped back down when the tips of her fingers trailed lightly up to his knee. “Nope,” she said. “You’re being punished.”
All the parts that weren’t already throbbing, started. He had no freaking idea what was going on but, holy fuck, was he happy to play along. “I’m pretty sure the prisoner has the right to know the charges against him.”
“True,” she said, her palm grazing the head of his cock and, even with the sheet between them, the heat of her hand had him surging up.
Completely ignoring his efforts to get closer, she pulled the sheet down past his waist to the top of his thighs. Got herself wedged between his knees so he had no choice but to open his legs up a little wider, although it wasn’t the easiest with his legs mostly trapped by the sheet. But, God, he wanted her on him. He grabbed hold of the headboa
rd again, tried to flip her under him. She wasn’t having it. And all efforts came to a screeching halt when he felt the first stroke of her tongue—wet and slow, from base to tip.
Oh, fuck. “Fitz... Baby...”
“Mmm?” she murmured, letting the vibration roll over her tongue as she swirled it around and then down again. Then she sat back on her heels and her hand took the place of her tongue. Rather than a nice strong grip, however, she let her fingernails skim his skin, the sensation of them sharp enough to have him on edge, but light enough for him to want more. He clenched his jaw so as not to start begging.
Not at all concerned, she kept those fingernails grazing as she sternly said, “The charge is theft and indecency. Stealing a woman’s panties comes with major penalties.”
If not for the thought of her bare through that meeting, he might have been able to keep his hips from rearing up again. Goddamn. “Defense states all items of clothing were returned,” he said.
She smacked the inside of his thigh. “The prosecution stipulates that is technically correct,” she answered, “however, the motivation was questionable.”
Okay, yes. So she’d come up to him while he was doing the food cleanup with Lola, jabbed his arm and said, “You. Come with me.” Then she’d grabbed him by the wrist and pulled him out of the media room and into the stairwell.
“Sex in the library? Isn’t that illegal?” he’d asked. Not caring if it was, mind you, it was just that if he was going to be mayor he’d need to know things like that.
“No touching,” she’d said, smacking his hand away. “My underwear. Please.”
Even that had been hot.
Staring at her now as her hand trailed up and down his leg, he said, “Defense pleads temporary insanity.”
Her hand came back up and gave a way too light stroke up his shaft. “Explain.”
With a groan, he said, “Stairwell sex was implied. In the library.” He wasn’t generally into sex in public places, but that was now on his bucket list for damn fucking sure.
