“Politics aren’t really my thing,” I say, in a last-ditch effort to get out of going. The last thing I want to do is have to explain my hatred for Maximillion to Dudmeyer.
He rises. “Son, you better make them your thing. You represent this company. Decisions you make affect our bottom line. The people you rub shoulders with need to be those who are our friends. Maximillion Evinrude, our governor, is one of those people. He rubs our back, we rub his. You understand?”
My gut flips. All I’ve ever wanted to do was keep my head down and climb up the corporate ladder to support myself and financially help my mom when the day comes that Maximillion gets bored of her and finally sends her packing. She says it’s love, but if he loved my mother, he wouldn’t be married to another woman. So she may love him, but I’m not blind. I see how one-sided it is.
“Steven, do we have a problem?” He raises his eyebrows.
I rise. “No.”
“Good. I’ll see you tomorrow night, then. And don’t forget your checkbook.”
I leave his office and go directly to mine. But my blood is boiling, and I can’t concentrate. Since Shira has been taking on a ton of my tasks, I’m ahead of this week’s projects. At four, I decide it’s useless to be here and pack up.
Shira looks up from her desk. “You leaving?”
“Yep. Can you email the spreadsheets over for tomorrow’s nine o’clock meeting?”
“Sure. Harper seems nice.”
I try to control the smile forming on my lips. “She is.”
Shira smirks.
I spin and call out, “Don’t work too hard,” as I walk away. When I get outside, the flowers on the sidewalk from the florist down the street catch my eye. Ted has the door open, and I toss my laptop bag on the seat. “I’ll be right back.”
He nods and shuts the door.
It doesn’t take long to get to the florist’s, and I’m about to buy long-stemmed, red roses when I see green ones. They remind me of Harper’s eyes.
I ask the florist, “Are they dyed?”
“No, sir. They are unusual and are said to be the oldest rose.”
“That’s interesting. I’ll take two dozen, please.”
He wraps them in tissue paper, advises me to cut the ends, then put them in water, and use the packet of flower food as soon as possible.
When I go back outside, Ted has the car against the curb and is waiting for me.
I text Harper once I’m inside. “Are you home?”
“Yep.”
“How’s Hope?”
“She’s taking a nap.” She sends a picture of Hope, who’s passed out on her chest.
“Has she been asleep long?”
“Shortly after I got back. I should probably wake her soon. Also, Anna said she’d watch her tomorrow night.”
“Ugh. Don’t remind me about it.”
“Maybe it’ll be fun.”
“Doubt it.”
“Maybe we’ll have to make it fun.” She sends a video of herself waggling her eyebrows.
My dick stirs thinking about her visit to my office.
Hmm. Maybe it won’t be so bad since Harper is with me.
It’s Maximillion’s fundraiser. Any way you look at it is bad.
“So how fancy is this event?”
“Black tie. I need to get one of my tuxes from my place.”
Harper doesn’t reply.
“Should I stop at my place on my way, or do you want to get out of the penthouse for a bit tonight?”
“Let’s get out for a few hours. I’ll see you in a bit.”
“Okay.”
The car pulls up to the building, and I get out. I sneak into the house, but Harper isn’t anywhere. I finally find her in Quinn’s closet. “What do you think I can squeeze my body in, huh, sweet girl? Auntie Harper doesn’t have as small of a booty as your mommy, do I? Hmm?”
“Thank the Lord because I love your booty,” I tease her and slip my hand around her waist.
She jumps then spins and slaps me playfully in the chest. “You scared me half to death!”
“Sorry.” I hand her the flowers and kiss her cheek. “These are for you.” I take Hope from her. “Hey, sweetheart. Did you have a good day?”
Hope squeezes my nose and laughs.
“What is with you and my nose lately?”
She does it again, and I swing her in the air.
“These are gorgeous. I’ve never seen green roses before.”
“The florist said they are one of the oldest roses.”
“Wow. I never knew they even existed. Thank you.”
Hope yanks a fistful of my hair.
“Ouch.”
Harper holds a satin navy dress up to her and scrunches her face. “Nope.”
“What are you doing?”
“I need a dress for tomorrow. Hey, what are you doing home so early?”
“Couldn’t concentrate after your office visit.”
Harper winces. “Sorry.”
I lean into her ear. “I’m not. And I’m still going to make you scream tonight.”
Her face flushes.
Hope twists my nose.
“Ouch. You’ve gotta stop that.”
Hope giggles and reaches again, but I duck.
I grab Harper’s hand. “Okay, come on. Let’s go.”
“Where are you taking me?”
“To get a dress.”
“Steven, you’ve already bailed me out of all my problems today. I’ll figure out the dress, and if I don’t fit into anything of Quinn’s, I’ll see what Vivian has. I think her booty is more my size anyway.”
I continue to drag her out of the room. “Humor me. You try on dresses, Hope and I will be the judges.”
“Steven—”
“You only need a dress because I’m being forced to go to this horrible event. I’m buying you a dress. End of story. What do we need to pack in the diaper bag?”
Harper tilts her head and picks up her phone.
“Who are you calling?”
“Vivian, it’s Harper. What dress size are you?”
Hope taps my cheek, and I make a funny face. She hides her face in my chest.
“Great. I have a black-tie event to go to. How many dresses do you have you’ve worn once and will never wear again?”
I zerbert Hope’s neck, and she giggles.
“Thought so. Is it accurate to say you wouldn’t care if I came over and tried on any one of those fifty dresses and borrowed one?”
Hope pulls my ear.
“Awesome. Thanks.” Harper hangs up. “Problem solved. So, what are we doing tonight?”
“My guess is we aren’t going dress shopping?”
“Nope.”
“I would have been happy to buy you a dress.”
“I know. But I wouldn’t have been. Not after everything you already did today. And I’m going to pay you back.”
“Harper, I don’t want you to—”
She puts her fingers over my lips. “I’ve done a lot of thinking today.”
“Before or after your office visit?”
She bites her smile. “Both.”
“What about?”
“I need to get a job. I have to stop trying to figure out what’s going to make me happy and just go back to work. I’m an attorney. I went to school for it and was almost a partner. Whatever I have to do so I’m not in this situation I’m currently in, I need to do. It’s time to suck it up and deal with it.”