Page 2 of Hired Husband

“And yet, I’d say you’re enjoying yourself. You’ve been spending almost as much time in Egypt as you do here. You wouldn’t keep going back if you weren’t having fun.”

“My in-laws live there and you know how they are.” He sighed, finally cracking a tiny grin. “It is fun, though. You’ve been there. It’s a fucking awesome country.”

“It is, except that you’re becoming one of those people who casually keeps saying things like, ‘When I was in Cairo last week.’”

He snorted. “I married a woman who’s from Cairo. What am I supposed to say?”

“I don’t know, but I think that’s how they get you.” I smiled and shook my head. “They make you think you have no other choice.”

Colin chuckled and looked like he was about to reply when his phone buzzed against the folders. He glanced at the screen and sighed. “I should take this. Congratulations again, little brother. We’re all very proud of you.”

With that, he lifted the folders against his chest and stood, sliding the thumb of his free hand across the screen to take the call. “Hey, Basel. I was just going to call you when I got done with Isaac. We got the initial findings back of the environmental impact study⁠—”

My door slid shut behind him, cutting off the rest of his sentence. As I watched him go, I exhaled a heavy breath, relieved as hell that it wasn’t my number Basel kept punching dial on every second minute of every day.

I shook my head, honestly not sure how Colin managed it. But he lived for the family business, and after a few rocky years, he was helping to bring us back to our former glory. The future was looking bright. Dad was still in prison, but we were still working on that.

I grabbed the magazine and slid it into my messenger bag before packing up to head home. On my way out of the building, I slowed beside my sister, Jane’s, office and waved goodbye, not even bothering going inside or trying to talk to her.

Jane was buried in a mountain of contracts, holding the phone to her ear and talking a mile a minute while still signing stuff with her other hand. She glanced up and smiled, waving back before snapping something about clause seventeen into her phone.

That was life as the oldest Thayer, though.

My sister was an absolute machine, juggling motherhood, being the CEO of a now-multinational company, and spearheading our family’s quest to rebuild our reputation all without breaking a sweat. Most days, I was in awe of her, but this last week or so, even that awe had kicked up to a whole other level.

Alex Westwood, her husband, had been in Japan for business, and so on top of everything else, Jane had been managing their two kids by herself. With our help, of course, but the actual responsibility was still hers and hers alone. We were simply helping her hold down the fort.

With that thought in mind, I stopped by Ryan’s office on my way out, finding my younger brother on the phone while our five-year-old nephew played hide-and-seek under his desk. His feet were in full view, but Ryan pretended not to see them, making a whole show of searching all around him even while he negotiated pricing conditions with what sounded like a supplier.

He waved and I mouthed at him to call me later, then made my escape before he could ask me to take over babysitting duties while he finished up the call. When I finally got into the elevator, I breathed out a relieved sigh and turned to face the mirrored walls, still a little surprised to see myself in a suit even if it had been a couple years.

As much as I loved Thayer Steelworks, the company that had been in my family for almost a hundred years, I had thought for a while that I’d escaped the corporate side of it. When I’d switched my major from business to engineering, I’d envisioned myself spending most of my time on construction sites, but it wasn’t to be.

These days, I was as office-bound as they came, chained to a desk while only occasionally getting out to sites, overseeing stuff in this cold, gray skyscraper instead of being out there, actually doing the thing—and if I was being honest, I missed doing the thing.

Since I worked as a structural and architectural engineer for Thayer, it seemed crazy that I could actually miss engineering, but I really did. I wasn’t nearly as hands-on anymore as I wanted to be.

Back in college and for a few short years after, I hadn’t been able to get enough of being right in the thick of things, but then I’d been appointed as Head of Basically Everything Technical, and ever since, I’d rarely had the opportunity to get my boots dirty.

Maybe I should just do it. Maybe this is the time to pave a trail of my own. Being featured in ENR gets my name out there. It could work.

Especially since I was also a licensed Professional Engineer now. I’d worked my ass off for those two, tiny letters—PE—but for as long as I stayed with Thayer, that was all they would be. Two tiny letters on my email signature.

But as I climbed off the elevator and strode into the parking garage, I knew it was unlikely I would ever leave the family business. This place was in my blood, part of me in a way that made it feel like home.

Still, the thought lingered as it always did, the what-if hanging front and center in my head as I climbed in my car and joined the other corporate warriors leaving after another long day in the office.

When I walked into my apartment, my best friend called me. Brady and I had survived college together and now he worked as an electrical engineer downtown.

“Have you been celebrating?” he asked. “It’s not every day you make the cover of ENR.”

“I was at work,” I said, tossing my bag down on the coffee table and flopping onto the couch in one smooth motion. “Contrary to popular belief, Thayer Steelworks is not one big den of iniquity.”

He laughed. “If anything, I think you guys have been more strait-laced than ever, trying to make up for your dad’s transgressions. I get that, which is why the boys and I are taking you out tonight.”

I grimaced. “Are you sure? I’ve got work tomorrow, too.”

“So do we, but I’m not taking no for an answer.” He paused. “You haven’t come out with us for months and this is big, man. We’re celebrating. End of story.”