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While she’d only been living here a couple of weeks, Jess had noticed neither Tony nor Rhys went out at night very often. Actually, they hadn’t gone out at all, the two of them staying in every single night, inviting her to join them after Jasper went to bed, to watch hockey or a movie. The three of them had fallen into a peaceful, companionable routine. And as much as Jess loved those few hours to just kick back and relax with them, she couldn’t let herself get too used to that.
She couldn’t impose on the guys forever, and the job at Russo Enterprises would allow her to move out sooner.
Unfortunately, she hadn’t been able to work up the nerve to ask if Jasper—who she would put to bed before she left—could stay with them while she worked the second job.
There was no way in hell she was asking Aunt Berta to do one thing more for her. She already did too much. But she was hoping the guys might not mind. Especially when she made it clear it would enable her to “get back on her feet,” as they’d said, much quicker.
“Does Tony know Matt Russo offered you a job?” Penny asked.
Jess shook her head, curious about the question. “No. I didn’t even know they knew each other.” Matt didn’t dine in at Paulie’s, like Tony did. Instead, he typically stopped in and grabbed his lunch or dinner to go.
Penny’s eyes widened dramatically. “Oh, believe me, the Russos and the Morettis know each other. They’ve had some sort of feud going on the last million or so years. You should have seen the way Tony reacted when I met him the first time and told him I worked for Russo Enterprises. Told me I could do better. Actually, I think his exact words were ‘you need to get the hell out of there,’ but the truth is, I love my job. And the Russos, like the Morettis, are not hard to look at. I work more with Matt’s brother, Gage, who’s the king of the playboys. God, he’s ridiculously hot. Like, next-level gorgeous. He’s Harry Styles, Ryan Reynolds, and Chris Evans all rolled into one. Not that he would ever notice geeky old me, of course. His type is supermodels, not gamer girls addicted to YouTube.”
Jess filed away the information about the Russos, feeling even more nervous about requesting Tony and Rhys’s help so she could take the second job. If Tony hated the Russos as much as Penny said, there was no way he’d be cool with her working for them.
But she really needed the job.
Maybe she’d just be a coward and ask Rhys when they were alone.
Unless…
“Does Rhys feel the same way about the Russos?”
Penny shook her head. “No. We Beaumonts are too boring to ever have arch enemies.”
“Rhys isn’t boring. And I wouldn’t say you are either,” Jess added, enjoying this conversation. Penny was open and funny, if a little eccentric.
Before Penny could argue the point, the door opened once more and the sound of Jasper’s voice, chatting away a mile a minute, reached them before he did.
Penny looked at Jess’s son with a great deal of interest when Jasper burst into the room.
She had to stifle a laugh when Penny and Jasper both said in unison, “Who are you?”
Penny replied first. “I’m Rhys’s sister, Penny.”
“Cool! He gave me this,” Jasper said, holding up a lollipop, clearly delighted to meet someone related to Rhys.
In the two weeks since they’d moved in, Jasper and Rhys had established a pattern where Jasper would stop by his office before coming upstairs to tell the kind doctor one thing he learned at school in exchange for a lollipop.
If Tony was in the office—a somewhat rare occurrence, as he spent the majority of his workday on various sites—Jasper would also stop in there. Rather than report what he’d learned, Tony was more interested in his behavior. If he was good, he and Tony exchanged high fives, according to Aunt Berta. So far, her sweet son hadn’t been bad at school, so Jess was sort of curious what Tony would say if Jasper ever got into trouble.
Jasper adored both men, relishing their attention.
“This is Jasper, my son,” Jess said, when Jasper forgot to introduce himself.
“Do you live here too?” Penny asked Jasper, who nodded in response.
“Wow. Seriously?” Penny posedthatquestion to Jess.
“Oh, Penny,” Aunt Berta said, coming into the living room. “I thought I heard your voice. Sorry I’m late. The cake is in the kitchen, all packed up and ready to go. Let me go grab it.”
“Can I have a snack?” Jasper asked Aunt Berta.
“Of course you can.” Aunt Berta and Jasper left together. Jess grinned at the tight bond her son was forming with the older woman. Aunt Berta was patient and kind, and while she was indulgent, she never went too far or spoiled Jasper.
After their hellish January, Jess still couldn’t quite believe how good February was.
“Cake?” Jess asked.
