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She punches my shoulder. “Fine. But we are going to talk about this.”
In a matter of seconds, she and Jeff are through the door and in their car. I walk into the living room and spot Lacey sitting on the floor with Max and Sara playing Legos with a cartoon movie playing in the background.
“Hey, I don’t get a hug?” I say, smiling at Max and Sara.
Sara and Max look at me at the same time and run to hug my legs. “Hi Uncle Jared!”
I can see the corner of Lacey’s mouth upturn. I give them each a kiss on the head and next thing I know they’re off down the hall into Sara’s room to color. Lacey looks at me with a skeptical grin on her face. “I should make sure they’re not coloring the walls.”
I laugh, but then pause. She’s right. She heads down the hall and I take off my suit jacket, roll up my sleeves and untuck my shirt. I stop at the kitchen island to grab some water. I hear footsteps coming down my way and see Lacey walking towards me. She gives me a small smile that sends my stomach into a knot.
“What?” Do I have something on my face?” I ask.
“No. I’ve just never seen you all messy like this. Untucked shirt? Who are you?”
I laugh. “Very funny. Are they okay in there?”
She nods. “Yeah, they are coloring in actual coloring books. Kids are so funny. They don’t even know me, and within seconds they wanted me to play with them. No hesitation.”
I take a sip of water. “Kids are good like that. Want something to drink?”
“No I’m good for now.” I see her pick up the baby monitor and hold it to her ear. “Sounds like a restful sleeping baby.”
Before I can even start to talk to Lacey, Max and Sara come screaming down the hall chasing each other, “Uncle Jared, will you wrestle with us?” Max says with a small pout on his lips. Wrestling has been his new obsession since he found it channel surfing one day. Not the college sport kind either, but the made-up fake kind. Rachel isn’t thrilled about it, but I’ve calmed her down some and we limit our moves to fake elbows and soft body slams on the sofa.
I grab Max and hold him up in the air, “Get ready little man because it’s time to go to the ring!” I carry him into the living room and hold him like a football and gently fake slam him into the sofa. “More Uncle Jared! More!” he shouts. Sara comes in between us and now she wants in on the action, “Uncle Jared, me now! Me!” I pick up Sara and do the same and as both kids lay on the sofa giggling, I look to see Lacey covering her mouth trying not to laugh. I can’t help but smile back.
The doorbell rings and Max and Sara fly off the sofa and run for the front door. “Pizza is here!” I hear Max and Sara scream as they start running down the hall. I go with them to the front door and grab the pizza and start putting it on paper plates as fast as I can. The kids are digging into their pepperoni and cheese when I notice Lacey isn’t in the kitchen. I turn down the hallway to see Lacey emerge with Danielle in her arms. “She was fussing a little. I think all the noise woke her.” Something about her holding my niece leaves me breathless.
With the kids occupied I think of what I should say. I don’t know if this is the time to even start a conversation about whatever is happening between us. I want to tell her my fears. I want to tell her that I feel something between us and that I like it. I want her to know that I like being with her. But even if I said all of those things, I know being together with her wouldn’t be enough. I sit and stare at her with my niece in her arms which makes me wonder if I can give her what she needs, but I know Lacey deserves much more than I can give which is making my heart want to explode.
Chapter nineteen
Lacey
Watching Jared with his nephew and nieces last night made me weak in the knees. He catered to their every whim, chased them around the house, played peek-a-boo with Danielle and cleaned up the kitchen after it looked like a bomb had gone off. When Rachel and Jeff returned, they seemed grateful there were no messes to clean up and though we only got to talk for a few minutes they both seemed like wonderful people. We were relieved to find out Jeff’s dad didn’t end up having a heart attack, they think he may have had an extreme case of heat stroke. So after a few lectures on hydration and some IV fluids they were letting him go home.
When Jared dropped me off, he thanked me for going with him. He didn’t kiss me, but I sensed he wanted to. I know I can’t last much longer with this back and forth. I need him to tell me he wants this. Or that he doesn’t. I haven’t texted him this morning, but I’m about to get into the next piece of this project and I really need to focus.
I take a big sip of my coffee and open my spreadsheet. I need to review all these numbers one last time before I hand it over as final. I know these numbers are what will drive Jared and Shane to either seek out a new investor or try to cover the costs themselves. It’s a big decision, and a lot is riding on this report. I’m about halfway done when David appears in my doorway.
“Hi Lacey. Have a second?”
I glance up wishing I could just nail down this report, but I can’t ignore David. “Sure. Everything okay?” I ask, hoping for a short answer.
David pauses and shuts my door. I’m now a little concerned that this is a private conversation, but I roll my chair away from my desk as he sits in the chair to my side.
“Look, I’m glad you’re a team leader for this project but you really need to run stuff by me first.”
I blink rapidly. “Oh, I’m sorry David. I’m just trying to meet all the requests.”
David sighs at me. “I get that, but it seems like you’re having a lot of one-on-one time with Mr. Whitmore and not including me on some important things.”
I pause and think back to the last few weeks. Jared and I have been good at keeping ourselves distant but there have been a few times we have been alone in the conference room and when he’s come to my office. I didn’t think anyone noticed, but apparently, I was wrong.
I nod at David. “Okay. Sorry about that. I just figured going to Mr. Whitmore directly would get this done faster. I didn’t mean to exclude you. I won’t do it again.”
David stands and walks to my door. He turns before he exits like he’s going to say something else but instead he taps his hand on the door and walks out.
