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I blow out a breath. “I’ll check with Caleb, okay?”
“He’ll say yes,” Henry says with utter faith.
I wish I believed that as much as Henry does.
Caleb calls me on the house phone from Boston after the twins are in bed. “I’m in my hotel room without a single nude photo of you,” he says. “It’s troubling.”
“I’m not a detective, but if Jeremy is monitoring my texts, sending you nude photos might provide him asubtleclue that you are not merely my boss.”
“You could have taken a photo withmyphone as a surprise. The more I think about it, the more it hurts my feelings that you didn’t.”
I wind the phone cord around my hand. “I’ll do my best to mend yourhurt feelingswhen you get home.”
“Why,” he says, his voice guttural with longing, “does every word out of your mouth sound filthy to me now?”
I hop onto the counter. “I’m currently researching ways to spend more of your company’s money. How filthy does that sound?”
He laughs weakly. “The filthiest. Do I even want to know?”
“Nap pods. Just like Google has.”
“Are we hiring toddlers? What grown fucking adult needs a nap during work hours?”
“Grown fucking adults who work really long hours and need to recharge. You want employees who feel as if they’re there by choice, not as some form of indentured servitude.”
He groans. “I pay way too much for anyone to call it indentured servitude.”
I miss that crabbiness of his that never quite extends to me. “When are you home?” I ask softly.
“Not til Tuesday.Someonescheduled a grand opening for the break room on Wednesday that I theoretically have to get back for.”
“Maybesomeonewill make it up to you.”
“Yes,” he says, his tone deliciously bossy, “she absolutely fucking will.”
I want to stay in this space where we are both focused only on how I’ll make it up to him. Unfortunately, I can’t.
I take a deep breath. “I have a favor to ask.”
“Will I have phone sex with you? Absolutely. To be honest, I’m already halfway there.”
I laugh. “It’s a favor for one of my kids.”
“That’s less sexy.” He sighs. “I guess I’ll leave my pants on.”
He’s still joking, but his voice is stiffer, less friendly. If it were only about me, I’d drop the subject, but it’s not. There’s nothing I won’t do for Henry, and if it means alienating Caleb...I’ll do that too. “Henry wants to build this robotic arm with you for a show at school.”And it’s so unlike him, being willing to branch out. It could change everything if he had this one success.
“You can’t build it with him?”
I take a quick breath. It’s unreasonable to expect him to care about my kids the way I do, but I can’t help but wish he did anyway. “I looked at the directions and it’s beyond me.”
He’s very quiet. “I don’t know, Lucie,” he finally says. “It’s just...this is a busy time for me.”
Every bone in my body wants to let the conversation drop.Because he did tell me he wouldn’t have a lot of time, that he wanted to ease in.I’mthe one trying to change things. But I can already picture Henry, showing off this amazing project, learning the world can love him as much as I do if he lets them in.
“I’m not asking for anything you weren’t already doing before,” I say quietly. “Why is it suddenly a problem?”
He’s quiet. I brace myself for what’s coming. If something thissmallwould lead him to end things, it’s probably for the best that we quit while we’re ahead…but my stomach drops anyway.
