Page 6 of For Your Consideration

Because I didn’t know how to explain this to any of them. I had no reason for bringing Quinn to that diner and insisting she hire Sutton. I couldn’t even explain it to myself.

I’d always needed to understand people and their intentions so I could prepare for their reactions. With Sutton, there was nothing going on other than that. It wasn’t because her small, nervous smiles seemed to hit me right in my chest. How I sat up taller when she looked at me. How I couldn’t stop watching her as she moved around.

All I knew was that she was the first woman that my body had reacted to in a long fucking time. Maybe ever. So I paid attention.

She was just a puzzle that I wanted to figure out. Once that happened, I wouldn’t care anymore.

3

Sutton

By the end of my third week with Quinn and the foundation, I felt like I was starting to wrap my head around my new job. I could see why she had been drowning on her own. She was so busy and received so many calls and emails in a day that I had to create my own screening system so only the important things actually got through to her while the rest I passed off onto other staff.

I now had a color system for managing her calendar, coordinating events, and figuring out who needed what from her when. Overall, it was challenging and I was loving every minute of it.

There had been a bit of an adjustment working days and not getting to see Sophie in between shifts, but we had both settled into it. Getting to spend all night together, uninterrupted, and putting her to sleep each night was the best. I didn’t even mind when she woke me up in the middle of the night or didn’t fall asleep right away because I felt present.

This had been the right decision, plus it didn’t hurt that my bank account was already healthier than it had been since before I got pregnant.

I felt like I was able to take full breaths for the first time. I still felt like I was swimming upstream without a paddle, but at least the current had lightened up a little.

On top of all that, Quinn and I were getting along really well. It felt more like helping a friend than a boss. I was so nervous my first few days but her consistent smiles and chatty demeanor soon had me relaxing. We ate lunch together when she was free, getting to know each other beyond work, and I felt very comfortable around her, which wasn’t something I was good at. The foster system had taught me to be cautious.

“Okay, so I called the vendors on your list. I’ve narrowed it down to two. Since you want children attending this event, I actually think—”

My end-of-day update to Quinn was interrupted by someone yelling outside her office.

“Q!”

“Noah,” she hissed sharply with a glare over my shoulder. “I know your mother raised you better than that.”

“Yeah, Noah, this is a place of business,” a second accented male voice replied.

Quinn just shook her head while I turned to see our guests sauntering past my empty desk to join us in Quinn’s office.

I knew who they were from the second Quinn had spoken back to them. During one of our lunches, she had told me all about Knight Enterprises and how she’d met her boyfriend, Theo Knight, and the friend group that came with him. These guys were her family, and it was the first time they’d come to the office since I started. She’d said it was unusual they weren’t around, but apparently they had been busy getting permits for something they were building.

“She’s the one who told us to come pick her up.” I guessed that was Noah again. He had blond curly hair that was slightly unruly, and his suit was tailored perfectly to his muscular body. He plopped himself down on the chair beside mine. “Hey, gorgeous.” He winked. My cheeks flushed at the unexpected comment.

“Noah, can you not scare my assistant away, please.” Quinn glared at him as the other man took a step into the office. “This is Sutton,” she said with a wave, introducing me to the men. Although, from the stories I’d heard from Quinn, I was fairly confident they already knew my name.

“I’m Jaxson,” the other man said with an easygoing smile. He had dark hair that was a little longer, kind of flopping down on the sides, and was clean-shaven with broad shoulders.

“Nice to meet you both.” I smiled, trying not to let my discomfort at being the center of attention show.

Not just because they were ridiculously attractive, and their accents were doing nothing to detract from that. But also because they were Quinn’s family and I wanted them to like me. I was feeling the pressure to make a good first impression.

“But it’s nicer to meet me, right?” Noah captured my attention again with a smile.

I was about to answer when another man stepped into the doorway, pulling my attention and saving me from having to say something. “Noah.” There was a deep rumble in his voice that made my stomach clench as it thundered through me. It always had, anytime he asked for coffee or his bill. He’d never said more than a few words but I would know his voice anywhere. It wasn’t just the accent, it was the huskiness of it, almost like he didn’t talk a lot.

He crossed his arms over his thick, broad chest and leaned against the doorjamb, his bright amber eyes locked on me. His dark brown hair was shaved short against his head, and a well-groomed beard accentuated his chiseled jawline.

With his stance I couldn’t see the dark tattoos on his hands that connected to the ones on his arms and must have gone further still since I’d seen peeks of them at the top of his chest. I had tried to avoid staring at him for too long but I knew there were flowers, leaves, and other thick-lined black tattoos as well.

“This grump is Asher, by the way,” Noah supplied. I didn’t need to know his name since he’d muttered it to me at the diner the first night he came in, but since he didn’t point out that we’d already met, I didn’t either.

“I told you guys to pick me up at five. It’s still a quarter to.” Quinn sent each of them a look.