Page 448 of Seasons of Love
“You fucker,” I said, palming my erection and willing it to go down. “You better wipe that grin off your face before I jump you, and then no hell or heaven will get me off you before we both get off.”
He laughed and stood up.
“Where are you going?”
“Work. Believe it or not, sleeping with the boss doesn’t make my breaks magically longer, and I’m already late.”
I put our leftovers in a bag and closed the backpack before standing up.
“You’re late?”
“A little, but it’s okay.”
We started our walk back, side by side, just like before, but now it was different. Jake was different, and I was different. He loved me, and he loved Mal.
I looked at the line where the ocean met the sky and smiled. If my grandmother was watching, she’d be so happy to be wrong. That I knew for sure.
Mal was talking to someone outside the building as we approached. He looked tense.
Jake must have also noticed because he picked up his pace.
“What happened?” Jake asked.
“The contractors pulled out,” Mal said.
“What? Why? They’ve done work for us before, and there’s never been an issue.”
“Well, it seems that there is an issue now, but they won’t tell me what it is. It doesn’t matter anyway because knowing what their problem is doesn’t fix ours. Now we have to find a new contractor, which will delay the start of the work by weeks. The knock-on effect could be disastrous for us.”
I looked at both my men, feeling helpless. At least I could show my affection openly to one of them.
Mal didn’t stop me when I put my hand on his cheek to get him to look at me.
“Listen to me, baby. You can do this. Both of you. You go out there and find a contractor, and if you don’t, I’m sure there’s an entire island full of people out there with some of the skills you need to make this happen. This resort isn’t just a job. It’s their home. People will come through to support you. You just need someone to do the heavy lifting.”
He smiled at me. “Fuck, I love you so much, Griff.”
From the corner of my eye, I saw Jake stare at Mal with a shy smile. I couldn’t wait for the day we could all be together again in a less public space. Hopefully, it wouldn’t be long.
“I better leave you to work. My procrastination knows no bounds, so another five minutes here, and I’ll be volunteering for laundry services just so I don’t have to work on my edits.”
“I heard that. Run while you can.”
I turned around to face a petite woman with long blond hair tied in a ponytail.
“Hailey, this is my husband, Griff. Baby, this is Hailey, one of my managers. And she’s right, you better run, or she’ll take your offer, and I won’t stop her.”
Hailey gave me a hug and whispered, “I wouldn’t put you in the laundry room, but I do have a bunch of filing up in the office. There’s an amazing view from up there.”
I placed a small kiss on Mal’s lips, regretting I couldn’t do the same to Jake, and turned to leave.
“That is my cue to escape. Between filing and editing, I’ll take editing. At least there are naked men in my paperwork.”
Hailey laughed as Mal and Jake groaned.
“Jake, call me later. I want to hear about your birthday party.”
I saw the murderous look he gave me just before Hailey squealed something about mocktails and nineties’ music.
