29. Nate

TWENTY-NINE

NATE

"You did good." I clap Blake on the back.

The kid—who's actually a man in his twenties—stumbles forward, dropping his brownie into the grass. "Oh, uh…"

He bends to pick it up, and I can't stop my eye roll. I hardly touched him.

I'm sighing to myself when my gaze lands across the courtyard, and I find Rosie watching me.

She glances away quickly, but I see her fighting a smile.

"Thanks, Mr. Waller. I'm glad it all came together." He brushes the brownie off, then takes a bite.

I've given up on correcting him. He's clearly never going to drop the Mr. bullshit.

"You can have tomorrow off. Paid," I tell him.

Blake's brows shoot up. "Serious?"

"Serious."

"Hey, Blake." One of my employees stops on the other side of me. "Great job on the caterer."

"Thanks," Blake replies cheerily.

"Where did you hear about her?" she asks my assistant.

I slowly turn my head to look at Hannah .

"Rosalyn?" Blake makes a thinking sound, but I keep my eyes on Hannah. "I think her card was just with the planning stuff."

"That's handy," Hannah replies to Blake but slowly turns her head to look at me.

It was handy.

Easier than framing a baby.

And after Blake booked Rosie's company, I made sure to be the last one out of the office, and on my way past his desk, I took the card back.

It's currently in my wallet.

And if I take it out to run my thumb pad over the raised letters every night, that's nobody's business but my own.

"Blake, do you mind if I talk to Waller for a moment?" Hannah leans around me to ask him.

"No problem." Blake is already backing away as he answers.

I'm a good boss.

Fair. Considerate. And yet Blake can't seem to get away from me fast enough.

"You intimidate the poor guy," Hannah says like she's reading my mind.

My face scrunches. "That's dumb."

Hannah laughs. "It's true."

"If this is gonna be a lecture, just know that the only way I could go easier on him is if I did his job myself."

She snorts. "First, this isn't a lecture. It's an investigation."

"Investigation?" I turn to face my lead accountant.

Hannah keeps her gaze forward. In Rosie's direction. "Second, Blake will settle into his role. Even if you did spring this whole picnic thing on him."

I turn so I'm back to facing forward, shoulder to shoulder with my best friend's wife. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

Hannah hums. "It's funny"— I know this isn't going to be funny— "I told Maddox about the annual picnic, and he said it was the first time he'd heard of it." Fucking Maddox. Doesn't he understand bro code? "Which means it was a recent idea. Which is cool, but then I was wondering if annual would be the correct term for the event." She pauses, and I'm sure it's for dramatic effect. "Technically, it doesn't matter if it's inaccurate, but I had to itemize the expenses, so I had to look at the event name over and over." It takes all my strength to not pinch the bridge of my nose. Leave it to Maddox to marry a damn nerd. "Then I saw the caterer's name." Another pause. "And what a lucky coincidence that I gave you her card not more than two weeks ago. Good timing."

I hum.

"Except there's one other thing."

Of fucking course there is.

"And that would be?" I play into her hand.

"The way you look at her."

I sigh. "And how do I look at her?"

Hannah waits a beat. "Like you already love her."