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It was efficient. And bloody good fun.

Until otherwise established through the proper channels – whatever the hell those were – Jane had to pick up Cecelia every day after school.I’d buy her a car, but she doesn’t know how to drive.Cecelia was old enough for a learner’s permit in America, but that required driving lessons, and Jane couldn’t be arsed.

Just like she couldn’t be arsed to get the same arse out of her mid-afternoon meetings so she could pick up her niece from Winchester Academy. More than once, Jane was still on a video call while idling in the parking lot, waiting for Cecelia to march out of the building and climb into the passenger seat with her bag of books and binders in her lap.

“…Tell him to blow it out his arse, Gary.” That got Jane a strange look from her niece, but what could she do about it after the fact? “The man gave a shoddy presentation and thinks he is getting twenty thousand from us? To quote the Californians, as if.”

She hung up a few minutes later. While changing gears to get out of the parking lot, Cecelia asked, “What do you guys do again?”

“Boring money bollocks.”

“So, venture capitalists?”

“Come on, love, what do you know about that?”

Cecelia rolled her eyes in the way teens loved to give their elders. “Lots. Everyone in Hong Kong is a venture capitalist these days. Ask me how much the average businessman sinks into the Mainland?”

“I’d rather not.” Jane flipped the turn signal as she waited in line with the other cars at the intersection. “Hope it is all right if we drop by the office on the way home. I must grab something and it is faster than asking Cait to bring it home.”

“Oh, sure. I’d love to see your office.”

Jane was so absorbed by her niece’s earnest expression that she almost missed her chance to pull into the boulevard. “You’re kidding.” Whose kid was this? Certainly not Lilian’s.

She didn’t give any warning that she was bringing Cecelia with her for a quick tour. Not that it mattered, since there wasn’t anything in the downtown office too sensitive for a teen’s eyes.The most scandalous thing here is how hot my wife is.Sure enough, Caitlyn was a feast for the eyes in her tight pencil skirt and high-necked blouse that accented her updo of the day. Usually, Jane would outright stare at her wife’s ass, but today, she erred on the side of propriety in front of the squid.

Naturally, Jane had to introduce her niece to everyone.

“I’d ask why you brought her here,” Caitlyn said while the receptionist showed Cecelia pictures from last year’s Christmas party, “but it doesn’t matter. I’m glad you’re here because someone dropped by to visit you.”

“Oh?”

“Mmhmm. They’re in your office.”

The fact that Caitlyn was so cagey didn’t inspire confidence in Jane, who couldn’t deduce if it was a potential client or an old friend from Hong Kong who wanted a favor.Not the first time it would have happened.Jane smoothed out her red collared shirt before heading to her office, leaving the door ajar in case it wasa distant cousin who wanted her head for some minor familial indiscretion.

“Oh…” She didn’t mean to so heavily sigh in relief when she saw her closest male friend, Damon Monroe, sitting on the couch.Made love to my wife on that couch a few weeks ago.Maybe she shouldn’t mention that. “For some reason, Cait made it sound like I should be worried about who was visiting.”

He looked up from his phone. “Didn’t she mention it was me?”

Jane shrugged. “You know how she is around you now. Ever since she found out about the…” She snorted. “About us dating.”

“Like a lifetime ago at this point.”

If he were a woman, Jane would have teased him about it, but she had different boundaries with men. Even ones who knew her better than any other man on the planet. “What brings you here to my humble business abode? You are not one to travel beyond your building these days.”

“I was doing other business on the block and had an hour to spare.”

“Unlikely.” Jane fidgeted with things on her desk. She wasn’t staying long enough to work but couldn’t stand to simply stare at the man helping himself to her couch. “You’ve got two young kids. Even with nannies, my mother was never unbusy enough to simply drop in on a friend for an hour.”

“I’ve got a third on the way. Funny how that happens.”

“My God, man, haven’t you figured out how that happens yet?”

He politely ignored that. “As much as I wish this was purely a pleasure call in which you and I trade jabs, it’s not. I’d like to talk business, too.”

“Business? I am all ears.”

“I know you and Caitlyn are looking to diversify your portfolios. I also know that you’re not usually interested in real estate like I am. But my wife and I have come uponan investment opportunity that we think you two would be interested in.”