Page 47 of Love Me Knot, Part One (Knotty Omegas #1)
After checking that the door’s latched, he relaxes in his chair.
If I were him, I’d be shitting myself, but Sawyer’s the type of man who accepts whatever life delivers.
There’s this peace inside him that makes everything easier, one he’s kept despite a gnarly breakup he hasn’t recovered from a year later.
“I hope it’s obvious by now that what we say is confidential until we announce it.” Connor clasps his hands on the table as our employee nods. “We’ve recently found our omega.”
Sawyer looks at all three of us slowly, like he’s waiting for the punch line. When it doesn’t come, I get the barest hint of pain across his face before it disappears behind a blinding grin. “Holy shit, that’s amazing! Congratulations.”
“Thank you. Obviously, this means some things are going to change around here. With our priorities shifting, we need someone to ensure things are running smoothly when we’re not around.”
Sawyer sits taller, eyes sharp. “You know I’ll help with whatever you need.”
“Good, because we’d like to promote you to general manager.”
Daphne’s reaction to Connor’s phone—and the fact that she considers herself an inconvenience at all—was a wakeup call for us.
If we want her to take us seriously, we need to make her the priority and this promotion is the first step.
We love our jobs, but she’s worth so much more than money or prestige and there’s no one better suited to be general manager than Sawyer.
He moves from front office to garage work easily and keeps communication between the two sides clear and open. We love all our employees like family, but Sawyer’s the bedrock of our business and we’re not ashamed to say it.
He looks at each of us, then swallows. “I don’t—really?”
Connor’s lips twitch as he slides the paperwork across the table. “Really. In fact, it’s ages overdue. I apologize for making you wait.”
Sawyer’s still gaping as he reads over the responsibilities. Everything seems fine until he hits a page and freezes.
“It’s too much. We should negotiate.” The hope in his eyes is easy to read, but he’s tempering it. He doesn’t want to believe that he’s earned this fair and square.
“Not going to happen.” I reach over and tap the number. His compensation package is no joke. “With you taking over a lot of the day-to-day responsibilities on top of what you already do, it’s a fair salary.”
“Don’t forget the benefits,” Nate says helpfully. “You’ll need the extra vacation days to maintain an appropriate work-life balance.”
Sawyer smooths the pages absently. “I don’t know what to say.”
I smile. “Say you’ll accept the job.”
“Of course I do.” He even pulls the paperwork closer to him as if we’re going to steal it back.
“Good. Look it over and sign it by the end of the week. The pay will be retroactive as of today and there’s an additional bump for the responsibilities you’ve been taking on over the last six months, as well as your help last week.
” Connor grabs his laptop and starts typing.
“If there’s no other questions, let’s talk about the schedule this month.
With so much going on, I don’t want to miss anything important. ”
Sawyer carefully slides the paperwork into the case of his Morgan Restoration tablet and logs into the device.
If he’s nervous about his new position, he doesn’t show it.
“We finished the deep water bike while you were out. There’s a little left to outfit the new Highland and then it’s time for Moore’s Cheveau. We need the theme.”
We all wince. Connor’s creative block on that project is the reason we went to Diamond’s and found Daphne, but there hasn’t been time to focus since.
Yet he slides his tablet across the table with a grin. “It’s summer.”
The design is captivating. Bright and eye-catching. Airy and beautiful while still giving enough masculine edges our clients usually prefer. It’s the perfect car to drive around on a sunny day.
Sawyer gapes, pulling it closer and zooming in here and there. “It’s gorgeous, Con.”
“Our omega inspired it.”
That’s obvious too. It’s the lightness of the car.
Connor typically prefers darker shadows and midnight forest, not beaches, ice cream and the scent of sunscreen, but there’s still enough of the things that we’re known for to keep it from being completely out of place. My brother’s damn good at his job.
“Best part is, we have most of this stuff already in storage. We’ll need to get some lighting sorted and the paint, but we won’t need to wait for parts.”
After brainstorming the outside designs and the colors, Sawyer leaves. Nate’s making note of some parts he wants to check out and Connor’s muttering to himself about backup lights. Meanwhile, I’m focused on one thing.
“This is a bad time to be working with Moore.”
AJ Moore Jr. is a nepo baby of the worst kind.
Son of one of the most prolific collectors in the world, the kid’s car royalty.
However, he’s got no skills in restoration, building or collecting, so he relies on us to make him look good.
We’d probably like that if he had an ounce of respect for personal boundaries.
AJ’s the type to call every hour of the night and if we don’t answer immediately—I’m talking three rings or less—he keeps calling until we do. Back to back to back.
Absolutely everything is an emergency we have to fix before he can calm down and as long as it’s dealt with, he’s fine paying out the nose. The kid’s good for our bank account and shit for Connor’s blood pressure.
Nate looks up, blinking as if he’s just realized who the Cheveau’s for. “Shit. We really don’t have time to deal with him right now.”
Connor doesn’t seem worried. “That’s what Sawyer’s promotion is for. Well, the promotion is because he deserves it, but dealing with the clients is his job now.”
“Do you really think Moore will accept him as a replacement for us?” What I really mean is, will he accept Sawyer instead of Connor? He’s never called my phone at four a.m. on a Tuesday.
“Trust me, everything will work out the way it’s supposed to.” When it’s obvious we still have concerns, he adds, “I won’t let AJ fuck up this courtship for us. We just got Daphne to agree. No way am I risking that.”
I hope not, but I’m worried. Some habits are hard to break.