Page 33 of Love.V2 (Occupational Hazards #2)

Tess

I didn’t have the heart to tell Dylan I was getting a little tired of lavender lattes. Especially not since he’d ordered three different artisanal syrups, which arrived at my doorstep the same day as the fancy electric milk steamer.

He started sending a lot of things to my apartment, actually.

Mostly because neither of us wanted to leave unless it was absolutely necessary.

Since returning from New York, we’d been holed up here, fueled by incessant sex and the news that we’d made it to the final round of the Botto bidding process.

Our only competition in the next presentation was a local firm in the city, and Angela assured me that while the other agency had strong ideas, they were nothing like Jinx’s offerings.

“—and the formula we’re using makes her fart like a trucker—Oh. Hello, Satan.” Vanna sneered when Dylan appeared behind me on the phone screen.

“Morning, Vanna!” he chimed, smacking a kiss on my cheek and edging me out of the way to finish the eggs I was cooking. Her face scrunched.

“So that’s still a thing?” She asked me the same question every time we talked, like she thought Dylan would magically disappear. I smiled at him .

“Still a thing.”

She pretended to gag. “Alright, I’m leaving before you force more of this lovey-dovey bullshit on me. I have to go get farts outta this baby.”

“Tell Adrianna I said hi!”

“Yeah, yeah. You look happy or whatever. You’d better stay that way. You hear me, Satan? Make it stick this time!”

“Yes, Boss!” Dylan shouted back. Vanna rolled her eyes, but I caught a hint of a smile on her lips just before she hung up.

“Okay, we’re both thinking it, so I’ll say it,” Dylan declared, tipping the eggs onto plates. He looked like devastation wrapped in corporate clothing. Hair still damp from the shower we’d shared, freshly shaved and smelling like my flowery body wash.

“What’s that?” I took another sip of coffee and eyed the eggs.

“We gotta wash the sheets.” He sighed. “I know, I know, it will involve actually leaving the apartment for something other than work. But after last night, we’ve veered into safety hazard territory.”

I laughed, glancing at the rumpled bedding across the room. We’d swapped out the sheets mid-week for my extra set, but last night had gotten a little out of control.

That shower this morning was necessary.

“Remind me again why we can’t use the perfectly nice-looking washer and dryer in the corner?” His lips pressed against my neck, setting the baby hairs there on end. I tilted to give him more access.

“Don’t let it fool you. It looks nice, but it’s a demon. Turn it on and watch water spray in all directions, soaking the floor and everything you hold dear. ”

I added a sad piece of toast to each of our plates. There wasn’t even jelly in the fridge, and the butter had run out yesterday. We needed to go to the store, or at least get some necessities delivered. He grinned like we hadn’t just concocted the world’s most pitiful breakfast.

“Thank you. Why hasn’t your super fixed it? Or replaced it?” He glared at the stacked units while I settled at the coffee table that doubled as the dining room. Yeesh, this place really was tiny. “How long has it been out of commission?”

“Mmm, since I moved in. I’ve never even done a full load in there,” I muttered around a mouthful of dry toast. I watched as he stared the machines down, hands on his hips.

“I’ll call someone. Your landlord should do something, but if he won’t, I can take care of it.”

“I can email them again,” I offered, guiltily remembering I’d only emailed them about it once or twice, and had promptly given up after getting brushed off.

Maybe the third time was the charm? I didn’t want Dylan to go out of his way and hire someone to fix a rental washing machine when another email from me might suffice.

What did washing machine maintenance cost these days, anyway?

“Don’t worry about it.” He winced as he sat on the low couch.

His knees poked up at an awkward angle. When I’d bought it, I hadn’t had six-foot-something men in mind.

I opened my mouth to argue, but he handily derailed my train of thought with a kiss.

“You deserve to have clean sheets without making the trek down to the creepy basement.”

That, at least, I couldn’t argue with. “Well, you can call someone, but we’ll need to wash sheets tonight, anyway. Do you think you’re going to want to get drinks with Danny, or something? I’m sure you have a lot to catch up on.”

Danny Ricci, Worther’s Chief Operating Officer, was technically Dylan’s immediate boss, but back in Nashville, the two of them had acted like one sales automaton with two heads.

Henry called them the Dream Team, and it was easy to see why.

Danny had just joined Worther last year, and he was only a few years older than us, with the same magnetically charming personality as Dylan.

I’d seen them bring down big deals over the course of a corporate dinner like lions tackled prey.

Danny was…fine, even though he suffered from the same issues that had swamped Dylan when he was at Worther, too: workaholic, unshakeable drive to succeed. Business first.

“Nah. I’ll leave work with you like normal. We’ve kept in touch,” Dylan commented, spooning eggs onto his toast. I blinked at him, both because of his breakfast ingenuity and my surprise.

“You’ve 'kept in touch’ with Danny?” When did he have the time? Even before we’d started shacking up in my apartment, he spent his working hours practically glued to my hip, or in meetings with Eric.

My eyes narrowed. “What did you get up to at that hotel after work hours, anyway?” It wasn’t the first time I’d wondered about his life in Chicago.

Aside from his book club and new pickup soccer league, most of his energy was spent wooing me with coffee and snacks.

What was the routine he’d left behind when he brought his suitcase through my front door last week ?

Dylan smiled. “Oh, this and that. Staring out the window, pining for my lost love a few blocks away. I wrote some truly excellent poetry. ‘Roses are red, I love you to bits—‘”

I smashed my hand over his mouth. “If this ends up being an ode to my breasts, I will kick you out,” I warned, actively trying not to laugh.

He licked my fingers before I could pull back, making me yelp.

“What, are you five?” I wiped my hand on my pants. “What will Danny think? A month away from Nashville and you’ve regressed by about two decades.”

Dylan’s crooked, unrepentant smile sent butterflies pinging through my stomach. “He probably won’t recognize me. It feels like it’s been years, not a month.” The edges of his mouth softened, and he leaned forward to brush a kiss across my cheek. “I’m practically a whole new man.”

My hand around his neck stopped him from pulling away. I enjoyed the smooth skin of his face under my lips, knowing that in a few hours, it would feel rough again. “Chicago looks good on you, Morris.”

“You look good on me,” he countered, sweeping me into his lap, our dry toast forgotten on the table.

***

“I swear, it felt like Christmas when this guy told me y’all were back together.” Danny sank into an office chair, grinning ear-to-ear as he glanced between me and Dylan. It was surprisingly good to see him.

“Same, trust me.” Dylan’s eyes sparkled, light and happy, as they met mine. “But we’re trying to keep it on the down low around here. We don’t want to give people the wrong impression while I’m still ramping up.”

“Oh, sure!” Danny threw an over-exaggerated wink at us that was so ridiculous, it made me smile. “I’ll keep my mouth closed. I’m just glad to see you two together. He was moping around the office for months.”

“I wasn’t much better, I promise,” I assured him, perching on a chair. The spare office Meery had assigned to him for his visit was small, but the three of us could sit and chat for a while without the rest of the office listening in.

Danny grinned at me. “Better together.” He seemed so…pleased. Another surprise.

Even though he worked closely with Dylan, Danny and I had never interacted outside of work events. It had been easy to relegate him to “one of the evil people corrupting my boyfriend,” and dismiss him out of hand, especially towards the end, when he’d spent more time with Dylan than I had.

Now, though, seeing his genuine happiness for us, I regretted not making an effort to connect with him more. Part of me always thought his over the top charm and endless energy was faked, just a side-effect of wheeling and dealing all the time. But now he had me wondering if he was the real deal.

The shrill ringing of a cell phone made the two men pat at their pockets. Dylan pulled his out, flashing the screen in our direction. “It’s Grant. Let me get this.”

I watched him duck outside, the door closing softly behind him .

“We had a pool going in the office, you know. How long it would take you to come back? We never thought he’d be the one to come here, but you know what?

Good for him.” Danny shook his head, sliding his laptop out of its sleeve and setting up on a corner of the desk.

“I don’t know how he’s doing it—working two jobs and fixing things with you.

He looks more rested than I would have thought. ”

“Two jobs?” Did he mean, like, shadowing me and Eric? Sure, Dylan’s days were pretty busy, but I wouldn’t call it “two jobs.”

Danny snorted. “I mean, Henry let him decrease his workload to come try this out, but not that much.”

A queasy feeling settled in my stomach. Maybe I was misunderstanding? I glanced at the frosted glass, watching Dylan’s shadow pace in front of the door. “Henry…but Dylan works here. At Jinx. He’s…on track to replace Eric as CEO.”

Danny shrugged, like this was a normal conversation, not confusing at all.

“He’s not CEO yet. And you know Henry. He’d rather cut off his own hand than lose his golden boy.

He hasn’t made it easy on him. Old man is holding on tight, hoping Dylan will see the light and come running back to Nashville.

” Danny winked at me. “Something tells me Dylan’s planning to stick around though, if he can. ”

If he can . My pulse fluttered. It was becoming increasingly clear that I was missing something. Maybe lots of somethings. Big somethings.

“So, Dylan is still doing his old job, too? Besides all the stuff he’s taken on here?

” My brain was spinning. That math didn’t add up.

He worked with me. Here. All day. He had meetings and made coffee runs.

And when he came home at night, his phone got chucked on the table until it was time to leave in the morning .

Danny paused his desk setup to look in my direction. Something flashed across his expression—uncertainty or wariness. It cranked up the unsettled feeling in my stomach. “Dylan hasn’t talked to you about this?”

“Oh, I mean, of course…I guess I just didn’t realize how much he was still…handling.”

Was that right? It was hard to bullshit my way through a conversation I didn’t truly understand, but it was crucial I get this information from Danny right now.

His expression smoothed, turning empathetic.

“It’s a lot, yeah. In the last week or so, there have definitely been a few balls dropped.

Usually, I get flurries of emails from him at night, but the last few days?

Nothing. That’s why I’m here. The only way I can get his attention to prep for the pitch in California on Friday is to get in his face.

It’s going to be a beast and we need him focused. ”

My stomach pitched, and everything in my abdomen felt like it was sliding down to my feet. Dylan was working two jobs? Dylan was doing a pitch with Danny? In California?

For so long, his career had felt like the imposing third partner in our relationship. I thought he was changing. I thought he had changed, and that coming here with a fresh slate.

It was like finding a secret stash of love letters from your partner’s ex dated from last week. I’d thought he was done with all that.

Guess not.

“California pitch. When are you leaving for that one again?” My voice sounded faint, but I had to keep going, even if it hurt me. Every detail I uncovered from now on would just sink the knife deeper, but I had to know.

“Flight Wednesday, pitch on Friday. Want to get there a day early to schmooze a little bit. And the time change is a bitch, pardon my language.” Danny offered me a crooked smile, but must have seen the stricken look on my face. “Tess, you okay?”

My lips tried to smile back, but they trembled. Something dangerously close to betrayal flooded my veins. “I’m good, I just—”

“Sorry about that. He’s freaking out over a calculus test.” Dylan sauntered in with a bright smile. “What are we talking about?”

He looked so happy, carefree. And he was lying to me. By omission, perhaps, but…

I’d thought he’d changed .

“Sorry, I have another meeting. Good to see you, Danny.” I flung the goodbye over my shoulder as I hightailed it out of his office. Dylan said my name as I passed him, but I squeezed my eyes shut, blocking him out.

I couldn’t do this right now.

I fled down the hall.