“Because of Jacquie Morgan?”
“In a way, but not the way you’re probably thinking.”
“What does that mean? Aren’t you seeing her still?”
“No. It was just a thing.”
“Is she crazy?” Farah was so outraged on his behalf that Pierce smiled. “Doesn’t she know what she’s missing? How could she...”
He interrupted her firmly. “She has her own path to follow, Farah, and I have mine.”
“Why does that sound important?”
It was the best introduction he was likely to get. “You must know that I turned down the job from Rodrigo to protect you at this wedding.”
“He said you said you didn’t have a team anymore so you couldn’t do it. I didn’t get it, Pierce, because you can do anything...”
“That was true at the time, Princess, but I’m pulling my team together again and we’re going to do some contract work. You know them—Jimmy and Lisa are coming back to work with me again...”
“Are you going to call Rodrigo back then?” Farah’s excitement was palpable. “Are you going to take the job?”
“I wanted to talk to you first. You’re not a child anymore. Maybe you want to hire your own people.”
Farah caught her breath and then she laughed. “How did you know that I’ve been arguing with Rodrigo about this?” she demanded.
“Just a guess. You always liked making the decisions.”
“And Maman has released my inheritance to me. I don’t think she had a choice anymore. I don’t know a lot about money management, Pierce, but I know that you’re the one I want protecting me. I trust you. Completely.”
The words warmed Pierce’s heart. “I trust you, too, Princess.”
“Does that mean you won’t yell at me if I don’t follow the rules?”
“I’ve never yelled at you.” It was true. He’d never raised his voice to her, though he’d been stern more than once.
Farah made a skeptical sound. “When your eyes get all green and you go taut, you don’t have to yell.”
“See?” Pierce said and she laughed.
“I’ll talk to Maman about arranging the details. I think she’ll be relieved. She likes you, Pierce.”
“Go figure,” he teased and Farah laughed.
“And Mike can help me, maybe, with managing the money. Although, you know, I think he’s worse at it than I am.”
“Did you talk to Coxwell yet?”
“No.” There was a wealth of meaning in that single syllable but Pierce left it alone for the moment.
“We might want him to do some training...”
There was a squeal of excited females in the background and Farah put her hand over the mouthpiece. Pierce still heard her say “It’s beautiful!” then she spoke to him. “I’ll call you when I get back to Boston. We can talk about the details then, but we definitely have a verbal agreement.”
“Perfect. But call me when you’re headed back to Boston.”
“You like to manage the transitions.”
“You’re my responsibility now.”
“Again.” Her voice warmed. “Thank you, Pierce.”
“Thank you, Princess.”
Pierce ended the call with a smile, then started to make a list of everything he had to sort out before Farah returned to Boston.
It was the worst day of the year, and this year, it was twenty times worse than usual. Jacquie didn’t want to go home.
Not on this Wednesday night.
There was a kickboxing class in the studio, though, and she didn’t want to work out anywhere else. She delayed her departure from the office after the weekly meeting, cleaning up her already-tidy desk, and finally ran out of ways to stall. She hadn’t seen Pierce since Monday when he’d given her the orange. She hadn’t even caught a glimpse of him and was feeling like she’d ruined a good thing.
Out of fear.
Brandon couldn’t be right, could he?
It wasn’t Jacquie’s nature to avoid the truth, even when it was uncomfortable. Was she afraid? She didn’t like to think of herself as cowardly, but even Meesha accused her of not taking risks. Brandon’s theory made a lot more sense than she would have preferred.
Jacquie was reaching for her coat when she knew what she had to do, and hesitated only a moment before she pulled out her phone and called.
“Pierce Aston,” he answered crisply.
Just the low rumble of his voice improved her mood. “Busy?” she asked. “I don’t want to interrupt.”
“Shopping.”
“Really?” Jacquie could hear a cash register and other people talking. She jingled her keys as she left the office and headed across the lobby of the club.
“Due to unforeseen circumstances, I missed my Thursday night cooking class last week.”
“I remember those circumstances.”
“I thought you might. My instructor is a stickler for everyone in the class keeping up, so I have exactly one evening left to prove that I can make—” he cleared his throat, as if he was reading something “—Veal Piccata with Mushroom Risotto and Steamed Asparagus.”
“That sounds good.”
“It should be. If I can make it right. The jury’s still out on that.” He paused for a moment. “Is something wrong?”
“Not exactly,” she said. It didn’t seem to her that Pierce was afraid of anything, and she didn’t want him to think she was foolish. Maybe she shouldn’t have called...but it was wonderful to hear his voice. “I never learned to cook, you know,” she found herself saying. “Boiled eggs and toast are my only menu item. On a good day, you’d get a sliced tomato on the side.”
“And yet you raised four kids alone.”
“Not exactly alone. My mom cooked for them.”
“So, what’s on the menu tonight?”
“A boiled egg—”
“With toast,” he concluded. “Tomato or not?”
Jacquie saw no reason to gloss the truth. “I doubt I’ll bother tonight.”
There was a pause and she guessed that Pierce was calculating. “Isn’t tonight the anniversary?” he asked, his tone cautious.
“Yes.” Jacquie exhaled the word, glad she hadn’t needed to explain.
There was another long pause. “Are you calling to talk or because you want company?”
“I’m calling because I need a friend tonight.”
“I see,” he said, his tone neutral but encouraging. He probably didn’t love the reminder that she wanted to be just friends.
Jacquie stared at the floor and kept
