Stella came over just as I was getting the little hellions out of the bathtub. Sebastian was cleaning the kitchen, and I wasn’t swooning anymore, I was close to throwing myself at him. Guess he was making good on his promise to do the dishes.
“You look happy,” Stella said, helping out as soon as she walked through the door by wrapping a towel around Lena.
I handed Luca his towel, and we walked the kids to their bedroom.
“That’s because I am,” I said, pulling Lena’s pajamas out of her closet.
“No, wear flowers,” she cried when she saw the purple unicorn pajamas I’d chosen.
“Sötnos, the flower pajamas are dirty,” I said, cursing myself for not doing a load of washing earlier today.
“I wish I had pretty unicorn pajamas like you,” Stella said, taking the pants and putting her arm through one leg. “They even fit me, don’t you think? Can I borrow them tonight?”
Lena giggled and pulled the pants off her arm. “They’re mines.”
“Of course they are. Want to show me how you put them on? I think I did it wrong.”
Lena nodded, looking serious. She pulled her pants up, putting both legs in one hole. Stella tickled her and fixed her legs when she was distracted. It didn’t take us long after that to get both kids dressed and sitting on the couch, ready for their stories.
I couldn’t read to them tonight because of our detour, but I knew they were in good hands with Stella, even if she was a pushover and would read about twenty books before she made them go to bed.
“Love you guys,” I said, kissing both kids and then Stella on their cheeks.
Sebastian took my hand and waved at them. “See you guys later.”
The clubhouse was busy with a long row of bikes parked in front of the building, music and voices drifting outside.
Sebastian helped me off the bike, then took my hand to walk inside. The guys greeted us with hugs for me and back slaps for him.
But Sebastian had a destination in mind and kept walking. He led us to the office, the door already open. Blade was sitting behind his huge wooden desk that dominated the room. Grim and a guy I didn’t know by name but had seen around were standing in front of it.
They all looked at us when we entered, and Sebastian closed the door behind him, shutting out the noise.
Now this wasn’t what I expected. But judging by the relaxed vibe in the room—except for Blade, who was forever frowning—it wasn’t anything serious.
Sebastian nodded to the guys, and I smiled and waved at them.
“Sweetheart, good to see you,” Grim said.
“You too,” I responded and stood next to Sebastian, facing Blade. “So what’s this about?”
“We have a proposal for you,” Blade began, and I put my hand up, stopping him from saying anything else.
“Before you continue, let’s make sure this is nothing illegal or involves orgies. Both are hard passes for me.”
Blade’s mouth twitched, and my focus narrowed on his lips.
Is it just a tic or did he almost smile?
“You’re safe. It’s neither of those. It’s a job,” Blade said, having regained his emotionless expression.
“A job? What kind of job? I should mention at this stage that organ donation is also out of the question.”
Sebastian chuckled next to me and squeezed my hand. “Don’t worry, I wouldn’t let anyone get near you.”
“We want you to be our office manager. We have a few businesses, and the paperwork is getting out of hand. I used to do it all myself, but since the strip club took off, I’m always behind,” Blade said, watching me take in his words.
“But I already have a job. Two, to be exact. And one of those is at one of your businesses,” I said, looking at Sebastian.
“We’d pay you enough that you can ditch your other two jobs. And you’ll be added to our health care plan after four weeks of probation,” Blade explained.
The mention of health care nearly made me want to hug him. But I wanted to make sure they were doing this for the right reason and wouldn’t regret their decision. “Why me? I have no experience as an office manager.”
Blade waved me off. “You have experience as a personal assistant and are incredibly well organized. We know everyone at Pepper’s loves you, and you always show up for your shift, even if you’re occasionally late.”
That was a nice way of putting that I wasn’t on time very often. “Is this because I’m going out with Sebastian?” I asked, questioning their motives. The job sounded like a dream come true. Regular hours. Health insurance.
Be still, my beating heart. We don’t have the job quite yet.
Sebastian tugged on my hand, and I turned to him.
“I understand if you don’t want to take the job because it’s not the work you want to do. But don’t refuse it because you think it’s a pity offer. Blade doesn’t employ people out of the goodness of his heart,” he said. “And if you want to study while working, you can.”
Well, he was right about Blade not giving handouts. It was the only reason why I didn’t flat-out refuse to take the job. But I also didn’t want to take advantage of my relationship with Sebastian. I never wanted him to think I was using him.
I turned my attention back to Blade. “So you’re definitely not offering me the job because of Sebastian?”
“You’re a smart girl. You already know the answer to that question. Ace heard I was looking for someone to help out and suggested you. Now stop letting your misguided pride lead you down the wrong path. I know you can do the job, and you know you can do the job. And you can take the kids to the office. Nobody will mind having them there,” he said.
I knew he had a point, but I had to make sure this wouldn’t change
