Chapter 38
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
Maggie
The vehemence in Jack’s voice takes me by surprise. Obviously I know he’s capable of being intense—he’s a professional hockey player, after all. You don’t get that far in sports without the ability to set a goal and go after it with everything in you.
It’s just that I’ve only known off-season Jack, who’s easygoing and fun to be around. I’ve never really seen this side of him.
I swallow hard. “But …” I almost don’t even want to say it. “If you do that, I definitely won’t have a job.”
His eyes are blazing when they meet mine. “You will. That’s the other thing I came over to talk to you about. I told Molly about you. She’s familiar with your work. She said to send her your resume. It’s not a guarantee, of course, but …”
My brows crimp together, and I study his face. “Molly?”
He nods. “The head of the Emeralds PR.” Understanding dawns on her face.
“She said she usually farms out the social media content to interns, but that means it’s pretty hit or miss.
She doesn’t have enough time to do it herself.
At least not well. She’s been pushing for the C-suite to give her another position.
With your track record, she said if she has your resume, she might be able to make it happen. ”
I pause, staring up at him. I couldn’t place Molly’s name out of context like that at first. I haven’t interacted with her a whole lot, but I like and respect her based on the times we’ve spoken. I wouldn’t mind working for her at all. “You’re trying to get your team to give me a job?”
He returns my gaze, his dark eyes flicking back and forth between mine. “You want a new job, don’t you?”
“I mean, yeah. Working for Brock has been almost as bad as being—” I cut off, glancing behind me at the closed door, then lower my voice.
“Almost as bad as being married to Kyle. Slightly different, but still awful. Only, I don’t have to deal with Brock when I get home.
Working for Kyle and being married to him was a special kind of hell.
” I clear my throat, once again darting a glance at the door behind me. “But …”
“But what? This way, you don’t have to sacrifice your happiness to save me.
Or anyone else, for that matter.” Reaching up, he caresses my cheek, and I nuzzle into his hand.
I’ve already abandoned my promise to myself that I wouldn’t touch him.
What’s the point in pretending I don’t want his caress?
“You don’t ever have to save me, Maggie.
I can look out for myself. Let me help you.
And if you still want to break up with me, I’ll accept that.
Just promise me you’ll send Molly your resume. ”
Tears prick at my eyes again, and I blink them away, not wanting to cry anymore. “When did you talk to Molly?”
Pulling out his phone, he glances at the time. “Uh, about four hours ago or so.”
A laugh bursts out of me, but it’s more relief than anything.
This isn’t a plan he’s been sitting on for ages, just waiting for me to crack.
He just hatched it today. Or at least very recently.
And he apparently talked to her before he called me.
“Is that why you called this afternoon? To tell me to send my resume to Molly?”
He nods, and I let my head drop to his chest, shaking it slowly.
I could’ve saved myself all this heartache if I’d just let him tell me why he called first. But I was so sure it was just plans for our next date night, and I couldn’t let him get excited about that or pretend to be excited myself when I knew I needed to rip off the Band-Aid.
That I needed to break up with him before I got fired after my last lead for a job in my field shriveled up and died.
Of course, if Brock was going to fire me for not feeding him intel on Jack and the Emeralds, he’d likely fire me for not being able to do that anymore too.
My next plan was to start looking for any kind of office job that paid enough in the area while also expanding my search radius for other jobs outside of Seattle.
But maybe I won’t have to do that after all …
“Okay,” I say into Jack’s chest.
“What?” His chest rumbles with the question, and I lift my head.
“Okay,” I repeat. “I’ll send my resume to Molly. And I’ll give Brock my two weeks’ notice. He might just fire me on the spot, of course, but maybe not. I can’t keep working for him, though.”
“Thank fucking god,” Jack breathes, wrapping me in a bone crushing hug.
“I hate that guy so fucking much. I’ll get on the phone with my lawyer first thing and let him know to move forward with the defamation suit.
” He takes a half step back, holding me at arms’ length.
“And you’ll send Molly your resume tonight. ”
Laughing, I nod. “I have to update it, but I’ll send it to her as soon as it’s done.”
“Good.” He pulls out his phone and taps a few buttons. “There. I sent you her email.” He points at me. “Tonight.”
Still giggling, I straighten my spine and bring my hand to my forehead in a salute. “Yes, sir.”
He narrows his eyes and opens his mouth to say something, but then his gaze shifts behind me, and I turn to see Liam standing in the door. He glances from Jack to me, his face a mix of curiosity and suspicion. “Is everything okay, Mom?”
Turning, I reach for him, and he lets me pull him into a hug, his slim arms wrapping around my waist. “Yeah, bud. Everything’s okay.”
“Did Jack apologize for hurting your feelings?”
I pull back, looking down at him curiously. “What makes you think Jack hurt my feelings?”
He shrugs. “You were crying a lot. I only cry like that when my feelings get hurt.” He screws up his face. “My friend Landon cried a lot when his dog died. If I had a dog, I might cry like that if my dog died too. But we don’t have a dog, so …” He ends with another shrug.
Laughing lightly, I hug him again and drop a kiss on his forehead. “Jack didn’t do anything that hurt my feelings, but he did come to fix the thing that was making me cry.”
I hold my breath, waiting for him to press about what was making me cry, but he just says, “Okay.” Then he steps out of my embrace, a sly look coming into his eyes as he glances between Jack and me again. “Can Jack take us to get ice cream then?”
Looking at Jack, I can’t help laughing. Jack’s grinning, too. “I think your mom needs to send an email real quick first. But after that? Absolutely.”
He shoots me a meaningful look that has me nodding and holding up my hands in surrender. “I told you that I need to update my resume first. It might take a few minutes.”
“Well, you better hurry then. Liam and I are waiting.”
I know he just means for ice cream, but the truth is, Liam needs me to have a better job. A more secure job. And if updating and sending my resume tonight is how to make that happen, then that’s what I’ll do.
I’ve been applying to jobs for weeks and hoping for a miracle—hoping the rumors Kyle spread about me would’ve died down enough for me to get hired back on at the network that produces his show or that I could find something at one of the local news stations.
Even though social media has been my focus since I graduated, I do have a degree in broadcast journalism.
I have the credentials to work on the sports desk for any local news channel.
I don’t have the experience, though, and that’s a problem.
But now, here comes Jack to save the day once again. Or at least to give me the opening I need to be able to save myself. And in the process, to save us .
“Thank you,” I mouth to him, and he grins, nodding.
“You’re welcome,” he mouths back. Then to Liam he says, “Is there a park around here? Why don’t you grab your basketball, and we can shoot some hoops until your mom’s ready to go?”
“Can I, Mom?” Liam asks.
“That sounds great. Run and grab your basketball. We’ll wait for you right here, and you can show Jack where the park is.”
“Okay!” He slams through the door, running into our apartment.
“Seriously,” I say to Jack. “This is …” I have to blink away a fresh wave of tears.
He clicks his tongue. “Hey, now. No more of that. I’ll entertain Liam while you send off your resume. Molly’ll have you in for an interview, and you’ll have a new job before you know it.”
“God, I hope it’ll be that easy.”
“It will be,” he murmurs, reaching behind me to pull the door firmly closed, then wrapping me in his arms. “I promise. We’ll make sure everything works out for the best, one way or the other. Okay?”
“Okay,” I whisper, kissing him back when he dips his head to bring his lips to mine. “I love you.”
“I love you too.”
We break apart when the door opens, and Liam appears, holding his basketball and looking back and forth between us. “You don’t have to pretend anymore, Mom,” Liam says. “I know Jack is your boyfriend.”
That has my eyebrows jumping, and I glance at Jack. He holds up his hands, palms out. “I wasn’t the one who told him.”
Liam sighs heavily. “I figured it out on my own, Mom,” he says, sounding every bit like the teenager he’ll be in just a few short years.
“You were photographed together. Plus, I saw you kissing at the barbecue.” Jack clears his throat, and a slightly guilty look passes across Liam’s face. “And Dad told me,” he mumbles.
“Dad told you?” I repeat, my voice whispery quiet.
Liam nods. “Yeah. After the first baseball game you went to. He saw the pictures too.”
I clear my throat, not sure if I should ask anything else. “What exactly did he tell you?”
The way Liam presses his lips together lets me know that it wasn’t anything complimentary, and I shake my head, waving off my question.
“Never mind. You don’t have to tell me.” I hug him around the basketball.
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you myself,” I whisper to him.
“I hadn’t intended to introduce the two of you as soon as I did, but … ”
“I know, Mom. You were with Jack when Dad called to tell you he didn’t want to have me for the whole weekend like he promised.”
I squeeze him harder at the bleakness of those words. “It just means that I get to spend more time with you,” I whisper fiercely. “And I’m always thrilled to get more time with the coolest kid in the world.”
“Thanks, Mom,” he whispers back, and it breaks my heart to know that no matter how much I hype him up and tell him how amazing I think he is and how much I love him, it’ll never undo the damage his father causes without thinking twice about it.
Straightening, I clear my throat and sniff, blinking away the fresh round of tears coming to my eyes. “Okay. You guys go play basketball. I’ll get this done quickly, and then we can get ice cream.”
“Yeah! Let’s go, Jack!” Liam cheers, waving at me as he jogs down the stairs.
“Thank you,” I say to Jack again just before he follows Liam.
“I’m happy to do it,” he says, jogging down the stairs after Liam.
And the thing is, I know he means it. He is happy to do this, all of it, from holding me when I cry to helping me find a new job to playing basketball with Liam to taking us all out for ice cream after.
I’m not sure how I managed to stumble into this kind of relationship, but I’m sure as hell not going to give it up now.
Shoulders squared, I step inside, pull out my laptop, open my resume, and polish it up to the best of my abilities. If Jack’s going to pull strings for me, I’m going to present myself the best I can to make those favors worth him calling in.