Exposed - Chapter 30 #2
So apparently Matt had told her a lot about me. That made me smile even harder. Jacob squirmed out of my arms.
“He’s in the middle of a call right now, but it’ll only be a minute.”
“Should we just wait out here if he’s busy…”
But Jacob had already opened the door and walked in.
“Sorry,” I said.
Mary just laughed. “It’s fine. He’ll be happy you’re here.”
I hurried after my son.
Jacob ran right up to Matt.
Matt was on the phone, but he smiled down at Jacob and picked him up. He plopped him down in his desk chair.
Jacob stood up on the chair and stared down at Matt’s desk. He started opening up random drawers.
Matt kept talking on the phone as he grabbed a pen and a piece of paper.
He put them in front of Jacob, like he’d balanced work calls and kids all the time.
But…maybe he had. I knew how good he was with his nieces.
Last night after he asked me to prom he’d run around the house playing cowboys and Indians with them for an hour.
Jacob grabbed the pen and started drawing.
Matt walked over to me, keeping a little distance because he knew Jacob could be watching. “Just a second,” he mouthed silently to me.
I couldn’t wait to tell him that Jacob wanted him to move in.
“It’ll be done by tomorrow afternoon at the latest,” Matt said. He watched me as I walked over to the shelves against one of his walls. There were pictures of the Untouchables on them. At different fancy events. And a few with his nieces and nephews.
“Sure thing,” Matt said. “And when the paperwork is signed we’ll handle everything from there. But I have to go right now. I have another very important meeting.”
I turned around and smiled at him.
He winked at me. “Talk to you then, Simon,” he said and hung up the phone. He smiled at me. “Hey.” He closed the distance between us. “You’re sure everything is alright? Jacob had me a little worried.”
“Well, apparently he just wanted you to come home because he thinks I’m happiest when you’re there.”
“And is that true?” He raised he eyebrow at me.
“You know it is. And we actually had a long talk about that. We both decided it would probably be best if you moved in.”
“Yeah?”
“If you still want to. Jacob made it very clear though…he doesn’t want to share a room with you. He said I have to.”
Matt laughed. “He strikes a hard bargain.”
“He does.” I pressed my lips together as I stared up at him. “Did you mean what you said earlier? That you love him?”
“Yeah, I’m sorry, it just kind of slipped out…”
“He said it back.” I slowly exhaled. “I’m really glad you said it.”
“It didn’t take long for you guys to become the two most important people in my life.” He drew a fraction of an inch closer. “So in this talk you two had…did me kissing you come up?”
“One step at a time.”
“At least I don’t have to wake up at the crack of dawn anymore to sneak out of your room before he sees me.”
“Don’t pretend for a second you didn’t love sneaking around with me. It’s kind of your thing.”
He pretended to look shocked. “Teenage me, maybe. A lot has changed.”
It really had.
Matt reached out and ran his index finger down my empty ring finger. “Thank you. That means a lot to me.”
I nodded. “I know.” And I wasn’t necessarily ready to be engaged. But the constant pressure of Miller’s rings against my chest made me feel better.
“No one told me my grandson would be here,” Tanner said as he walked into the room. “How are you doing today, Young Jacob?”
“Abuelo look!” Jacob lifted up the paper in front of him. “I drew your castle!”
Tanner laughed. “It’s almost an exact replica, little man.”
I walked over and looked at the drawing. It was indeed a castle. It didn’t look like an apartment at all. “An exact replica, huh?”
“Yes, he’s very talented.” But then Tanner looked at me and cleared his throat. “I mean, it’s an exact replica of his imagination. Matt’s been to my place. And it looks normal.”
“But Abuelo.” Jacob stood up in the chair. “We walked through the secret door and you showed me…”
“Nonsense. We were playing make-believe, remember?”
“No.”
“We were definitely just playing. Keep drawing, little man.”
“The private island?”
“No, not that. Something else.” He turned back to me.
“Pretend you didn’t hear any of that. Speaking of art…
I hear that the two of you had quite the artistic evening.
Nigel framed a print of your pose, Brooklyn.
I got to see it before he took it to his fourth home.
Or is it his fifth? I can’t keep track anymore. But the portrait is exquisite.”
“Wait, Nigel did what?” Matt asked.
“Nigel wanted a copy for himself. Something about not getting the one he wanted or something. But I can see why. I might have him make me one too. I really need something in my billiards room.”
“You don’t have a billiards room.”
“Yes I do. It’s the twelfth door on the left.
Right past the pool. My rooms are mostly alphabetical for organization, but Nigel was being basic and thought it was called a pool room instead of a billiards room.
I’ll have him change it eventually, but he’s been quite busy.
He’s very fond of my grandson and Brooklyn and asked for more time off to help them acclimate. ”
I laughed. Is that what he called sitting naked on my counter? Acclimating?
But Matt glared at him. “You can’t have a nude portrait of Brooklyn above your pool table.”
“Why? Nigel’s putting his in his bathroom.”
“Is he really?” I asked.
“No, he’s not,” Matt said.
I laughed. “I’m honestly a little flattered.”
“He knew you would be. Speaking of Nigel…I also need to apologize about the security cameras. It was my idea to install them for safety purposes. But I forgot to warn you that he can be a bit of a voyeur. I’ve spoken to him about it before, but let me know if you want me to speak to him again.”
Matt groaned. “Whenever you talk to him on my behalf it just makes it worse.”
“Nonsense, he always listens to me.”
“I don’t think he ever listens to you,” Matt said.
Tanner laughed. “He has to. He doesn’t have a choice. But it’s an iffy thing when it comes to you since he’s not technically your houseboy. It’s a whole gray area and Nigel loves pushing boundaries. I’ve said it time and time again: if he’s bothering you let him blend into the wall.”
“It’s a little hard when he put a door in the middle of my wall to his adjacent home I had no idea he was buying.”
Tanner shrugged. “Well, it does make it easier if he has his own entrance.”
“How? He could use the front door.”
“Having many doors is important, you wouldn’t understand.”
“It’s also hard to ignore him when he’s ass naked on my kitchen counter.”
Tanner laughed. “Why on earth was he naked on your counter? Did you tell him to do that?”
“Of course not.”
I couldn’t help it, I started laughing so hard. “He’s a little competitive with Jacob. Something about being the most adorable boy in the room?”
“Ah, yes. I’ve heard him say that. He’s on the search for his own grandson and that should fix it I think.”
Matt sighed. “You can’t kidnap a kid. We’ve been over this. And Jacob isn’t your grandson. If anything he should probably call you Uncle Tanner.”
“Nonsense. I’m his grandfather. Watch.” He turned to Jacob. “Jacob, who am I?”
“My abuelo,” Jacob said.
“See?”
I nodded.
Matt looked at me. “You agree with that logic?”
“I think Tanner is a great grandfather.”
Tanner threw his arm around me. “She gets it. Get on our level, Matt. Now let’s talk about prom. Do you know what you’re wearing, Brooklyn?”
“No.” I looked at Matt. “I was actually hoping Jacob could join you at practice while I go shopping.”
“Don’t worry about that,” Tanner said. “I was hoping you didn’t have a dress yet. I’ve got it covered. My treat.”
“You’ve got my dress covered? I don’t think…”
“Nonsense, I’ve got this. I’m the founder of Odegaard.”
That wasn’t possible. Odegaard was around when I was in high school. I’d gone shopping at their flagship store with Matt’s mom. And Tanner was younger than us…
He must have seen my face, because he cleared his throat. “I meant I’m the owner. Now. Because I bought it recently.”
“You didn’t buy it recently,” Matt said. “I’ve been handling your finances for years and it was already an asset.”
“Recently is different for different people. Two days, two decades. Potatoes potahtos . Go and have fun at practice. The more time the two of you have together the better.” He winked at Matt.
Matt hit his arm and mouthed something to him that I couldn’t make out.
I had no idea what was going on. But I hoped Tanner knew what he was doing. One of the first times we’d hung out, he mentioned that he wore eccentric suits. And I wasn’t really an eccentric kind of person.
“Trust me,” Tanner whispered, like he could tell I was hesitant. “I’ve got you.” He dropped his arm from my shoulders. “Now what does my grandson want for lunch?”
“Cuppycakes.”
“Cuppycakes and meat, I think. You’re growing. You need protein, yes? So you can be as tall as me?”
Jacob nodded.
“Splendid. I’ll let Mary know about the dessert and meat we require.”
Why was everyone else so good at making Jacob eat a balanced meal?