20
P aetyn walked through the front door with two grocery bags. He placed his keys on one of the spare hooks, closed the front door, and locked it back. He looked into the living room from the foyer, finding it empty. The next place he checked was the kitchen, which he found empty. He placed the bags on the counter.
“Lena! Papa!” he yelled. Doing the exact thing he and Cruz constantly got reprimanded for when they were boys. He knew this time would be no different.
Paetyn began unpacking the ingredients he’d picked up to make them lunch, and a minute later, he heard footsteps coming down the hall.
“Paetyn Ancelio Silva. I know you aren’t yelling in my house.”
He turned to her to find her hands on her hips, and her eyes narrowed at him. His father stood behind her with an amused look, but that had always been the case when he or Cruz received Lena’s scolding.
“Lo siento, Lena,” he apologized.
“I swear, you boys.” She dropped her hands from her hips, and Paetyn walked over and kissed her cheek before hugging his dad.
“You came bearing gifts,” his father stated, walking to the bar and pulling a chair out for Lena. “What are you cooking today?”
“I have a few options. So, I’m cooking whatever you want me to,” Paetyn responded, finishing unpacking the bags.
They looked over the ingredients. One chose bacon-wrapped dates and the other picked chicken gyros. They started arguing about which one to have, and Paetyn decided to cook both. It wasn’t as if it would take him all day.
He placed the things he wouldn’t need into their refrigerator before washing his hands and starting on the marinade for the chicken. He’d let it sit while making the dates. They caught up on the past week. There was a lull in the conversation, and as he placed the dates on a tray to put into the oven, Lena broke it.
“I’ve already asked Cruz, but I’ll ask you too. When will you bring your girlfriend over and introduce us to her?”
“You’ve already met Erin,” he responded, placing the last of the dates.
“Cruz said the same thing, but you know what I mean.”
He did and didn’t mind introducing her to their parents, but he wanted her to be comfortable. Paetyn also didn’t want to rush to that stage. It usually took them six months to a year before they introduced who they dated to their parents. They liked to take that precaution if the relationship ended sooner than that timeframe.
It wasn’t unusual for a woman to like the sound of what they were saying, but after a few months, it proved to be too much. That had been the case a few times, and they didn’t count those among their relationships because they were still in the dating phase.
Paetyn supposed it was different with Erin because they’d skipped that phase altogether and entered the relationship. Not that he or Cruz cared. They’d wanted her for a year or more, which was different because they didn’t usually wait that long. He knew why they had, but honestly, he wished they’d made that move sooner with how she responded to them. They wouldn’t waste any time calling what they were doing now simple dating because it was far more than that.
“I’ll ask her,” Paetyn responded. It was the only thing he could do because whether or not it happened depended on how comfortable she was with the idea. He felt she wouldn’t mind because she’d met Lena at Thanksgiving, and they’d spoken at the wedding.
“I’m sure she won’t mind. You can bring her here for dinner,” Lena stated as Paetyn placed the baking sheet in the oven.
He continued cooking, asking them how the bed and breakfast business was going. They both only checked in a couple of days a week but, for the most part, allowed their small staff to run it. They still referred to it as a bed and breakfast, but Paetyn would hazard to say it was more of a small hotel.
It started as a five-bedroom home, but over the years, it expanded. It now had fourteen bedrooms with ensuites, a dining area, a large kitchen, a pool and a jacuzzi for guests, a library, and a bar room.
Their parents had been adamant that he and Cruz would not spend obscene amounts of money on them when they became well-off. So, they’d agreed they could buy them a house and makeover their business. The second was a request from Lena; she wanted to be able to house more guests, and it was a great idea. There was seldom a time when they weren’t fully booked, and when they weren’t, there was only a room or two empty.
Cruz, of course, had volunteered to help them set up all their bills, and naturally, they were coming out of an account they had money transferred to each month. Paetyn was sure their parents had figured it out since it had been years, but they just hadn’t said anything. He knew that he and Cruz wouldn’t stop if they did. Their parents had worked hard to take care of them, and they wanted to ensure they were taken care of now.
When the food finished, they sat and ate together, and once done, he spent a couple more hours with them. Lena reminded him before he left to ask Erin if she wanted to come to dinner. Paetyn decided he’d ask her when he saw her over the weekend. He knew he and Cruz would continue to hear from Lena about it if they didn’t.
E rin thanked the security guard after receiving directions. With smoothies in hand, she stepped onto the elevator and rode it to the top. She was a bit frustrated after her meetings, and while she’d texted Alijah and Chayse about it, she decided to stop to visit Cruz at work. She was hoping that he wasn’t too busy. She probably should have called first, but before she knew it, she’d stopped and grabbed two smoothies and was pulling into the parking lot of his building.
When she stepped off the elevator, she entered an open waiting room. A woman sat behind the reception desk, and Erin walked over, returning the smile the woman gave her.
“Good afternoon. How can I help you?”
“I’m here to see Cruz. I don’t have an appointment,” Erin responded.
She watched her look at her computer screen for a few seconds before turning back to her. “He’s on a video call at the moment. I can buzz in and let him know you’re here.”
Erin shook her head. “No, it’s okay; don’t interrupt him. Do you mind if I sit and wait for a few minutes?”
“Not at all. Please have a seat.”
Erin walked over to the armchairs and took a seat. She sat the smoothies on the table in front of her and picked up one of the magazines.
She wasn’t sure how long she’d been sitting there but had read a couple of articles when the large oak door opened, which she was sure led to Cruz’s office, and he walked out. He was saying something to his assistant but stopped when he found her on the phone, and then his attention turned to Erin.
“Hey, Ma?y. How long have you been waiting?”
“Hey, baby. Not long.”
His attention went to his assistant as she hung up the phone. “I need you to call a meeting with the software engineers for tomorrow morning.”
“Yes, sir,” she responded.
“And whenever she comes, she isn’t to wait.”
Erin watched the woman swallow before nodding. She couldn’t blame her; she knew anyone on the receiving end of that intense gray stare would feel a bit nervous. He gestured for her to follow him, and she placed the magazine on the table, grabbed the two smoothies, and followed him into his office. He closed the door behind her before leaning down and kissing her.
“I think you made her nervous, and you might need to apologize.” Cruz raised a brow at her, and Erin continued. “I told her not to disturb you and that I didn’t mind waiting. She asked me if I wanted her to try to buzz you.”
“I…will talk to her.”
She noticed he didn’t say he would apologize, but Erin would take what she could get. She went to the sofa along the left wall and sat, Cruz coming over to join her. She removed the paper from the top of the straws she’d placed into the smoothies.
“You had your meetings today with the sign makers. How did it go?” Cruz asked. Erin groaned as she took a drink. “That bad?” he questioned.
“It was so irritating. I went to two different shops. One quoted me over eight thousand dollars and the other at nine thousand.”
She watched him furrow his brow. “How big is the sign you want?”
“It’s four and a half feet wide and three feet tall. I want it to go in the open space over the door. But even if it was a couple of feet bigger, that’s still ridiculous. They were trying to get over on me.” She took another drink. “I priced a sign that size through an online business, which was around three thousand. I knew that the price could fluctuate, but that was insane.”
“Why not just order it from the site?”
Erin sighed. “I thought about it, but it takes seven to ten business days to make it and then five to seven for shipping. I’m afraid that if it gets here and I don’t like it, I won’t have enough time to return it and have another one made before the opening. As an alternative, I may have a window decal placed instead.”
“I agree that they were trying to get over on you. I’m assuming they were men, and I hate to admit it, but some will try to get over on a woman when they can. Do you want to go back, and Paetyn or I can go with you?”
“No, I don’t want to give them any of my money at this point, even though they were the only two with the style I liked.”
“Did you just look in town?”
Erin nodded. She hadn’t looked outside of Denver because she wanted a company close to her. She wanted to ensure that she could get her sign in time, and if there were any errors, she would have time for them to correct them.
“I have an associate in Boulder, and I’m confident they could make the sign you want. I can call him and see if he has time to meet tomorrow, and we can go.”
Erin thought about it for a moment. She didn’t want him taking the day off, and she’d heard him ask to schedule a meeting for tomorrow morning. However, she remembered that he only worked until noon on Wednesdays, and while she wanted to handle it herself, she was learning that it was okay to accept help.
“Okay,” she responded. “I don’t have plans, so any time tomorrow will work.”
“I’ll see if Paetyn is free to go with us, and we’ll make a day of the trip.”
“That sounds like fun. Could you do something else for me?”
“What’s that, baby?”
“Could you run a phone number, or have it run? I tried to look it up, but I had no luck.”
“Is it the number that called you while we were out?” he asked.
“Yes. I thought it was a potential client, but they call and say nothing, or on the couple of occasions they have, the connection is terrible. It’s weird. I might be reading too much into it, and if you think I am, you don’t have to—”
“If it’s making you uncomfortable, then you aren’t reading too much into it. Send me the number, and I’ll check it out, but once you send it to me, I want you to block them regardless of what I find to give you peace of mind.”
Erin nodded and decided to change the subject and ask him how work was going. She hadn’t shown up only to dump her irritation on him or to get help from him. She stayed longer until she felt she was holding him up from work. He told her she wasn’t because no one could say anything to him about it, and she was ready to have that same mindset.
When she left him, she headed home to place an ad for artists on social media and possibly on several job boards.
C ruz hung up the phone after making the appointment with Mike, the sign maker. They were meeting him tomorrow at two- thirty, and he texted Erin to let her know. He would ask Paetyn if he was free when he made it home that evening.
He wanted to find out which two companies Erin went to. Them trying to get over on anyone unfairly would have irritated him, but the fact that they were attempting to do so with his girlfriend had pissed him off. It was for the best she hadn’t told him the company names in passing because had she, they would have been hearing from him. However, Paetyn may have known, and he would ask him that evening.
There were a few emails he needed to read and respond to. He’d gotten them while Erin was there but hadn’t felt the need to cut his time short with her. He enjoyed her surprise visit even more because she’d thought to come to him to vent her frustrations. That also reminded him that she said he needed to apologize to Jane. Cruz didn’t feel he’d done anything wrong, and it wasn’t his fault he intimidated her, but he supposed his tone had been a bit more clipped than usual.
He hadn’t informed Jane of who Erin was before her visit, so he couldn’t expect his assistant to know to let her into his office or find him if he wasn’t in there, regardless of what he was doing. So, while he hadn’t treated her anyway he normally wouldn’t. He supposed he could ensure she hadn’t felt unconsciously reprimanded. He buzzed her desk.
“Jane.”
“Yes, Mr. Adair?”
“Come into my office.” A few seconds later his door opened.
‘Yes, sir?” she questioned.
“If you felt I was reprimanding you earlier when my visitor came that was not my intention.”
“I didn’t feel that way,” she responded as she shifted. A nervous habit she always had around him. “And I’ll be sure to let her in or buzz you going forward.”
He studied her briefly. “Okay. Thank you,” he stated in dismissal, and she exited the office.
His attention went to the emails that required responses. He thought about what tattoo he wanted Erin to give him as he did. They hadn’t done it Sunday as planned since Chayse had gotten sick and couldn’t take the photos for Erin. She’d asked if they could move it to the following weekend, and Cruz didn’t mind. It worked out because he had no idea what he wanted. He didn’t know when he’d asked her if she wanted to give him one and figured he’d have one when they got down to it.
Once he finished responding, he shut down and ensured everything was locked up, grabbed his cell phone, and exited his office. He opened his office door for the cleaning crew and stepped onto the elevator.
Cruz slid behind the wheel of his car and thought for a moment about going to see their parents. He knew Paetyn had gone to have lunch with them. They both typically visited on Thursdays to have dinner with them, but Paetyn would need to be present for an event at The Pits . Deciding to stick to the original plan, he headed home.
He pulled into the garage twenty-five minutes later. Paetyn’s car wasn’t there, but he figured he was still at their parents’ house.
Cruz went to his room and changed into a pair of basketball shorts and sneakers before going to their home gym. He hadn’t used it in about a week, and the last thing he needed to do was fall off. Thirty minutes into his workout, Paetyn walked in and leaned against the doorframe.
“You’re home early.”
“I didn’t have any meetings today, and if I need to do something later, I can do it from here,” Cruz responded as he did his second rep of bicep curls. “How was your visit?”
“It was good. Lena asked about meeting Erin.”
“I knew it was only a matter of time before she brought it up to you. What did you tell her?”
“I’d ask Erin, and we’d go from there.”
Cruz nodded, placing the weights down. “Speaking of Erin, are you busy tomorrow?”
“I have two appointments in the morning but should be finished by eleven-thirty. What happened with Erin?”
“She went to get quotes for her sign today, and they gave her some outrageous prices trying to get over on her.” Cruz watched Paetyn’s jaw tick at the information. “So, I scheduled an appointment with Mike tomorrow and thought we could spend the day with her.”
“Yeah, we can do that. What time are we leaving?”
“The appointment is at two-thirty. So, right when I get off. We’ll drive down, have lunch, then meet with him.” He watched Paetyn nod. “You wouldn’t happen to know where she went, would you?”
“Unfortunately, I do not, but I’m sure we can find out.”
“Good. That way, you can ask them to remake signs for your restaurants. Get them all excited and back out at the last minute.”
Paetyn chuckled at his suggestion, and while Cruz had no issue doing it himself, his business did not need signs. Sending Paetyn made more sense and would look more legitimate.
“That’s childishly petty,” Paetyn informed him.
“I’m aware, but I’m finding it hard to care,” Cruz responded.
The other man nodded. “Well, I guess that makes two of us. We’ll ask her what companies they were tomorrow.”
Cruz watched Paetyn push off the doorframe and head down the hall. As he moved to the weight bench, he hoped she told them.