Chapter Twenty-Eight #3
Jace looked at him with adoration as Kayden shared part of his past easily with me. I couldn’t help the swell of pride I felt in his trust. “I’m sure a lot of people will appreciate that touch.”
I turned to Jace. “You need to stop ogling your boyfriend and go downstairs. You’re going to be late for your meeting with security. Given they want to install cameras in your office for your ‘protection’ you may want to prioritize this one.”
“Yeah, fuck that, I’m not doing that,” Jace said, giving Kayden a quick kiss on the cheek.
“Then go.” I waved him in the direction of the elevator.
Jace walked backward. “Hey, Kayd’s officially out of the closet so maybe I should ask first. How do you feel about the cameras, baby?”
Kayden chuckled. “Happy to be out with you, babe, but still don’t need my dick on the internet.”
“Fair enough,” Jace said.
“Congratulations, Kayden. I’m happy for you,” I said, slotting him in for Monday, two weeks from today, with Jace.
“I couldn’t have started the process without you,” he said, looking slightly nervous to admit it.
“Or finished it without him?” I asked, pointing at Jace who was standing in front of the elevators watching us and not at all heading to his meeting. I found a slot for their meeting with the board on the following Thursday that week and wrote down the time for Kayden.
Kayden smiled. “No. I’m very grateful to have you both in my life.”
I turned to see Jace still waiting in front of the elevator. “Ride down with me, baby?” he called.
“No!” I yelled. “No funny business in the elevator. I mean it, Jace, or I’m going to tell them you approved the cameras.” I turned to Kayden. “Do you have a minute? I want to talk to you about Kaylee.”
“Sure,” Kayden said, waving goodbye to Jace as he stepped into the elevator.
Jace gave us a flirty smile that seemed laced with hope.
If I’d felt like I was wrapped in a warm blanket knowing that Jace was in love with me, he was acting like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders as a result of our confessions.
He’d always been relaxed and flirty, but his flirting had decreased over the last couple years and now I wondered if it had been too painful given the secret he’d been holding back.
I liked seeing him like this again. A lot.
It was the Jace I’d fallen in love with in the first place.
I turned back to see Kayden looking at me with his nervous, overthinking expression. Gone was the flirty man from moments ago and in his place was the Kayden who was very nervous about meeting his daughter.
“Are you changing your mind?” he asked, wincing. “Please, tell me you’re not changing your mind.”
“No, of course not. Sit down, please,” I said, hoping to make him feel less anxious if he could see how calm I was. “I wanted to talk to you about what we’re going to say to her.”
“We can tell her anything you want, Olivia,” he answered quickly. He was clearly terrified I was going to take this away from him and his nerves were getting the better of him.
I reached for his hand and squeezed. “Kayden, I’m not going to keep you from her. Okay? I just want to talk about our approach.”
He nodded and gripped my hand as he took a deep breath.
“Kaylee is really smart. I know Jace already told you a little bit about her. But he probably didn’t tell you that she’s also pretty anxious in ways I’m still trying to understand.
She freaks out about loud noises, gets really nervous when anything happens on TV that I’d classify as chaotic, and she asks me every night not to leave the apartment after I put her to bed—which I’ve never done without her knowing someone else would be watching her.
” I sighed. “What I’m trying to say is, I think she might have your intelligence and your predisposition for anxiety. ”
“Shit,” he said, “I’m sorry about that.”
I gave him a small smile. “Because of that, I think it might be better if we tell her the truth. I’m afraid if we don’t tell her that you’re her father, and then try to tell her later, it’s going to be confusing and erode trust. She’s too smart to just be one of those kids who says okay.
She’ll have fifty questions, and she’ll want to know what it means. ”
“Olivia, I’ll follow your lead. But if she’s anything like me, then yes, she’ll want all the information upfront.
” He paused and took a deep breath. “Do you know they’ve done studies and found that there is a correlation between generalized anxiety disorder and intelligence?
Some scientists even believe that the two co-evolved in the human brain.
It’s really fascinating, I can give you a book on it.
” He stopped talking as a smile spread across my face and he pulled at his hair. “Too much nerd?”
I laughed heartily and dropped his hand. “Not at all; I’d appreciate reading about that. She is going to love you. Know anything about dinosaurs?”
“The Triassic, Jurassic, or Cretaceous period?”
“Hell if I know,” I said.
He shrugged and smiled. “I might be able to hold a conversation about dinosaurs with little to no effort.”
“Perfect, then brush up on that knowledge if you must and we’ll tell her the truth.”
We both stood up and he stepped around the desk, wrapping his arms around me. “Thank you, Olivia. I can’t thank you enough for trusting me to meet her.”
I wrapped my arms around him and tried not to wish I’d had him here four years ago. Maybe everything happens for a reason. After all, he’s the reason I quit my job and showed up at Harrison’s Bar and Pub the next day.