Chapter 42
Chapter forty-two
Kelsey
“Where is he?” I ask Lila, pacing in front of her desk.
“Why couldn’t you do this at your house?” Izzy asks, typing furiously on her computer. “This isn’t your office, you know.”
“I don’t like mixing work and pleasure.”
Her fingers freeze on the keys, a look of pure disbelief on her face. “Didn’t you sleep with the guy you were competing against while working?”
I consider it. “That’s not how I’d describe it, no.”
“But it’s what happened, right? We can all agree on that?”
Ignoring her, I turn back to Lila. “He said he just had to finish up a meeting with one of the potential helpers for his mom at Wild Brews, and then he’d be here.”
“Does Alice really need full-time care already?” Lila asks. “She seemed fine this weekend when we were all at your parents’ house.”
“I don’t think they’re ready to hire someone right now, but Carter being Carter, he wants to make sure he’s prepared.
Then, when the time comes, he doesn’t have to start the whole process.
” I pace in the other direction. “Also, I don’t think he knows what to do with his time, even if he’s spending most of it getting Mitchell Security closed down. ”
Lila nods in understanding, biting the end of her pen as she sits at her desk. “I’ve met Alice a few times at the café, so it’s not like I know her well, but I wouldn’t have been able to tell that she has dementia if I hadn’t been told ahead of time.”
“I don’t know her well either, but from what I’ve picked up in the last week, it comes and goes.
Her Alzheimer’s hasn’t progressed to the point where she’s confused more often than not, but even then, she’ll have moments of clarity.
It’s one of the challenges of the disease; you never know what you’re going to get. You can’t prepare yourself.”
“That’s so hard,” Lila says, her face a mask of sympathy.
“Ugh,” I groan. “Where is he?”
Izzy pokes her head out from around her computer and stares at me.
“What?”
She bites her lip, tapping her fingers on her keyboard without actually typing. “I’m going to ask something, and I don’t want you to get mad.”
“Then don’t ask me stupid things.”
Her pursed lips give away just how unamused by my answer she is. But what does she expect? I can’t promise I won’t get mad.
“Are you sure you want to do this?”
“Yes,” I say without hesitation.
“But you know what happened last time—”
“Yeah,” I cut her off. “Of course I do. I was there.”
“I just want to make sure you’ve thought it through and aren’t just trying to help Carter. I mean, you already asked him to move in with you. Isn’t that enough? You’ve been dating for all of one minute.”
“When did you become so cynical?” I ask, truly looking at my sister for the first time since I’ve been home. There are little bags under her eyes, and her face is paler than usual.
“I’m not cynical. I’m a realist.”
“You’re sad,” I say, stating the truth on her face.
“No,” she retorts, her voice strong. “I’m mad. And there’s a fucking difference.”
The door to the office pushes open, and Carter enters, holding two to-go cups of coffee.
“When they realized the small coffee I ordered was for you, they gave me a kids’ cup,” he says, handing me the little coffee and leaning in to kiss my cheek.
“Well,” says Lila, standing quickly, her phone in hand. “I’m going to go get some coffee myself.”
“Sorry, Lila. I should’ve brought you one. That was rude of me. Do you want mine?” Carter asks, offering his cup to her.
“No, that’s all right, but thank you. Izzy and I were planning to go grab one and some food for lunch anyway.”
“We were?” Izzy asks. Then her face changes to one of understanding. “I mean, we were. See you later, alligators.” She grabs her phone and bustles out the door, throwing a peace sign up over her shoulder as she leaves.
Now that the office is empty, the magnitude of what I’m about to do hits me. But instead of feeling trepidation or uncertainty, I feel calm. Certain.
Carter settles himself against the corner of Lila’s desk, his dark jeans and gray sweater making him look more academic than he did in his Mitchell Security shirts. “What’s up?” he asks with a smile.
“I…have a proposition for you.”
He leans in close to me, his nose centimeters from my ear. “Those windows are pretty visible from Main Street for another one of your propositions, Kels.” His tongue flicks out, briefly touching my earlobe. “But I’m game if you are.”
I squeeze my eyes shut, forcing the image out of my mind. “Not that kind of proposition,” I say as I pull back and focus on his face. “Though good to know you’re game.”
A light chuckle rumbles in his chest, and he reaches out to grab my hand.
“What’s your proposition, love?”
My heart does one of those hand-on-the-head, exaggerated faints at the casual way he’s started dropping his love for me into every conversation.
“I am going to expand KH to include personal security,” I say, my fingers finding a strand of hair at the back of my neck and starting to twirl it.
“That’s great. Now’s the time to do it for sure!” His eyes brighten like he’s figured something out. “Oh! Yeah, I can get you contact information for the guys who were with Mitchell. Of course you should pick them up. It’d help you and them.”
Carter would assume I’m asking him for the phone numbers of his former employees.
Shaking my head, I say, “That’s not my proposition either.”
“Oh. Well, regardless of what happened with Trent, our team was solid. You really should reach out to them and see who you can bring over.”
“I was thinking you could reach out,” I say.
“Me?” He thinks about it. “Sure. I could do that. A few of them have asked me if I know of anyone hiring.”
I purse my lips to keep from laughing. “What if you understood what I’m offering, Carter?”
“What if you said what you’re offering, Kelsey?”
“I’m offering you the position of head of the personal security division of KH Security.”
“You’re…what? I don’t know if that’s a…you’ve already done so—”
I cut him off. “I’m not offering this to you because we’re dating. Even if you’d still been with Trent, I would’ve tried to poach you after seeing how invaluable you were during the tour.”
“You’re sure you’re not just offering it to me because you know I need a job?”
“I’m offering it to you at a ridiculously low salary because I know you need a job,” I say with a wink, hoping he knows I’m teasing. I had Lila put together a very competitive offer.
“Then yes,” he says, scooping me up in his arms and pressing a kiss to my lips.
“You should really look at the offer and take some time to think it over. It’s not an ownership position,” I say, wanting to make sure I’m clear. “You’ll just be a department head.”
Carter looks at me, his arms still tight around my waist. “I don’t need my name next to yours on the wall of the office. As long as it’s my last name you’re using in the future, that’s all that matters to me.”
I scrunch up my nose. “I’m not planning on changing my last name.”
His laughter shakes us both. “Of course. As long as you promise your name will be next to mine on the marriage certificate someday, I’ll take it.” He kisses me, long and hard. “Plus, Mitchell is a shit last name anyway. Maybe I’ll just take your last name. We can become the Harpers.”
“It’s a deal,” I say, extending my hand.
Carter searches Lila’s desk and finally comes up with a pen and the back of an envelope.
“I’ll plan to start next week once I get things wrapped up with Mitchell Security.
I’ll also make sure I let our top guys know they have a spot here.
How many CPOs do you think we’ll need? I know it’s hard to estimate, since we’re just starting and don’t have any jobs. ”
“About that…” I say.
Dark, round eyes meet mine. “You already have a client? How?”
“I told Jaxon I was going to hire you, and he gave us the contract on the spot.”
His eyebrows almost reach the dark hair hanging over his forehead. “He did? After we let him get his hair cut by his stalker?”
“Well, we got there before any real damage was done, didn’t we?”
“I mean, after we flew his stalker out to his concert.”
“Hey, I was in no way involved with Mitchell Security. Don’t put that on me.”
“I can’t believe Jaxon would trust us—okay, me—like that,” he says, using his palm to shove the strand of hair back. “I figured we’d have no chance of getting his contract, and you got it on the first try. Damn, you’ve got a way with people.”
I cross my arms, fighting the grin threatening to take over my face. “What can I say? I’m persuasive. Plus, it helps when he’s secretly in love with love. And with my sister.”
“I think that last part might still be a secret to him,” Carter says.
An image of Izzy’s face as she watched Jaxon prepare for the concert flashes through my mind. “Somehow, I think the only people it’s a secret for are Jaxon and Izzy.”
Carter picks up the envelope again, jotting down a few quick notes.
“I’ll start reaching out to the guys from the tour who might want to pick back up with Jaxon now that he’s at home.
We can have two shifts of two men on a rotating four-days-on, four-days-off schedule, and then we’ll add more if Jaxon has any events.
” Carter pauses, considering. “Can I use Lila to help me coordinate with his team?”
I nod in agreement, making a mental note to tell Lila.
Carter leans back in his chair, his fingers tapping against the back of the envelope. “All right. I’m in. This is going to be…amazing.”
A laugh tumbles out of me, wild and free, as I take in the joy on his face.
We both stand at the same time, the weight of what’s ahead settling in, but with the realization that this—whatever comes next—is exactly where we’re meant to be.