Total pages in book: 115
Estimated words: 107220 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 536(@200wpm)___ 429(@250wpm)___ 357(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107220 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 536(@200wpm)___ 429(@250wpm)___ 357(@300wpm)
Andrei stiffened. He turned to face Rowe, his dark eyebrows beetling together over his nose. He’d even stepped a hair closer so he could lower his voice. “Why not? They’re your friends. They care for you.”
“Yeah, and I don’t want some kind of weird intervention where we all sit around drinking and discussing my sex life. It could be nothing. It’s been me and my hand for almost a year now. Maybe I’m just…frustrated.”
“Fine,” Andrei announced after an extended silence, snapping Rowe’s gaze back to the other man. “I won’t tell them, but two things…”
“Oh hell,” Rowe muttered and then motioned for Andrei to continue.
“Don’t forget that you’ve got a killer support system and knowledge base if this isn’t just frustration.”
Rowe drew in a deep breath and held it. Yeah, he couldn’t fault Andrei on that one. “True.”
“And second,” Andrei stopped, waiting for Rowe to meet his eyes. “Be happy, whatever it takes. You deserve to be, Rowe.”
And that was the hard part, wasn’t it? Being happy. Since Mel’s death, Rowe couldn’t quite find his way back to happy. Not really. Some moments were less bad than others. And some ripped the air straight out of his lungs, leaving him shaking and sobbing. He really didn’t think happy was on the menu for him any longer. He’d be fine if he could find his way back to content or maybe even at peace.
Lucas came up behind Andrei and clamped his hand down on Andrei’s shoulder. “You two better not be discussing work over here,” Lucas announced. “This is supposed to be a party.”
“Just talking a little shop,” Rowe quickly said.
Andrei grunted. “I don’t think we hired enough security for the size of this place.”
“Everything is running smoothly.” Lucas’s hand tightened on Andrei’s shoulder as if he were trying to massage away the tension there. “We kept the size of the opening-night crowd manageable.”
A frown still tugged at Andrei’s mouth and his eyes locked on Rowe. “Between the two levels, the deck, the parking lot, and the fact that the neighborhood is still questionable, I think we need more eyes. It’s better to stop something before it starts than break it up after it’s already erupted.”
Rowe’s smile was smug as he looked at Lucas. “You should listen to him. He’s pretty smart,” Rowe said, pointing to Andrei with his glass.
“Yeah, he is,” Lucas agreed easily.
“Would you mind if I raided the roster for a few weeks?” Andrei pushed on, ignoring both their comments. “Let us borrow two people while we look to add some more bodies. I think I know of a couple who would be interested, but they would need to be interviewed and trained up.”
Rowe scratched his chin. He couldn’t make light of this. After everything that had happened to them, he knew they were all still being extra cautious. They needed to be. “Remind me when we get into the office tomorrow. We’ll look over the assignment lists and see who we’ve got where.”
“Thanks.” Andrei turned and pressed a lingering kiss on Lucas’s mouth. “I’m going to make a quick pass around the first floor one last time and then I think I’ll be ready for a drink.”
Lucas turned and watched Andrei smoothly cut through the sparse crowd, pausing to shake a hand here and there, a smile on his lips while still watching for trouble. The man was just as skilled at working a room as Lucas, and he made it look easy.
“You are so lost over him,” Rowe announced after an extended silence where Lucas simply couldn’t look away from Andrei.
“Have been since the day I met him.”
Rowe snorted. God, the man had changed over the past year with Andrei. It was like his wall had come down…well, some of it had come down. When he was around his family, he was a little looser, a little quicker to smile, and far more willing to admit that Andrei had become the center of his world.
“Have you proposed yet?”
“Why? Your date coming up soon?”
Rowe flinched and Lucas laughed loudly, the sound filling the second floor.
“Did you really think I wouldn’t find out about that stupid pool between you, Snow, and Ian?”
“Hey! Sarah, Jude, and Rebecca have thrown in too. The pot’s up to $600. It’d be $700, but we haven’t been able to corrupt Candace yet.”
“I think Snow is closer to proposing than me,” Lucas said, obviously attempting to deflect the conversation away from his relationship failings.
“Nah,” Rowe said with a shake of his head. “They’re still enjoying the newness of living together now that Hurricane Anna has backed off.” Jude’s mom was wonderful, but the woman was a freaking force of nature when she swept in with her mothering. Of course, Rowe didn’t know a person who needed it more than Snow. “Can you imagine what’ll happen when Snow and Jude get engaged? She’ll explode in a shower of pink unicorns and rainbows.”