Page 40 of The Marriage Negotiation

Zaq smiled at her. "How do you do?"

Stella just smiled at Zaq and gestured down the hallway. I knew it wasn't because she didn't like him or anything like that. She was just trying to be professional.

When we reached Jake's office, Stella knocked and then opened the door. She stepped inside and held the door open for me and Zaq.

Jake immediately stood and started out way, holding out his hand to us. "Patty, Zaq, thanks for coming."

"Thanks for asking us, Jake," I said as I shook the man's hand. As we walked farther into the office, I noticed that Jake was not the only one here. Besides Lucas and Joe, there were four other men that I didn't recognize.

One stood fairly tall with lush brown hair and a trimmed beard. The man sitting next to him had the prettiest sea foam green eyes I'd ever seen.

Next to them were two more men sitting close together. An auburn haired man and one that, well, he was brightly colored from his white slacks and multi-colored shirt right down to his deep red fingernails.

When Stella closed the door, Fred and another man stepped in front of it as if to block the way so no one else could enter the room. Two more were standing at attention near the windows.

That was a little nerve-wracking.

"Jake?"

"Patty, Zaq, I'd like to introduce you to Angus and Spencer King and Alejandro and Delancy Díaz."

"Alejandro?" I knew that name. "I haven't seen you since we were at the university. What have you been up to, man?"

I hadn't seen Alejandro since his dickhead grandfather showed up to school unannounced, caught him in a compromising position with another guy, and dragged him away.

Alejandro got up to shake my hand. "A little of this and a little of that. How about you? Did you ever finish medical school?"

"I did." I grabbed Zaq's hand and pulled him forward to stand at my side. "Baby, Alejandro is one of my old frat brothers."

I had no idea who the other men were.

Zaq shook Alejandro's hand. "It's nice to meet you."

"You look..." Alejandro's eyes cut to me, the man raising one of his eyebrows.

I gave him a small nod.

"I look...?" Zaq queried with a small head tilt.

"Are you in the medical field as well?" Alejandro asked, quickly diverting the conversation.

"I'm a nurse," Zaq admitted. It was the first time I had really heard him say it with such pride. Usually, he said it and then waited to be made fun of.

Alejandro pointed to the man beside him. "This is my husband, Delancy."

I nodded to the man.

"This is Angus King and his husband Spencer," Jake said. "In your line of work you might have heard of King's husband under a different name. Dr. Spencer Matisse."

My eyebrows lifted quickly in surprise. "I have actually heard of him." I frowned as I looked at the brightly colored man. "I expected him to be taller." And less colorful.

The man snorted. "At least you didn't ask me if I was old enough to be a doctor."

My frown deepened. "Are you old enough?"

He looked pretty young.

Zaq let out a small chuckle when Spencer's eyes rolled. Apparently, he found the man's attitude amusing. I kind of did, too, but I wasn't going to admit that.

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