Page 105 of Theirs to Take

She looked between Tabitha and him and Ranger was worried that she was going to turn him down. “What do you think, Tabitha?” she asked their newborn. “Do you think that I should marry your daddy and make this thing permanent?” Tabitha squirmed and let out a little cry and he wasn’t sure if that was a yes or a no. He was hoping like hell that his daughter had just agreed to Millie marrying him.

“Well, what did she say?” he asked.

Millie giggled, “She said that I should definitely marry her daddy,” Millie said. “Apparently, I’m not the only girl in the room who’s in love with you, Ranger. It seems that you’re building quite the fan club,” Millie teased.

“You love me?” he whispered.

“I do,” she said. “I have for a long time now,” she said, giving him back his words. “Would you like to hold your daughter?” Millie asked.

“I would,” he said. He took the squirming baby from Millie and cradled her against his chest. Millie cuddled into his side and yawned. “Get some rest, honey,” he ordered. “I’ve got her for now. I’ve got you both.” He did too, and that made Ranger feel like the luckiest man on the planet.

The End

His Bossy Assistant

Evan

Evan Kingston was looking forward to his first day at McTavish Industries. He was hired as their new Business Management Partner, and he was excited about bringing their company into the next phase. He was going to upgrade all of their training and make sure that their personnel were all up to speed in their job descriptions.

He walked into the building and nodded to the security guard on duty. “I’m supposed to check in with Luke Tracy,” Evan said. The guard told him to stay put and he walked back into the security room, coming out with Luke.

“Hey, Evan,” Luke said. “It’s good to see you again.”

“You too, Luke,” Evan said. He and Luke went way back. They both worked at another tech company together, back in the day, and he had to admit, the guy hadn’t changed much over the years. He was still one of the nicest guys Evan had ever met. He even used Luke as a reference on his resume when he applied at McTavish. He knew that using Luke’s name had helped him get the job, but he wasn’t complaining. Sometimes, it was all about who you knew in the industry.

“You ready to start your new job today?” Luke asked.

“I am,” Evan said, “I’ve been looking forward to this for weeks now. Thanks for giving me a good reference.”

“Not a problem,” Luke assured. “How about you come on back with me and we can get you all signed in and get your security badge made?” he asked.

“That would be great,” Evan said.

“Good, then I’ll show you up to HR and you’ll spend most of your day with them. They’ll walk you through the building and give you the whole run down,” Luke said. Evan followed Luke back to his office and they spent most of the morning getting him into the system and making sure that he knew the rules for entering and leaving the building. He had to sign a few confidential legal notices and when they were finished, Luke offered to give him a tour.

“Oh, I almost forgot,” Luke said, handing him a laptop. “Your password is your last name,” he said. “It’s all one word and all lowercase. When you get done with your online training, you’ll be able to change the password to whatever you’d like.”

“Sounds good,” he said, taking the laptop from Luke.

“What is it that you’ll be doing around here?” Luke asked.

“I’m the new Business Management Partner,” he said. Most people didn’t know what that meant and from the look on Luke’s face, he didn’t have a clue. Evan chuckled, “Don’t worry about it. I’m not sure what I’m doing half the time anyway. Basically, I’m going to be handling the day-to-day management of this place to give Alex and Rod a bit of a break.”

“Are you coming in as a partner?” Luke asked.

“I am,” Evan admitted. He had to buy in and honestly, his attorney and accountant both confirmed that he was making one of the best financial decisions of his life. He did it because he needed a change. He also had an inheritance from his mother to spend and he had no idea how to invest it. His friends all tried to get him to buy a bar or someplace where they’d all be able tohang out, but he knew that he needed to use his business degree. Plus, spending the money that his mother left him on a bar, just felt wrong. She told him the stories about his grandfather and the way that he treated his poor mom. His grandpa was a drunk and liked to drag his mother to the track to bet on the horses. She had an awful childhood and married his father to escape it. Unfortunately for her, Evan’s dad wasn’t much better than his grandfather. His mother was lucky enough to get out of that marriage when Evan was just six, and she remarried one of the best men that Evan had ever known—his stepfather, Dale. He treated Evan as his own, and Dale and his mom didn’t have any kids. It was just the three of them until Dale passed. He had a heart attack when Evan was in college and that’s when he changed his major to business management, to follow in Dale’s footsteps. When his mom passed, he inherited all of the money from their estate, and he didn’t know what to do with it. He didn’t have to work for some time but spending everything that they left him just felt wrong. That’s when he decided to go talk to his mother’s attorney and get some advice as to what he should do with the money. He told him to invest, and Evan had been looking for the best opportunity for months now. When he talked to Alex McTavish and was told about them trying to take on a partner because their company had gotten too “Big for its britches,” as Alex liked to say, he knew that he needed to buy in. The only catch was he didn’t want to be a silent partner. He wanted in. Evan convinced Alex and Rod to let him come on as the company’s business manager to run the daily things that they didn’t have time for. They quickly agreed, and now, here he was, ready for his first day.

“Well, congratulations,” Luke said.

“Thanks, man,” Evan breathed.

“If you need anything, all you have to do is give me a shout,” Luke said.

“I appreciate it,” Evan said. “How long will this online training take?” he asked.

“Um, I’m not sure,” he said, “honestly, just give me the laptop back.” He took the computer from Evan. “I don’t know that you need to take the training that the rest of the employees do. I mean, you own part of the company.”

“Right, and that means that I will need access to all of the company training materials. I need to watch all of them,” Evan insisted. “It’s the only way that I’ll be able to know what I’m doing around here.”

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