Page 101 of Addicted

“Okay gentlemen, I have to head to work. Have fun.” Owen kissed the top of Liam’s head, then his cheek, then his lips as Ollie let out anawwbehind them.

“Have a good day at work!” Liam told him with a brilliant smile. Ollie picked up where he left off and his voice trailed after Owen, reaching through the door to the garage as it closed behind him.

“Owen isgorgeousyou lucky boy. Does he have a brother? Or a best friend?”

“Surprise, Opie!” With a smirk, Finn poked his head around Owen’s never-fully-closed office door and Owen jumped in surprise. As Thanksgiving approached, they were still busy with holiday parties, last-minute Christmas weddings, and bookings for the following year, so he’d been elbow-deep in emails and contracts. It seemed that The Pointe’s success was growing and now that Owen had been there for five months everything was flowing well, there were fewer fires to put out, and he even had ideas for further growth. But he missed Liam’s assistance.

“Finn!” Standing, Owen gave him a quick hug. “Did you slip by Marci again?”

“No. We’ve come to an agreement.” Marci appeared in the doorway. “He doesn’t try to sneak around and I don’t throw him down the stairs.”

Finn made a kissy face at her. “I love you too, Marci.”

She rolled her eyes. “I’m so far out of your league. Anyway,” she focused on Owen. “Dylan is done with the holiday decorations so you should come down and see everything once when you’re finished with garage band, here.”

“I absolutely will.” Thankfully, Marci vanished before Finn could annoy her even more and Owen made an effort to close his door. “What brings you by, Finn? Did you text me?” Owen reached for his phone to check it but Finn shook his head.

“Can’t a guy stop by to see his best friend every once in a while?” Finn rubbed his hands together, looking around the room.

“Sure. And he can also tell me what’s wrong.” Owen reached over, switching the landline to voicemail and leaning against his desk.

“There’s…nothing wrong.” Finn flopped onto the couch.

“Just so you know, I can read you like you read me so I’m not buying that. What’s going on?”

“Well…” Finn took in a long breath, huffing it out. “I have the rideshare thing and I also had that job at the café and the shoe store, right?”

Owen zeroed in on the use of past tense. “Had?”

“Yeah. The shoe store is closing, I found that out last week. And today the café said they don’t need me anymore. They’re hiring a bunch of high school kids and I guess it’s cheaper to pay them less.”

“I’m sorry, Finn.” Owen left the desk, joining Finn on the couch. “That sucks.”

“Yeah. I guess it’s back to the job search again.”

“Maybe not.” Something had been brewing in the back of Owen’s mind over the last month and while it was a little too soon to implement it, he was sure things would work out.

“What?” Confusion made Finn’s eyebrows furrow. “What do you mean?”

“How do you feel about working for The Pointe?” Owen spread his hands, palms up, gesturing around him.

“W-Wait a minute. You wantme,“ Finn pointed at himself, “to workhere?“ and then pointed at the floor, shock on his face.

“Sure. We need more staff. I could use another person to assist with everyday odds and endsbutwe’re also buying a shuttle bus so we can pick up bridal parties and guests from the local hotels and drive them to and from The Pointe. It will reduce traffic and drunk driving in the area. John has already signed off on it. And I thinkyou’dmake the perfect driver.“ Owen clapped him on the shoulder. “What do you say?”

“Um…wouldn’t that be nepotism? Shouldn’t I interview or something?”

“I’m allowed to show a little favoritism. And here’s the interview.” Owen smiled. “Would you like to work here, Finn?”

Finn bit his lip, considering it for less than a second before grinning ear-to-ear. “Hell yeah.”

“Would you be okay with full time?”

“I should, all my jobs together were more than fifty hours a week. And it’ll be nice to have only one place to go to. Argh, I guess I’m growing up!”

Owen clapped him on the shoulder again. “Don’t get ahead of yourself.”

“When do I start?” Finn asked, and Owen could see the excitement in his eyes but there was still a small spark of worry in there, something more that needed to be rooted out.

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