Page 108 of Their Perfect Daddy

I flip the sign to open before striding across the room. After I toss my bag under the counter, I turn to face Danny. His gaze is already on me, assessing me for whatever he thinks has me out of whack. There’s no way he can possibly know. Not when I couldn’t even put the pieces together until today.

“We could play twenty questions, or you could tell me what’s wrong, Micah. I’m kinda confused right now. Did I do something wrong?”

Immediately, I shake my head. “You did nothing wrong. This is a me thing.”

He sighs, letting his shoulders drop. I give him a minute of reprieve before I do what I should have ages ago.

“Danny, what do you think you do around here?”

“Ummm… I work?”

I nearly laugh at the response. Since it won’t help either of us for me to get the giggles, I forge ahead.

“Yes, that’s right. But what do you feel you offer? I think you do way more than is expected of you.”

The tension leaves him at the reassuring words. “Thank you. It’s nice to hear the hard work has been noticed.”

“It has, which is why I was asking what you thought you did. Because to me, I see you doing management level work without the same level of benefits.”

His mouth drops open as his eyes go wide. He doesn’t say anything at first. It’s obvious I’ve stunned him from the sudden revelation.

After giving him a moment to process, I forge ahead. “I have an idea. One in which you get the title of manager, a pay raise, and we create a more balanced work schedule for the both of us. You’ve helped me build this company to the level of success it is.And while we’ve always been coworkers, I consider you a friend —family now— above all else.”

“Family?” Danny whispers.

“Definitely family. You’ve put in just as much effort as I have over the last year. Hell, maybe even longer. I’m only just realizing how blind I’ve been. You’ll have to forgive me for not being better prepared.”

I wink to show I’m teasing with the last bit. Emotions flash across his face, each too fast for me to interpret. Eventually he settles on a familiar look. The curve to his lips and the excitement in his eyes confirms I made the right choice asking him to take on this new role.

“What do you say?”

“Yes, of course. I’d be an idiot not to.”

Laughing, I pull him into a quick hug. When we separate, all the tension in his body from before is gone. He’s back to being the same Danny I see every day.

“I’m glad you agreed. It’s going to be different for us to have this new work-life balance, but I think we’ll be better all-around because of it. I might even try to plan it so we can make it to several of the away games with the guys.”

“That would be amazing! Jett and Monty would love that.”

“You’re right, which is why I think it’s a great idea. Neither of us wants to be away from our partner any more than we have to. And considering so much of what we do is remote anyway, I figure it isn’t all that hard to arrange. Mostly we just need to block off the dates to close the store.”

“No worries there,” Danny says quickly as he grabs a pen and opens the large binder planner we have. “Let me pull up the team’s schedule and get started. Any games this next year you want to see in particular?”

I almost tell him to block off the playoffs and whenever the Super Bowl is, but I hold back. Something tells me that would trigger all the sports superstition I know he has.

“You know more than I do about which teams they’ll need our support with most. How many away games are there, anyway? If it’s not a lot, then we could definitely go to them all.”

Danny’s fingers fly across the keyboard on the counter as he accesses what he needs. The next half hour is spent filling in the planner with dates, weighing the pros and cons of each event, and then ultimately deciding neither of us wants to be in the office if our men are away.

It’s great to have someone who understands where I’m coming from. We might have different roles in our dynamics, but it doesn’t matter in this case. Loving who we love comes with a host of challenges. Having Danny to talk this all out with is a huge relief.

Not only do I get a partner in work to help navigate the business side of it all, but I get to have my future brother-in-law teach me the ins and outs of the game my boy loves so much. It’s not a scenario I ever saw coming, but it is definitely a best of both worlds vibe.

How the hell did I get so lucky?

CHAPTER 37

MONTY

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