Page 58 of Bossy Trouble

“No,” I said. “She followed every single directive like a lost lamb, never once telling me any of the things you just did. It pissed me off, too, frankly.”

“Why on earth didn’t you say no?” Macy questioned.

“I didn’t know I could,” she murmured, and I cocked my eyebrow.

“Of course, you can,” I said. “You’re an employee, not a slave.”

“Wait.” Georgia shook her head as though to clear it. “So, all this time, you were purposefully doing all that just to see if I would say no?”

“I needed to know what you were made of,” I said simply. Avery had started to wriggle, so I set her down on her feet. “Part of running a successful company is good customer service and treating your employees well. The other part is knowing exactly when to tell someone to shove it up their ass. You’re pretty good at the former. I wanted to see if you could do the latter.”

“Unbelievable.” Georgia shut her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose as the realization seemed to dawn on her. “You sent me across town to get you a stupid half-caf coffee at the ass crack of dawn because you wanted to see what I was made of? Are you serious?”

“I wouldn’t swear in front of the kid if I were you.”

Georgia narrowed her eyes. “You did too.”

I did, didn’t I? “Well, I’m not her parent. I’m the bad influence in her life.”

Georgia shook her head incredulously at me. Macy glanced between the two of us, then suddenly checked her watch.

“Well, I should get going now,” she said. “I need to get home before the old man starts getting cranky.”

“Alright,” Georgia responded. “And thanks again, Mace. For everything.”

“You’re welcome,” she said and then nodded at me. “Don’t give my friend here any more grief, or you’ll have me to deal with.”

Georgia rolled her eyes.

“Noted,” I said, smiling at the woman. She nodded and left soon after.

Dinner was a homey affair, filled with occasional bouts of chatter from Avery, regaling us of the story of her triumph once more. Once in a while, Georgia would drop a comment scolding her for taking it too far, and I would defend Avery, saying she didn’t take it far enough.

After dinner, we settled to watch a movie—it was Finding Nemo this time. Forty-five minutes in, Avery was dropping off to sleep. I made space for her in my lap, wrapping my other arm around Georgia’s shoulder. She looked up at me and smiled.

It was all so cozy, and it surprised me how much I liked it.

It wasn’t at all like I thought it would be. I’d always thought domesticity would be boring, but there was a quiet comfort inside that descended every time I came here. I thought about it later as I carried Avery up to bed with Georgia by my side. After I laid her down, I finally put a word on the feeling.

Peace.

It was the first time in my life I didn’t feel that gnawing hunger inside me to get out and do more, be more. I was comfortable here on this couch, in this house, watching Finding Nemo with these people. I could have stayed there for the rest of my life.

Georgia and I descended back downstairs to put everything away, and she glanced up at me.

“Who was that man who came to the office today?” Georgia asked in what she probably thought was a casual tone.

And all of a sudden, the tension was back.

Trust Georgia to notice something was wrong.Girl had the instinct of a cat.

“An old business partner,” I said. “He wanted to know if I was interested in one of his proposals. I let him know I wasn’t.”

“Oh,” she said, eyeing me carefully. “I bet he didn’t like that, did he?”

“Of course not,” I said. “He was pretty angry about it, but it’s fine. I’ll handle it.”

There was something in her eyes that told me she didn’t quite believe me. But she didn’t say anything else about it.

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