I raise one knee and watch his eyes drop between my legs.
“I won’t come work for you,” I reiterate. “But I would come work with you if the offer was right. Equal partner.”
“Equal partner?” His mouth drops open, that strong jaw unhinged. “In the firm I built from nothing? You want to walk in the door and be handed an equal partnership?”
“Handed?” I tilt my head and compress my lips. “I can’t remember the last time I was handed anything. I’ve worked my ass off for the last decade, just like you have. My reputation and results are just as good.”
I give him a meaningful look and don’t say the words aloud, but he hears them.
If not better.
He licks his lips and tucks them in, hiding a smile from me.
“I’d have to talk to August. He’s a silent partner.”
“You do that.” I stand, naked and as confident as if we were wrapping up a negotiation at a boardroom table. I step out, tie a towel at my breasts, and offer my “closer” smile. “And get back to me.”
Epilogue
“It is true what they say-When you know, you know.”
* * *
-Cindy Cherie, Poetess
Epilogue - Jared
* * *
“There’s nothing to be nervous about,” Banner says, chewing her thumbnail and scrunching her expression into a frown.
Looking nervous.
“Uh . . . okay.” I pull into the parking lot of the villa where Banner’s niece Anna’s quinceañera reception is being held. “I’m not nervous.”
She probably doesn’t believe me, but I’m not. We’ve been together for six months, and I’ve been to the occasional dinner with her closest relatives, but this is the first time I’m attending a function with the entire sprawling family. Apparently, it’s a big deal since she keeps telling me how not nervous I should be. We just left the Mass, which is traditionally held before the party. It was full-on Bible, rosary, priest, pomp and circumstance—the whole shebang. First time I’ve been to a church of any kind since . . . I literally cannot remember. I’m surprised lightning didn’t strike.
“If my Uncle Javier gets drunk,” Banner says. “Don’t talk to him. Ignore him. He says crazy stuff when he’s drunk.”
“Don’t we all?”
I get out and so does she.
“And you already know not to engage with Mama.” She checks the hair bundled at the back of her head in a loose knot. “I really thought she would have come around by now.”
Mama Morales has proved harder to win over than the public, whose perception of Banner as Zo’s faithful Penelope was hard to banish but not as awkward as we anticipated. Banner definitely got props for taking care of Zo the way she did even when they weren’t romantically linked. As much as I want to tattoo my name on her face so everyone knows, I do appreciate that it’s best to take a more measured approach. When Banner left Bagley and came to Elevation, many assumed our relationship naturally developed there.
“Are you thinking about what Mama said last time?” Banner asks. “Is that why you’re so quiet?”
“What’d she say last time?” I ask with a frown.
“Oh.” She bites her lip. “Nothing. Never mind.”
I roll my eyes and walk around to the passenger side of the car.
“You don’t have to pretend your mother likes me.” I loop my arms behind her lower back. “She doesn’t pretend.”
Banner reaches up to adjust my tie unnecessarily because my tie is always on point. She just needs something to do with her hands. If we didn’t have to attend this reception, I’d give her something to do with her hands. Her mouth, too.