The elevator dinged and the middle set of doors opened on Cal Danniger. “Did I miss a meeting notification?”
“Nope. We’re grilling Matt about his nanny,” Sebastian drawled.
Cal stepped out of the elevator, letting the doors close behind him. As business manager, he handled all their mutual holdings under The Maverick Group umbrella. While they were hands-on, it was impractical for the five of them to manage the ventures the entire group was involved in. Cal was their trusted guy.
“Don’t tell me you lost another one. How long did she last? A week?” Cal shook his head in feigned disgust. While he wasn’t a Maverick, they all looked on him as a sort of cousin, given that he’d worked for them from the inception of The Maverick Group.
“I haven’t lost this one,” Matt growled. And he wouldn’t.
Not as long as he kept his hands to himself.
“I don’t get what’s so wrong with them all,” Will said.
“I caught the last one speaking harshly to Noah.” Matt could still feel his blood boiling over that. He’d fired her, had her pack up her things and get the hell out of his house inside of ten minutes.
“Are you really that bad a judge of character every time you hire someone to take care of your kid?” Sebastian asked.
He was a damn good judge of character, but dealing with children was different than managing a QC department or running an assembly line. “Noah is special. I want the perfect nanny for him, and I’ve got high standards. What’s wrong with that?”
“Luckily, Ariana’s perfect,” Daniel said. “So don’t mess it up.”
Evan pushed away from the reception desk. “Glad you’re here, Cal. Do you have a status report on the Link Labs endeavor yet?” They’d signed the agreement almost six months ago, and so far things had been progressing better than expected. Matt had brought the venture to the group, but Evan was their financial guru, and he was all about the numbers and quarterly reports.
“I’ve got it all in my office,” Cal said, heading down the hall with Evan.
Matt was damned glad he was off the hot seat. Sooner or later, if they kept talking about Ari, he was bound to give himself away.
The bigger problem was that more than his base nature was getting to him. His fantasies were no longer merely about begging her to let him join her in that tub. Sometimes they were about joining her with Noah, going to the zoo, simply being with her.
Ari was becoming an obsession.
“Evan’s looking a little haggard.” Sebastian slouched in his chair, his gaze on the hallway.
Will frowned. “Living with Whitney will do that to a guy. He needs a good woman like Harper.” His eyes turned bright with that look of love he got whenever he said her name.
Will had never looked happier or seemed more content, not even when he’d made his first billion. Only Harper had done that for him. Along with her brother, Jeremy. They’d be married in Chicago at Bob and Susan’s house over the Christmas holiday, and Matt had a feeling Jeremy might have a little niece or nephew within a year.
“It really sucks how things have worked out for them,” Daniel said. “I’m not a fan of divorce, but sometimes I’m not sure there’s another way.”
Matt agreed, but he was afraid Evan couldn’t see the light. “He’ll never do it. He’s too loyal.” Then he turned to Sebastian. “How’s Noah’s dinosaur coming?”
Sebastian’s fiancée, Charlie, was a brilliant artist who worked primarily in metal. And she’d promised Noah a dinosaur for his garden.
Just hearing her name had his friend smiling with a look in his eye that could have been the twin of Will’s for his fiancée. “New commissions are being thrown at Charlie every day, but she loves working on Noah’s present. All I can say without spoiling any surprises is that you should think about getting the garden ready soon for some absolutely brilliant sculptures.”
“You and Will are just too disgustingly happy,” Daniel groused good-naturedly.
Sebastian trained his eagle eye on Daniel. “What about you? You’ve been spending all your free time working on your cabin in Tahoe lately. Is there someone you’ve got hidden up there that you’re not telling us about?” He cocked one devilish brow.
Daniel laughed and shook his head like they were nuts. But he tugged at the open collar of his shirt, as if somehow, impossibly, it had become a little tight. “I just want the roof on the cabin before winter this year.”
“Right,” Will said, obviously having noticed the collar-tugging as well.
To save himself, Daniel turned the spotlight back on Matt. “What about you? Anyone caught your eye recently?”