Kaleidoscope (Colorado Mountain #6)(20)

There was no way to misinterpret that and he was right about the last part. The first parts, I felt it necessary to say something.

“He’s actually not a dick or a moron, Jacob. But he is kinda into me, well… too much.”

That also was an understatement.

“Thought I was somethin’ else when he met me yesterday, called you on it right in front of me. Didn’t shake my hand, tried to break it. That’s a dick. That’s a moron.”

I didn’t know about the hand-shaking thing but I wasn’t surprised. That seemed a Dane thing to do.

But when Dane went weird about Jacob, that ticked me off.

Then again, Dane going weird around guys tended to happen a lot so I tended to get ticked off a lot which was one of the reasons why, even though he was usually sweet, not hard on the eyes and it felt nice that he was way into me, I wasn’t so sure about him.

That and him being… off.

I put my elbow on my desk and my head in my hand, mumbling, “Oh God, now I have to break up with him.”

“Do it on neutral ground then walk away. Or have me over, open your door to him, tell him it’s over, close the door. He knocks again, I answer.”

I blinked at my desk. “You’d do that?”

“Fuck yeah, Emme. Guy’s a moron and a dick. No tellin’ what he’ll do. So you break the news on neutral ground with people around and then get the f**k away from him or you do it when I’m over.”

“I can’t… I mean.…” I stammered. “I can’t believe you’d do that, honey. That’s so nice.”

“Today’s Thursday,” Jacob declared. “I got a lot of shit to do, put him off ’til Sunday and I’ll be sure I’m around.”

So, so nice.

But, this brought me to my next problem. I’d done what my father would call shitting where I lived. This was one reason I’d put Dane off since he’d asked me out the first time about three days after I got back to work after I’d been hospitalized. Now I had to work with him after I broke up with him. Work with him as in be his boss.

“Emme? Baby?” Jacob called.

Thoughts of breaking up with Dane exited my head instantly.

Baby.

What was that?

Jacob had said that several times since we reconnected and each time he said it, it felt like a physical touch. A good one. An affectionate one.

A sexy one.

Jacob had never been sexy toward me.

Ever.

He was my then–best friend’s boyfriend, of course. But he’d never even flirted in a casual way.

He’d called me “babe” before, a lot (even though Elsbeth didn’t like it). He’d also called me “honey” sometimes (and Elsbeth didn’t like that either).

But baby?

“Emme,” he growled, his voice rougher and getting impatient.

He’d also never growled at me.

It was hot.

I didn’t need to think of Jacob as hot, or not hotter than he naturally exuded simply being Jacob.

“I’m here. I’m freaking but I’m here,” I told him.

“It’ll be okay,” he assured, growl gone, his deep voice was again smooth.

“I work with him, Jacob.”

“Yeah, that probably wasn’t your usual smart,” he murmured.

I closed my eyes, plopped back in my desk chair and groaned, “Ugh.”

“You’re an adult, he’s an adult. You both suck it up and act like adults. I know you can do that. He can’t, you find a reason to fire him.”

I shot up and cried, “Jacob! I can’t do that. This is his livelihood.”

“He shoulda thought of that before he asked out the boss then creeped her out.”

This was true.

I straightened my spine and declared, “Okay, I’ve just decided I’m taking this one step at a time. I’ll tell him to come around Sunday. I’ll break up with him. I’ll ask him if we can behave like adults at work. And then I’ll call you for another strategy session if he’s unable to do that.”

He had another smile in his voice when he replied, “Sounds like a plan.”

“Yeah,” I agreed then I called his name like we weren’t talking on the phone.

“I’m here, Emme.”

My voice had dipped low again when I shared, “This is cool, having this back. Having you back. Thanks for making it easy and taking us right back to where we left off.”

That got me nothing and that was unusual. Jacob could be verbally and physically affectionate, and after I said what I just said, the Jacob I knew would say something gruff or funny, but whatever it was, he’d say something to make me know he liked what I said.

Therefore, I asked, “Have I lost you?”

“We’ll talk tonight about where I’m takin’ us,” he said as answer and I froze solid, staring unseeing at my desk blotter.

Where I’m takin’ us.

Us.

What on earth did that mean?

Were we an us?

“Now, babe, gotta go. I’ll be at your place tonight at five,” he said.

“I… okay,” I replied, still reeling from what he said before. “Do you need me to text you directions?”

“Everyone in town knows your pad but a big giveaway of how to get to it is that it’s called Canard Mansion and it’s on Canard Lane and there’s only one house on Canard Lane, your house, so I reckon I can find my way.”