Once again Jimmy wanted to throw his phone across the room as he snuggled into Tate drawing her closer. "Mmm. I slept amazing. Thank you."

She wiggled free. "I'm glad, but no time for fun. Go shower and I'll pretend I'm your cook."

He pulled her back. "I'd rather go hungry and we can shower together afterwards."

She pushed on him as she giggled. "Tempting, but I need to talk to the boss." She laughed. "I want to catch him early."

"Good luck with that." Jimmy fell onto his back. She shot down both him and his boner.

She laughed. "Go shower, big guy."

"Keep that up and I'm going to take you in the kitchen."

She laughed and vanished as he took some deep breaths. When he reached in to turn on the shower he left it on cold. It would wake him and get rid of his boner. He needed to exercise, but getting enough sleep promoted good health too.

As he dried off, the scent of cooked eggs met him. He entered the kitchen wearing his trousers and only an undershirt. She smiled at him. "No gel?" Then she reached up and tousled his towel dried hair.

"I'll do it in a minute. I'm starving."

"What did you eat yesterday?"

He shrugged. "A bran muffin. It was dry. I had a sandwich in Denver when I looked at locations."

"Were they Kane Properties?"

He chuckled. "Not answering."

She pouted. "And I made you eggs."

"They are delicious. Thank you." He leaned over and kissed her. She ate only yogurt. "I should let my chef go and you can cook for me."

She pushed on his shoulder. "We would both starve. Eggs are the height of my expertise. Unlike my brother, I don't love the kitchen."

"Then you had better pick a man with a cook on staff." He winked.

"I'll have to keep a lookout then."

Jimmy was almost certain he wanted to be that man. It could be his pride, but he was still reluctant to announce he had become a wolf. What if he were really a snake in wolf's clothing?

Thirty minutes later, O'Hara was at the curb. Tate wasn't ready, and he offered to have his chauffeur drive her after he had dropped him off.

"It's fine. With my luck Baxter would see me."

His chest thudded unpleasantly at her comment. Riding in together had been fine when her brother was out of town. As soon as he reached his office, he went to work researching Whitby Enterprises. It was a Boston based company, but he had never done business with them before. Retail companies were not typically his niche until Dawson embarrassed Tate.

The philanthropy scene in Boston was small enough that he and the Whitbys had attended some of the same events. His father had warned him about the old man Whitby, but he was out of the picture. Jimmy digressed to the family foundation page. He knew about it, but had not attended their events. Splashed on the homepage was information on a large gala. If he did business with the family, he would attend. Would Tate join him?

Returning to the business side, it encouraged him to see that none of their holdings were sports retail. He would see how his meeting went, before he mentioned it to his team.

His day passed quickly while he caught up on the things he missed the day before. He had a conference call with his father. Seeing him smiling on his patio in the sun caused Jimmy to smile. A part of him wanted to confide in him about his confusion, but it would get back to his mother. Neither were unbiased in their opinions about marriage. Jimmy froze. He might have avoided saying the word to himself, but it was the only way he could keep what he had.

Martha buzzed him. "Your car is waiting."

He looked at his uncle's watch. Shit. "I'm coming, Thank you."

Grabbing his coat he left his desk as it was. His laptop would go to sleep and Martha locked his office door when she left.

He arrived to find Josh at the bar. "Monty can't make it until six. Oliver was finishing up when I left." Josh studied him. "You look good. Did you change something?"

Jimmy smiled. "I slept last night. I also need a haircut."

Josh shrugged. "Whatever it is, keep it up. You look younger."

He winked. "No, more worrying about Shaun." Josh smiled and Jimmy could see hearts floating around his head. "So you've been a bachelor for a long time. No regrets about tying the knot."

Josh chuckled. "No. I was just like you. I dated career women who weren't interested in family."

"I remember the last one. What changed? Shaun?"

"Partly, but it was really Oliver. When he settled down and had his daughter, I slowly realized I wanted the same thing. You know there's hope for you. Your friend did it."

He nodded. "Baxter. But can I be that guy?"

Josh laughed. "You are halfway there the way you take care of your family and dropped everything to cook when Stella had her surgery. You need a woman who understands your business demands and travel schedule." Jimmy bit his lip. "Don't look so miserable. You strike me as a guy who would be faithful."

"Absolutely. I hate cheaters." He pushed thoughts of Philip away.

"She would have to be a hell of a woman to capture your heart. That's the key. Make sure it's love not lust, but you still need the lust."

Love was guaranteed thanks to a pendant, and the lust was off the charts. Jimmy turned on Josh. "That's my cousin you're talking about."

Josh chuckled. "Look Oliver's here."

The two men shook hands. They had met occasionally and would stand up next to Josh. "Is this because Josh refused a bachelor party?"

Josh held up his hands. "I was a bachelor long enough. I don't need a last hurrah."

Jimmy chuckled. "I admit my motives are strictly business."

"Good luck. Monty is hands off. He hires people he trusts to run things."

"And his old man?"

"Incapacitated. The old geezer won't die."

Josh cleared his throat. "I was just persuading Jimmy to join the other side."

"What side is that?"

"Marriage, kids."

Oliver laughed. "The good life."

Sumner's smile wasn't fake. It was as if marriage was a well kept secret. Maybe their generation chose more wisely than in the past.

Whitby strolled in with an air of confidence that rivaled Jimmy's own. They made introductions.

Oliver said, "We're trying to talk Sinclair into joining the good life."

Monty chuckled. "If you mean marriage, it's the best thing I ever did, except for my daughter."

Oliver looked from Monty to Jimmy and chuckled. "You both have reputations which are totally wrong."

Jimmy shrugged. "I can be a snake in business when I take over a company."

Monty smiled. "Don't take mine and we're good. My reputation is that I don't work. It's true I hire competent people to run the day to day."

"I ask to be introduced because I'm wondering if you're buying."

Whitby laughed. "I'm always buying. It depends on what you're selling."

Jimmy nodded. "Excuse us a moment." He stepped to another table and Monty followed. "A chain of sports stores in most ski towns in the MidWest. The original owner tried expanding in New England, but he lacked name recognition. I'll either expand to MidWest cities or sell. I'm putting out feelers."

"I could be interested. The first thing I do is visit as a customer to get a feel for it."

"It's still preliminary and confidential."

Whitby nodded. "Not my first rodeo. If you give me the name, I'll do some research."

Jimmy took out his business card and a pen. He scrawled Dawson Sports on the back. Monty looked at it and nodded. Silently, they returned to the others. Hopefully, he trusted the right guy. He and Oliver spoke quietly, but Jimmy heard the words sleep schedule.

Josh put his glass down. "I hope you don't mind, but Shaun told me you lost your girlfriend in highschool."

"Did she tell you what happened?"

Josh shook his head. "Just that it was a tragic accident and you have never dated seriously since then."

As Jimmy opened his mouth to argue, his shoulders slumped. Overtime, the reason had more to do with the perfect kiss. He should never have kissed her, but he had wanted to for so long and it was her birthday. He had been an impulsive kid.

"Is that a barrier to settling down?"

Jimmy sighed. "More than you could ever imagine."

"Trust me. No one needs to know what you're thinking." He touched his lip with one finger. "I need to meet Shaun."

"I'll walk out with you."

They shook hands with the other two who were ready to leave as well to go home to their wives and children. Jimmy could see a child in Tate's arms. She would pass his son over and Jimmy would feel complete.

Josh turned to him. "Do you need a lift home? I'm going your way."

"Nah, Georgie is waiting for me."

Once in the car, he called Tate. "Hey, have you eaten?"

"I'm still at work."

He smiled. "I'll send Georgie to pick you up. I wouldn't object if you stopped by your place for some clothes."

She laughed. "I'm sure you won't. I'll finish my work."

"Okay. See you soon." Jimmy was not any different from the other three men.

His phone rang. "I hope you didn't change your mind."

"Who did you think was calling?"

Fuck! Kane Properties showed on his phone display. "I thought you were Josh. I just saw him. He doesn't want a bachelor party." Not all lies.

"Ivy wants you to come for dinner on Saturday night, if you are free."

"Yeah. I think so. Who's cooking?"

"Does it matter? It'll be good either way."

"How was your honeymoon?"

"How do you think? The company survived in my absence too."

"Hey, Baxter. Do you know someone named Ellie at your wedding?"

There was an awkward pause. "Yeah. I do. Why do you ask?"

"I heard your dad talking to her. She's the one, and she was at your wedding."

"Please don't mention it to anyone else. I told you more than I should have."

"I remember."

"I don't know what you heard, but please just forget it."

"Yeah, sure." Jimmy felt lucky. No one would forbid him and Tate from being together, except maybe Tate.

Thanks for voting ⭐️