Page 19 of For Your Consideration

“I have to go but text me a picture of Soph in the office!” She hung up without a goodbye.

“Alright, Sophie.” I looked down at my girl. “Guess you’re coming to work with Mom today.”

It was early afternoon and we’d been making it through the day better than I expected. Sophie’s pack and play was on the floor and she had been swapping time between there and my lap. She’d been a little fussy when I tried to put her down for a nap, since I put her in her car seat, but eventually she’d settled and managed to sleep.

I didn’t bother setting myself up in Quinn’s office—it felt wrong. Plus, without Quinn here, no one really came to this back part of the office so Sophie and I had mostly remained undisturbed.

Overall, my girl was kicking ass at her first day at work. She was quiet while I was on the phone, kicked her legs whenever I spoke, and tapped her hand against my cheek if she was on my lap.

She was happy and unbothered by the sounds and people moving around. I always tried to get her out of the house as much as possible but with the weird shifts I’d been working it had been hard. This made me feel like I hadn’t socially stunted her completely.

I answered the ringing phone. “Maria Knight Memorial Fund, Sutton speaking.” As always, the person on the other end was asking for Quinn. “Miss West is unavailable. I can take a message for you.” I pulled out my notepad to take down the message, but I got distracted when someone knocked on my desk. Looking up, I tried to hide my surprise.

Asher was standing in front of me. He was in a charcoal gray suit, white shirt underneath, the top buttons undone.

Damn, this man could wear a suit. It showed off his toned arms and I was pretty sure it was hiding a six pack.

“When will I be able to speak to Miss West directly?” the caller asked, but I was too distracted by Asher’s amber eyes, which were currently locked on Sophie sitting in my lap clapping her hands together softly. “Hello?”

“Sorry. She’s away for the remainder of the week.” My voice sounded weird. Did I always talk so high-pitched? “What were you looking to speak to Miss West about?”

“I have a partnership idea I want to discuss. I would also like to sponsor an upcoming event.”

“I’ll take your number down and have one of the staff do an initial intake call with you. Miss West will follow up after that.”

I bit my lip as I took down the information, repeating the number back to ensure I got it right since I was a tad distracted, then thanked the caller and hung up.

Asher looked at me the moment I finished.

“Hey… You know Quinn’s not here…” I assumed he would know that already since they were friends, but I didn’t know why he would be here otherwise.

He grunted. “She left an envelope for me on her desk.” His British accent was thick, his voice low and grumbly.

I nodded and stood up, bringing Sophie with me. One good thing about always carrying Soph in my arms was that my muscles were stronger than they had ever been before.

“Who’s this?” Asher asked as he came around my desk. The man towered over me. I made it to just under his chin.

“This is Sophie.”

She screamed a little in excitement and reached toward Asher. Before I could take a step back and tell him to ignore her, he reached out his hands.

“May I?” He paused for a moment, looking down at me, giving me a chance to say no.

“Um…sure.”

He took her from me, and she went happily. “Hi, sunshine,” he said in a low voice as my daughter reached up and patted his face.

She squealed a little again, kicked her chubby legs, and then rubbed his chin. I was assuming the rough texture was drawing her in. I was a little shocked at how easily she went to him. I could understand her sentiment though—he had scruff along his jaw and it was sexy as hell. I wouldn’t mind running a hand over it myself.

I cleared my throat. “I’ll go grab that envelope for you.”

My ovaries were busy exploding at the sight of the big grumpy man looking at my daughter with light in his eyes. I needed to distract myself.

“Is this why you couldn’t come out last Friday?”

His question made me pause.

“Yeah, she’s my reason for being busy every Friday.”