Love Undefeated (Unexpected #5) (36 page)

Xavier gave a quickie, ahmm mmhmm, birthday breakfast in bed and rushed out. He was going to be busy the whole day so we’d probably just have a quiet dinner tonight.

As I finished the last bite,
for now
, I checked my light pink silk sleeveless blouse for any evidence that I’d just devoured my cake.

Nelson was still preoccupied with checking his e-mails on his phone when I stood up.

It was going to be a busy day.

I canted my head to the left, watching the sun breaking through the marshmallow-puffed clouds, and gave a silent prayer to the Man above.

Another year.

When I woke up at 6:05 this morning to the chime of my alarm, I’d felt the stiffness in my muscles.

I attributed it to getting older.

Or maybe it was a mental thing.

It was a blessing to have what I had at this stage of my life.

Seeing Nelson with frosting stuck on his bottom lip made me laugh. If he came out of my office right now, everyone would see that we’d been hogging my cake and they’d rush inside my office. I’d made the mistake of sharing it with everyone two years ago. I was left with a slice that wasn’t even enough to count as a mini-cookie.

“Gah, I love your mom’s cake – it’s so decadent and yummy and just so much heaven in flour.” He salivated over the last bits, and I offered him a napkin to wipe the side of his face. “Thanks for sharing it with me. My day is off to a good start.”

I agreed with him.

Saeng Cream Cake
, my mom’s specialty, otherwise known as Korean Fresh Cream Cake, possessed that quality – they can make anyone’s day better and a birthday greater.

I loved birthday parties.

They were special days.

The day I entered this earth, the world’s temperature became ten degrees warmer.

Nales and I argued about it all the time.

She attributed climate change to the greenhouse effect when the atmosphere, the blah…and all the blah happened.

I didn’t discount that climate change happened.

I just wanted her to accept that it happened because of me.

My hotness was trapped in this world which in turn caused the temperatures to spike up and the chain of events followed.

You got the drift of it.

There were arguments she won, ninety five percent of the time she presented her evidence and I found myself agreeing.

I wasn’t capitulating on the origins of climate change.

One day she’d see that my theory was right.

I hoped when the time comes that it’s a known fact, it wasn’t too late for her to admit it.

“Is there anything else you need from me, sir?” Claire asked as she stood by the door to my office.

I had a long afternoon of meetings and contracts and docs to review.

“No, nothing. Thank you for everything that you’ve done and still do, Claire. You’re a great asset to the company.”

Her eyes widened in shock and I observed the faint smile on her mouth.

I wasn’t sure if my dad complimented her enough.

My old man was pretty stoic, especially when it came to anything and anyone in the company. He didn’t smile much during meetings, not even business dinners with his comrades in the accounting and business world. But it didn’t mean that he wasn’t a good boss. I’d seen Claire’s compensation package and I’d taken a look at our employees’ salaries during the summers I’d worked with him. They were compensated well. But it didn’t hurt to say nice things to the employees, especially if they were excellent at their jobs.

Claire went fully above and beyond any measure. She would stay long after everyone had gone home because I was still in the office. She didn’t ask for extra pay or extra time off, which I’d gladly give her anyways, she just did it because she had an innately great work ethic.

“Thank you, sir,” she said, her hands on the door handle. “I’m glad that you’re here. Your father’s a great boss and so are you.”

My dad had started coming into the office since last Wednesday.

He’d really wanted to get back in his old stomping grounds. I’d talked to Nalee about it and she’d mentioned that it gave him self-worth and upped his self-esteem to jump back into the company.

He didn’t make a commitment to return full-time and I don’t think he would ever go back in that capacity again.

His priority was Mom. Second was his health.

Since Mom had a full-time nurse and he was only going to work 20-25 hours a week or even less, and he wasn’t going to handle anything that required him to spend more hours than what he’d planned on, he and I had agreed that maybe it was time to look for another person to be in my position.

I wasn’t miserable, but I knew that this wasn’t my cup of tea. I was only doing it as a favor to my father and his legacy.

There were men and women out there who were more than capable of doing the same things I did and were truly passionate about it.

I had someone in mind and my father had looked into his resume. If I could just convince that person to take the position.

“If that’s all, sir, I’m off to my vacation and I hope you have a fantastic time and please give Nalee a birthday hug for me.” I’d invited her to Nalee’s party, but she already had vacation plans with her husband. They were leaving for a seven day Alaskan cruise tomorrow.

“I will. Thanks again, Claire. Have fun on your vacation.”

She closed the door and I leaned back on my swivel chair, staring at the black and white photo of Mom, Dad, Nalee, and me taken during last weekend’s dinner.

Mom and Dad couldn’t make it to Nalee’s birthday party tonight so Mom had us come up for dinner on Sunday.

My work here was almost done. I’d be going back to design, lacrosse, and to start building the future that I’d envisioned for Nalee and I.

I turned my head to the side, soaking in the glorious view of the evening sky that blanketed downtown San Francisco.

Reminiscing the first time I’d been here in my father’s office, back then I didn’t quite grasp on just how much of a difference his/our company made in other people’s lives.

We were an accounting firm.

We dealt with financial statements, audits, risks, assets, investments; all concrete and defined operations.

That was just scratching the surface of what my father’s company did.

Because underneath it all and on top of everything, we served people. And the people served us. I never quite learned the meaning of laying everything on the line until I was forced to do so. Because every single time my signature was inked on paper, my decision affected every person in the company.

I was a different man because of the circumstances that I’d faced in my life.

I used to take things for granted.

But now…

I couldn’t afford to and I chose not to.

I eyed my computer, the 4D ultrasound of our daughter, flashing once in a while on my screen. I’d saved her image as my screensaver.

I faced my desk and scanned the photo again.
Mom, Dad, Nales.

They’re the compass that steered me to continue to be a better man.

Achieve greater things.

My life now had meaning.

More meaning that I could even comprehend, because of them.

Always
them.

“This is a great party!” John yelled. He must have acquired a deaf ear because he was loud. He was always loud, but this time he was extra loud.

Tanya shook her head. “He’s had four shots.” Her tone was one of disbelief. Since becoming a pro football player, my best friend’s tolerance for alcohol had diminished rather drastically. I shouldn’t judge because I really didn’t know what he’d drunk, but still, four shots? He was a runner-up in beer pong. I couldn’t remember if he was third or fourth or whatever shit our frat had managed to award him with during our last year of college’s beer pong tournament, but he clearly was on the outs.

“She’s happy, very happy.” Tanya’s green eyes lifted and a small smile formed on my face. Her gaze was on Nalee who was chatting with Brynn, who was Kieran-free at the moment, but her brother was here, so the guys who were trying to hit on her were clearly shut out.

If there was anything that cockblocked a guy, it was the news that the blonde beauty’s husband was a national hero and her brother was none other than Milo Tanner, who was a badass dude.

I’d given Ava, Milo’s much better half, a hug and I swore that Milo was counting how long the hug lasted to which Ava had rolled her gray eyes and gave a quiet sneer to her fiancé.

“There’s no need to punch me, dude.” I laughed, clearly not amusing Milo, because his dark stare burned holes through my Tom Ford dress shirt. “She’s all yours.”

I made an exaggerated gesture of placing Ava’s hand in Milo’s after our mini-hug. “There. All’s good.”

How Ava could stand that brute wasn’t something I’d lose sleep over.

But seriously, the guy needed to chill.

I’d heard from Nalee that Milo had become a fighter in Vegas when he was banned from swimming. His sister Brynn had confirmed it, and though I’d never bring it up, I would count my aces that it was true.

When I’d invited Brynn, she’d asked if she could also invite her brother Milo and her future sister-in-law Ava, who just happened to be her BFF, to the party. Kieran didn’t want Brynn to fly alone, especially now that a bun was baking in her oven.

Brynn was a master baker so the pun was
completely
intended.

Ha.

Kieran had suffered a minor knee injury from his last swim meet so he was under strict orders to rest.

“You break her heart and I will punch you in the scrotum, extract your testicles, and feed it to the piranhas in Paraguay.”

“Christ woman,” I hissed, Big X was already shriveling and cloaking himself in armor with Tanya’s graphic torture, as John continued to be oblivious by her side, lost in his own wonderful world of intoxication. “I love her.”

She patted my back. “I’m just sayin’ –”

“No, don’t continue,” I begged, who knew what her twisted, witchy mind could come up with, I shuddered at the thought. “If you don’t know it by now, then I’m not gonna go on and on about it. Nalee’s the one for me. I’m marrying her.”