“Another interview? Should I be expecting a call soon?” Valerie asked, poking her head around the corner of her office.

I nearly jumped out of my seat at the sudden voice. I’d been zoomed in as far as I could go, laying out details in a mind-numbingly boring bit of drywall. “Lord almighty!”

“Sorry,” my boss added with a laugh. “I just got your email.”

I’d asked her for the afternoon off. She was pretty laid back about it, as long as I pulled my weight in the hours I did work. In return, I’d thrown everything into drafting, since I was pretty useless at any long-range project planning or management while I was waiting to leave. But I could do the grunt work that was usually left to interns, and I could do it damn well.

“It’s my third with these guys,” I said, nodding. “So yeah, they might need references, if that’s okay?”

“Fine by me.” I knew she’d already lined up my replacement and was just waiting for me to have a departure date—the sooner, the better. Nothing personal, just business.

To be honest, I was looking forward to the change in pace. These last couple weeks of grunt work had popped a much-needed hole in my ego. Instead of dreaming about skyscrapers, I was back to the nitty-gritty details that nobody liked to deal with, but I found a weird kind of joy in the monotonous work. Every bit of it had to be done perfectly. It wasn’t just the ribbon-cutting and last minute conference calls with construction managers that mattered.

“I just wanted to let you know we really appreciate you pitching in to help with this bid,” Valerie added, pointing at my screen.

I shrugged. “Of course. It’s only fair that I help where I can, if I’m not…” I trailed off. I didn’t want to sound bitter that I wasn’t needed in the firm’s future of wooing developers in places I didn’t feel comfortable going now that I had a new boyfriend on my arm.

“Right.” Valerie nodded briskly. “Take the afternoon off, no problem. We’re ahead of schedule on this project now.”

That would earn me a good reference from her when they called, but more importantly, the job would get done well. That was what mattered most, at the end of the day.

“Thanks.” I shut down my computer and headed for the door once I’d saved my work in progress, my heart light.

It wasn’t until I got to the parking lot that nerves struck. The drive was short—the new firm was located just a twenty-minute walk from here, but it was raining today and I didn’t want my interview suit to get soaked.

Third interview had to be a good sign, right?

I could only cross my fingers and hope for the best. Sooner or later, even Valerie would get tired of waiting for me to move on.

“Did you get it?” Kev nearly dove into my car, and I had to fight back the squeak of alarm. He hadn’t even warned me by tapping on the window first.

“Jesus, everyone’s out to get me today!”

Kev laughed. “Sorry. Did you?” He looked just as eager and nervous as I’d felt walking into the huge corporate building. He was dressed a bit differently now, too—more casual, and the look suited him. Sure, he looked pretty in catalog clothing, but not him. This was much better.

I tried to hold back my smile and surprise him, but something must have given me away.

Kev squealed and dove across the console for a hug just as a cab behind me started to beep. “That’s amazing!” he congratulated me, kissing me. More honking and he flipped off the guy in the rearview mirror before buckling up.

“You’re becoming local!” I laughed. “Used to be you’d roll down the window and apologize.”

“You say that like we’ve been dating for ten years,” Kev scoffed.

I smiled fondly. “Feels like it sometimes.”

“Hey. Is that a good thing?” Kev eyed me as I pulled away from the curb.

I winked. “Why don’t we find out later with celebration sex?”

“Yes, please. When do you start?”

“Sometime after I peel your underwear off, which is not long after I get you through the front door. Maybe up against the closet—”

“The job!” Kev was laughing, and he conspicuously adjusted himself. “Don’t turn me on before the meeting. That’s not fair.”

“Oh.” I grinned. “Two weeks. It’s totally fair, by the way. You knew what you were doing this morning.”

Kev, the little minx, had made sure to wrap himself up just right in sheets that barely covered his morning wood when I came in for a goodbye kiss before work.

“Mmm.” Kev pretended not to know what I meant.

I kept flirting and teasing to distract him, all the way until we arrived at the hotline’s cramped, industrial building.

Kev’s nerves kicked in then. “Are you—this is the place? Are you coming with me to the lobby, at least? Where is it?”

“I’ll come with you if you want,” I promised, shutting off the car and squeezing his hand. Once he was calm enough, I brought him to the building and kept my hand in his as I buzzed to get in.

It was strange being greeted and welcomed in with my boyfriend by my side, and not here for my own sake.

“How’s things going?” Neil asked with a warm smile. “With the job move?”

“Just accepted a new position today.”

He clapped my shoulder. “Great news! And Angus has been wonderful, by the way. Not the same as you, but he’s doing his best,” he winked. “You must be Kev?”

“I am.” Kev shook hands, too. “Thanks for seeing me.”

“No problem at all.”

I wasn’t sure how nervous Kev felt, so I offered, “I’ll wait out here, unless—”

Kev smiled at me and nodded. “Okay. See you in a bit.”

His confidence had always seemed high, but it felt more genuine now. Over the last few weeks, he’d seemed to settle into his skin better. Knowing that he had a future ahead of him had stopped him from feeling quite so insecure, and he didn’t rush to conclusions as much.

In return, I’d been working on showing him how I really felt—which was hard when it came to everything except how I felt about him.

Darren had been more than eager to move in with Adam and ditch the living situation with the ex, but he needed some time to get his things together and start moving them over, so Kev had started moving out, too.

The most important things were already at my place: that growing collection. Just two cups and saucers for now, but that was all the two of us needed.

Time passed in a flash as I daydreamed about our last few weeks together, and the upcoming moving days. By the time Kev bounced out of the office again, I’d planned the next few days off and how we’d get the rest of his stuff to my place.

“Thank you so much for your time,” Kev told Neil, shaking hands enthusiastically.

I’d never seen him all smiles like this, and I gave Neil a huge, grateful smile of my own as we made small talk on the way out.

We’d barely gotten to the car before Kev turned to me. “He thinks I’d be a good fit, personality-wise. I talked a bit about my past, and he didn’t—you know, get all judgmental. He said I’d be perfect to understand where people are coming from. He gave me advice on the kinds of courses I should take, and in the meantime, I can volunteer…”

I listened to his rambling with a smile, nodding at appropriate moments, but I barely had a chance to get a word in edgewise. Volunteering sounded great, though. I’d made sure my new job had consistent enough hours that I could commit to a shift at the hotline and get to know a little bit of other people’s realities. Kev’s especially, but there were lots of others who needed a community or a friendly listening ear. Even if I wasn’t that ear directly, I could support their work. In the background, just how I liked it.

“So, I take it you’d like to head to the college now?”

Kev gasped. “Could I?” He looked at me, and then the clock. “Do you have to get back to work?”

“Nah. They’ve given me the afternoon off for good behavior.”

“In that case, I’d like to visit the college, and then go home and behave very badly to reward you for all that hard work you must have done,” Kev winked.

It was my turn to shift, adjusting myself under the steering wheel. “Count me in.”

Whatever happened with Kev’s career, I hoped he’d keep talking to me about it. He’d started opening up more about his past in the last few weeks, and while I expected it would be years before I heard it all—if ever—this was progress.

I, too, had been opening up. Whenever I talked about Hugh, he seemed to listen without envy or trying to shut me down. He even asked smart questions sometimes, about what Hugh had been like.

God, some small part of me wished they could have met, though they couldn’t be more different in some ways. But then, I reminded myself again, I never would have gotten to be with Kev.

There was no good or bad about it—it was just life, and it was crazy and unpredictable and utterly intoxicating.

I was done with missing out on living by being some boring office drone. And just like Kev refused to subject himself to abuse in order to work, neither would I. It might make my job a little trickier, but my new bosses had completely understood—sympathized, even—when I talked about why I was leaving my old firm.

The future looked rosier than it ever had, and Kev? Well, he held the keys to it all.

If I could be his rudder and help steer him on the course that made him happiest—one which would no doubt change the world in one way or another, or many at once—then that was my pleasure.

So long as I got to be by his side, anything was possible.