He glanced over at Zoe, and patted Elena’s back. “Almost done,” he whispered, and continued talking.
Zoe curled into the sofa, out of view of the camera, and listened while he wrapped it up.
“Hey,” Ryder said as soon as he closed out of his meeting, and turned in his chair to face her. “I thought you’d keep sleeping. I just gave her a bottle to knock her out for my meeting.”
Zoe glanced down at her swollen boobs and cringed. “I’ll pump.” In a moment. For now, she curled her legs up on the seat and relaxed. “You could have brought her to me.”
“It was just Jess and some of the marketing team. I can work with one hand, especially for meetings.”
“Still, you’re the new guy.”
“Hardly the new guy, as I’ve been working with them for a year.” Ryder braced the baby as he stood and crossed to sit next to Zoe. “Bellamy Athletics touts themselves as a family-friendly company, and they all gushed and congratulated me.”
“Well, I know they were thrilled to land you as their new head of marketing, so they know they need to be supportive,” Zoe said, and slid the baby from his arms. She stirred and snuggled in, but sadly, wasn’t hungry yet.
“Fuck though, it’s different, focusing all my effort on one company.”
“What do you think? Is it going to be… enough, for you?” Working from home aside from one or two in person days a month plus travel as needed. Four days a week instead of five. “This is a huge change for you.”
He leaned back and rested his arms behind his head as he settled in his big corner office sofa. “If I’d had any idea how much greener the grass was, at work and home, I would have done this ages ago.” He reached over and rubbed his fingertips over Elena’s head, then slipped down and set his hand on Zoe’s thigh. “What about you? How was your first night back?”
“Really good. As much as I like spending all my time at home with you guys…” She shrugged and winced a smile. “It was nice to get away and do my own thing, too.”
“Balance,” Ryder said knowingly, and tipped his head back and laughed out loud. The king of imbalance touting the importance of it.
Zoe adjusted Elena on her shoulder, and rose to her feet. “I’m going to pump, snuggle, and get some breakfast.”
“And sneak some coffee?”
“Only a little,” she promised, grinning at him as she did. “If there’s any left.” She held her free hand out for him, and tugged him up to meet her. “When you said you survived on less sleep, you neglected to mention how much coffee you have to consume to compensate.”
“Oh, hey,” he said, keeping hold of her hand, in no rush to get back to work. “Haley offered to come help us get this place finished.” He huffed a laugh and looked outside of his office, the only officially finished room in the house. “I mean, the stark Patricia look is nice, but…”
Zoe snorted and growled and instantly despised the comparison. “I would love to have her come help, but I want it to be mostly you and me. According to Pops, marriage should not be considered until a couple has painted a room together and picked out a sofa.”
“Oh? I didn’t know we needed to prove our compatibility first.”
“Oh, not that. It’s the fight it will cause. I want a big sectional leather sofa that you can sink into, that faces both the forest, and a big-ass TV.”
Ryder shook his head and pulled her out of the office and toward the main living area off the kitchen. “I’m cool with a sectional, but leather sofas are too cold.”
“Not with throw pillows and blankets.”
“And they’re slippery.”
“So go with it and sink in.”
“How big of a TV?”
“Big enough that everyone will want to come here for every game.”
“Every game? Pro or college?”
Zoe nibbled the edge of her tongue and shrugged innocently. “Both?”
He laughed and shook his head. “How about we rotate?”
“Fine,” she grumbled, and stepped toe to toe to face him. “Big ass TV and a non-leather sofa.”
