I liked being on job sites, not stuck inside, but I’d never complain. I would do whatever I could to make things easier for Jack.

“So, is it noon yet? I think Paige said she’d be here by now.”

Jack snickered at me. “That interested in the new sign?”

“Of course I am. You want me involved in everything, remember?” Jack’s shoulders shook with laughter. He was a smug jerk when he wanted to be.

“Okay, I’ll play. I’ll pretend you haven’t had a crush on my cousin since we were in high school. Ellie won’t shut up about the “spark,” she saw at the house on Saturday between you two.” Jack held up his fingers in air quotes.

Jack walked over to me and put his hand on my shoulder. “I don’t know why you always felt like you couldn’t tell me. I think you’d be good for Paige. It would be nice to see her with someone who wasn’t a total asshole.”

Paige was the girl I always wanted, but never had a chance with. I met her when we were teenagers, and was friend-zoned from day one. It was probably for the best, since no good would ever come from dating Paige if things went sour.

Jack and Paige were more like brother and sister than cousins. I wasn’t the only one of Jack’s friends to notice Paige—it was fucking impossible not to. With sexy emerald eyes, long golden hair, and killer curves that went on for days, I could never stop staring at her—or control the shit that came out of my mouth. I let things slip when she complained to me about whatever idiot she happened to be with at the time. I’d tell her how beautiful I thought she was, how the guy she was with didn’t deserve her. She smiled sweetly and said ‘thank you,’ but never saw me as anything but her cousin’s friend—no matter how I wished she saw me as something more.

Paige was beautiful, smart, and always so fucking nice—too nice.

Jack was one hundred percent right about her douchebag parade of boyfriends. I knew a few of them in school, and my blood boiled at some of the things I overheard them say.

With Paige Taylor, it seemed nice guys really did finish last, so I never admitted out loud to anyone—even Jack—how I felt about her.

Although, judging by my friend’s shit-eating grin, it was common knowledge whether I admitted anything.

“It . . . never seemed like the right time. Any time I’d work up the nerve to tell her, she was already with someone else. I hated the way she let guys treat her; she deserves so much better. I would . . . anyway its fine. I’ll behave myself and won’t make her feel uncomfortable.” I shrugged and looked away. It was really anything but fine. I’d still kill for just one chance with Paige.

Jack nodded. “I’m with you on that one. It’s been exhausting to watch her go out with the wrong guy over and over—exhausting for pretty much the whole family. She doesn’t know how many asses I secretly kicked over the years on her behalf. I won’t tell you what to do, but I really believe if you talked to her now, you may get a different answer than you expect.”

I held my hands up and shook my head. “Jack, she’s like your fucking sister. We’re not just friends, we’re partners now and I know better than to complicate—”

“Evan,” Jack’s face turned grim and his tone was stern. “Knowing Paige was with you would be the biggest relief and fucking weight off my shoulders. There’s going to come a time when I won’t be able to watch out for her, like I’ve done our entire fucking lives.”

Jack put his face in his hands and rubbed his eyes. I felt awful for him. He tried his hardest to hide it, but it killed him to know what—and who—he may have to leave behind.

“My cousin is a headstrong woman, but so damn vulnerable it drives me up the wall. She’s always worried the shit out of me. Not to sound like my sappy wife, but I think you guys would be good together. I’m all for it, so don’t use me as an excuse to stay a chicken.” He smirked at me, but even though he tried to lighten the mood, I knew what he was saying. I was probably the only one who knew the whole truth about Jack’s prognosis. It was something no one liked to bring up, not even Jack himself. Since I became his partner, I’d been hearing the “make sure you remember to . . .” requests that weren’t meant solely for the short term.

Jack had just asked me to take care of Paige, too. This was all becoming way too much, too fucking fast.

The doorbell rang exactly at noon, and instead of looking forward to seeing if it was Paige, I was nervous as hell. The pressure of maybe approaching her today doubled. I tapped the pen on my desk faster as I worked up the nerve to rise from my seat.

“Stay there, Woody Woodpecker. I’ll answer it.” Jack chuckled as he sauntered over to the door. Was it bad to call someone with a possible terminal illness an asshole?

Jack walked back into the office with Paige trailing him. She was so fucking gorgeous—all the damn time—and her presence made me as lovesick stupid as when I was a kid. The tight blue dress she wore highlighted every mouth-watering curve. I hoped she didn’t notice me adjusting my jeans behind the desk as I blinked away the thought of those tan knee high boots wrapped around my waist. How much advertising would it take to have her in here looking like that on a daily basis?

“Hi Evan, good to see you.” She smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes, and seemed more polite than friendly. What could have happened between the diner and now to make her so cold?

“You too, Daisy.” I winked at her to see if I could melt away some of the ice coming from her direction. She smirked for a moment, but was all business as she pulled her laptop out of her bag and set it on Jack’s desk.

“I brought some mock ups for you to look at today. I’ll show you guys on screen for right now. If you like the options, I can come by with some printouts to narrow down the colors.” I stepped behind Jack and Paige to take a look. I didn’t have too much input as this was only my second week with a stake in the company. I didn’t know much about design, but at a quick glance it was obvious that Paige did pretty nice work

“I like number two and number three. What do you think, Ev?” Jack turned his head to face me. Paige huffed and shook her head. Jack cocked an eyebrow in her direction as though he didn’t know what Paige’s problem was, either.

“That’s fine. They’re all pretty nice, Paige.” I glanced over to her and she nodded in response, folding her arms without looking back at me. Today didn’t look like the day I could talk to Paige about anything.

“Mind telling me who pissed in your Cheerios, little cousin?” Jack glared at Paige and she narrowed her eyes at him in response.

“Maybe it would be nice to hear what’s going on from you, not other people. Why did I have to hear from Evan that you made him a partner? When did you stop telling me everything?” Her face was beet red and she held on to the edge of the desk so tightly her knuckles were turning white.

This wasn’t the first time they fought in front of me like I wasn’t there. Throughout high school it was an almost daily occurrence. Paige kept her arms folded and bit her lip, probably to hide the trembling in her jaw I couldn’t help but notice. Jack mentioned to me before I moved back that Paige wasn’t taking his illness very well. If she was upset about Jack making me a partner, it was most likely because she knew what it meant.

Jack let out a long sigh and rubbed her shoulder. “When you stopped wanting to hear it. Evan is the only one I’d trust to be here. I have a kid on the way, and all those weeks when I couldn’t move or get my head out of the toilet I lost a shit ton of money. I feel better, but I’m not dumb enough to think I can do this alone anymore. It’s all a good thing, really. Evan just got us a huge job so we’re already getting back on track.”

“I’m glad.” Paige’s voice was shaky and she brushed away a tear with the back of her hand. Jack snuck a look over at me and grimaced. He was on the money about her being headstrong but vulnerable.