Page 17 of Guarding My Love

“I’m not a total dick,” he said. “Only when I’ve reached my limit. I thought I was good last weekend.”

“You were,” Laken said. “Even Mom said it. She shouldn’t have pushed you to spend more time with everyone. I could see you were all but shaking in the tux to begin with. Then all those people talking to you. You’d think the world was ending.”

He started to laugh. Laken was good at getting them all to laugh.

“It felt like it if I had to go back on Saturday again.”

“I know,” Laken said seriously. “But it was nice to see everyone. We’ll do it again when Braylon gets married. Then me. Phoenix’s girlfriend seems nice too. Maybe we are all starting to hit the part of our lives where we settle down.”

“I don’t know about that,” he said. “Did you have anything work-related? It’s not like you to spend time chatting. Normally you’re the one short on the calls because you are rushing to get from point A to B before you jump on the next plane.”

“Which I’ll be doing soon,” she said. “I’m going to Atlanta to meet with Phoenix on some things. Nelson is going too. Once all the paperwork is finalized, you’re going to need to get everything set up on your end.”

West was investing in their cousin Phoenix’s business in Atlanta. Foster normally didn’t learn about acquisitions until it was close to being finalized. But since this was family, he knew earlier than normal.

“I know how it works,” he said.

“West is going to want you to fly there with us,” Laken said. “We’ll take the jet.”

He grinned. They all knew how much he hated to fly commercial. He normally paid for first class to just get the space. He was a simple man and didn’t spend nearly the money he had in the bank, but some things you couldn’t put a price tag on.

Like his house away from people. Or the boat that he took out to get even further away.

“Just let me know when and I’ll be ready,” he said.

“Maybe in a few weeks,” Laken said.

“You could have sent this all in an email,” he said.

“Maybe I wanted to talk to my brother,” Laken said.

Which wasn’t like her. “What is going on?”

“It was a nice thing you did for Talia on Sunday.”

“I didn’t know I was such a hard person,” he said.

“You’re not, Foster. I know we all give you crap about liking your time alone. Maybe some of us just aren’t used to it like you. I’d go nuts. But Talia told me what you said to her. I think we give her a hard time and everything she decides we think is wrong because it’s not what we’d do.”

“That’s on all of you guys,” he said. “Not me. I think she is spoiled and entitled as much as you and everyone else does. But she’s trying and should be encouraged to continue.”

“Which I did once she told me what you’d said. I talked to West about it too. I think we’ll lighten up on her some.”

Seemed like he’d been doing a lot of good deeds lately without even trying.

“If that is all you’ve got to say, I’m using up my niceness with you. The meter is draining and I’ve got to recharge it before staff come in.”

Laken laughed. “You’ve got a sense of humor too. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.”

He hung up with his sister and went back to work. Hours later he looked up when there was a knock at his door.

“Hey, Todd. What’s going on?”

“Server room three felt warmer to me for some reason. The thermostat is only a degree higher, but it still feels off. I just wanted your opinion.”

“I’ll come check it out,” he said, getting up from his desk and walking down two flights of stairs to the basement. It was cooler down there to begin with and they kept the temperatures all set to prevent overheating.

The two of them walked around and he found a spot that felt warmer than the rest, put his hand on the metal and knew it was coming from that.

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