Page 10 of Making the Cut

My spirits lift without permission and I try to maintain a nonchalant—or at least, not overbearingly hopeful expression on my face. “Really?”

“Yeah man, I mean, there might be some travel into the mountains but I could put in a good word for you.”

“I don’t have recent construction experience.”

Warren shrugs. “Most don’t have any when they start. It’s fairly easy to catch on and you know how to work hard.”

“I’d appreciate it, man. Sooner the better.”

“I’ll call him tonight and give him your info.”

I slap Warren’s palm and he heads out. I feel the stress of the day melt away when I turn and see Viviana giving me an almost shy smile. It could be the prospect of a new job, or it could be the prospect of having one-on-one time with the love of my life.

Probably the latter.

“Okay, so, um—” Viviana seems to stumble over her words and I give her a patient smile.

“Hey, you know what? I’m starving. Think we could do this over some pizza or something?” I may not have much money and would have told the guys I was staying in had they asked to hang out tonight at the bar we frequent, but for Viviana, I would use every last penny to make her smile.

She gives me a relieved grin. “Marquis Pizza?”

I frown in mock confusion. “Is there anywhere else?”

She laughs and I open the door for her as we make our way out.

As we head to the “three dollars and fifty cents a slice” pizza place, I can’t think of a better way to spend my night.

Viviana devours her slice of pizza, following it with a large sip of the Sprite in her cup and I smother the smile at her enthusiasm for cheap food. We’d all found this place one drunken night when we were headed home and declared it the best in Denver.

It could have just been the easy access or the price, but we always managed to find our way back here fairly often.

“Sorry.” Viv blushes and wipes her mouth with a napkin.

She’s so fucking beautiful it hurts.

“All good.” I gesture to my empty plate. “I was done way before you.”

“Alright, let’s get down to business.”

I can feel my smile slightly falter at that, the reason we’re actually able to sit and eat a meal alone without worrying why none of our other friends were with us.

We hadn’t actually been alone together since… well, since we were kids. I had a brief moment of peace when we’d attended a charity event to support Jane and Warren, and I’d gotten up the nerve to ask her to dance.

Holding her in my arms for those brief minutes had been the highlight of my year and I yearned for more nights like those.

“Right, so, what are you expecting of me?” I ask, keeping my tone as casual as possible.

“Well, I’m not sure of everything just yet, I’m in the midst of the hiring process but they mentioned some sort of retreat that they like their potential employees to participate in. Something about team building and really making a solid foundation?” She waves her hand, rolling her eyes. “It seems silly to me, but I really want this job.”

“Okay, how long is this retreat?” I mentally calculate how I’m going to make something work overnight.

“I don’t know. Probably not more than a couple of nights.”

I swallow hard. A couple of nights alone with Viviana, where I was supposed to be her fake fiancé… how hard could that be?

“Alright, just let me know so I can take time off.”

“Right, and we need to talk money,” she starts, biting her lip. I knew going into this she was planning on paying me, but how could I ever take money from her, with my feelings being what they were?

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