“Those are really important tasks,” Matt said with a seriousness that made Jeremy beam.
Will had known that his friends would see the same things in Jeremy that he did—including his enthusiasm and perpetually upbeat attitude.
“With all those bagels, no wonder Will here is getting fat.” Sebastian pushed up his sunglasses and looked at Will’s waistline.
“Up yours.” Will thwapped his towel at him.
Sebastian fended it off and gave him the finger behind his hand so Jeremy wouldn’t notice.
“Will’s not fat,” Jeremy said. “Every day when I get to work, he’s just coming out of the gym. We’ve got machines in the office that anyone can use. It’s so cool. I lifted weights there yesterday after lunch.”
Will liked Jeremy’s use of the word we. It meant Jeremy felt like he’d become a part of the place. Which was exactly what Will had hoped for.
Daniel, who had clearly been playing with the power tools his company was famous for, given the new bandage on his hand, cut in. “That’s one badass car you’re building, too.”
“It’s the coolest car ever made.” Jeremy’s mouth was round with pleasure.
All the Mavericks made approving male noises.
Will and Jeremy had conducted a tour earlier. He’d let Jeremy lead the guys through, pointing out critical components. Will had helped a bit and his friends had done the rest by asking the right questions, which fed Jeremy the answers when he couldn’t find the words he wanted.
“So this is the intake manifold?” Daniel would ask, and Jeremy would nod heartily.
Harper had stayed by the pool during the tour, watching out for Noah, Matt’s kid, who had the same dark hair, blue eyes, and the potential for a frame as tall and broad as his father’s. The boy’s mother was out of the picture, and at five, the little guy had already gone through six nannies. Will would have razzed Matt about the reasons for his quick nanny turnover rate had he not seen how hard it made things on his friend.
Noah was now playing in the paddling pool Will had installed especially for him. A big plastic ball sailed across the pool deck, and Will stopped it with his foot. “Hey, Noah, I think you might have the makings of a quarterback.”
He kicked the ball up and caught it. A few steps from Noah’s pool, he gave it a gentle toss and watched the ball plop in the water when Noah missed it. Wading into the pool, Will scooped up the ball again. “Hold up your hands like this.” Noah threw out his arms in imitation. “Now get ready. I’m gonna throw it. Wait for it, wait for it—” He leaned forward, getting close, and executed a soft underhand shot right into Noah’s hands.
The guys clapped and hooted, especially Matt, who loved his kid to pieces. Harper and Paige clapped, too. Whitney, however, never even glanced up from her phone.
“That was great,” Will said. “Now throw it back to me.”
The ball flew wild again, though Will wasn’t sure exactly how that was possible since he was only two steps away. When the ball rolled over to Harper’s feet, she picked it up and tossed it back to them.
Will caught it, but even as he passed it back to Noah, he was drinking Harper in again. She was special. She was perfect. And she was too good for him.
But Will was hoping that he could forget about that last part if he tried hard enough.
*
Will was so good with Noah. Just the way he was with Jeremy. Always praising, complimenting, building up rather than tearing down.
He would make an awesome father someday.
Not that she had any business thinking about him that way, of course. But Harper still felt a lump of emotion well up in her throat. Emotion that grew with every kind thing the Mavericks said to Jeremy at the barbecue and the realization that Will’s closest friends had gone out of their way to make her and Jeremy feel like part of their family.
They were an amazing group. Will, of course, was totally sexy in a pair of black swim trunks. His black T-shirt emphasized his muscles, the width of his shoulders, and his broad chest. She had to repeatedly remind herself not to drool. Honestly, she was glad he was the only one wearing a shirt by the pool, because if he’d taken his off like the rest of the men, she wasn’t sure she’d have been able to control herself around him. That’s what he did to her—made her lose control again and again and again.
Noah’s dad, Matt Tremont, was a leading manufacturer of robotics equipment. He was huge with rippling muscles. And he gazed at his son with such adoration. She couldn’t help but wonder where Noah’s mother was.