In Your Hands (Joy Universe #3) by Louisa Masters
Release Date: May 14, 2020
Cover Design: Reese Dante Designs
Genre: M/M Standalone
When Grant Davis stepped into the job of assistant director at Joy Universe, he knew he was taking on a challenge. The AD before him left a mess nobody thought could be cleaned up—but Grant loves nothing more than beating the odds. Over a year later, he’s convinced there’s something hinky going on. The solution: an independent audit. What he doesn’t expect is that the head of the audit team will be his old college crush.
Luke Durrant’s come a long way since he last saw Grant, the man he had a steamy night with back in college. He’s been married, divorced, has a successful career, and is now a parent. But one look at Grant brings all the old feelings crashing back.
With Grant’s job in Luke’s hands, two insecure kids, and a host of nosy coworkers, it seems like professionalism is the only option… but who wants that? Grant and Luke are willing to take the shot for a second chance at happily ever after.
And then Luke’s ex turns up….
Luke Durrant’s come a long way since he last saw Grant, the man he had a steamy night with back in college. He’s been married, divorced, has a successful career, and is now a parent. But one look at Grant brings all the old feelings crashing back.
With Grant’s job in Luke’s hands, two insecure kids, and a host of nosy coworkers, it seems like professionalism is the only option… but who wants that? Grant and Luke are willing to take the shot for a second chance at happily ever after.
And then Luke’s ex turns up….
The second-floor conference room is largely unused, with most people preferring to use the bigger boardroom upstairs or the cozier meeting rooms. So it was the obvious place for Ken to put the audit team. It’s also relatively private, with the door coming off the corridor not far from the elevator, rather than off the open-plan office space, where people can watch the door from their desks. Sure, there are more people loitering in the corridor than usual this morning, but they can really only hang around with nothing to do for so long before they have to get back to work.
I give everyone assembled a sharp look, especially Toby, the head of events, who knows better. He shrugs and grins unapologetically before wandering off with the rest.
A quick, bracing breath, then I knock on the door. It’s actually not closed properly and moves a little.
“Come in!” a woman calls, and I push the door the rest of the way open and step inside to close it behind me. The room is a hive of activity—there’s about a dozen people setting up computers, unpacking boxes, and generally just buzzing around.
“Hey,” that same female voice says, and I turn my head to see an elegant brunette with a friendly smile. “Are you Grant Davis? If not, you’re in the wrong place.” She keeps smiling as she says it, but I suddenly have no doubt that if I was just snooping for gossip, she’d throw me out on my ear.
“I’m Grant,” I assure her, holding out a hand.
She shakes it. “Diana Wessert. Luke will be back in a second—he just went to check out the closet we’ll be using for interviews.” She rolls her eyes, and I snort.
“I wish I could say something clever and witty here, but it really is a closet. We were using it as a storeroom.”
We’re laughing when the door opens behind me. I half turn, glancing over my shoulder at the newcomer, then stop and turn the rest of the way.
This is not good.
At all.
Fuck.
How could I have let this get past me?
Why didn’t I check to see who the head of the audit team would be?
Fuck.
His gaze meets mine, then he does a double take. “Grant?”
Luke Durrant.
I force a smile.
“Luke. Hey. Wow, I did not expect to see you here.”
“Ditto. I don’t know why, but I never thought the Grant Davis I was meeting this morning was you. It’s been a long time.”
Diana looks between us. “You two know each other?” She sounds delighted by this, and I shoot her a curious look.
“We went to the same college, had some classes together,” Luke says, and it’s true, but also feels like a knife to the gut.
“So long ago,” I manage, then screw up all my courage and add, “I heard you and Matt got married a while back. Congratulations.”
His face closes. “We’re divorced.”
Part of me says, oh fuck, because hello, faux pas, but there’s another part, the part that was nuts for this guy seventeen years ago, that stands up and cheers.
“Sorry,” I mumble. “Well, this is awkward.”
Surprisingly, he laughs. “Don’t worry about it. Come on, let’s get this meeting started, and we can catch up later. Di, I’m going to take Grant back to the small, dark hole that’s been allocated as our interview room. You’ve got things here, right?”
She says something in the affirmative, but I’m not listening. My brain is stuck on the idea that I’m going to be in a small, dark hole with Luke Durrant.
It’s been a long time since I’ve had to concentrate on not getting hard in public.
I give everyone assembled a sharp look, especially Toby, the head of events, who knows better. He shrugs and grins unapologetically before wandering off with the rest.
A quick, bracing breath, then I knock on the door. It’s actually not closed properly and moves a little.
“Come in!” a woman calls, and I push the door the rest of the way open and step inside to close it behind me. The room is a hive of activity—there’s about a dozen people setting up computers, unpacking boxes, and generally just buzzing around.
“Hey,” that same female voice says, and I turn my head to see an elegant brunette with a friendly smile. “Are you Grant Davis? If not, you’re in the wrong place.” She keeps smiling as she says it, but I suddenly have no doubt that if I was just snooping for gossip, she’d throw me out on my ear.
“I’m Grant,” I assure her, holding out a hand.
She shakes it. “Diana Wessert. Luke will be back in a second—he just went to check out the closet we’ll be using for interviews.” She rolls her eyes, and I snort.
“I wish I could say something clever and witty here, but it really is a closet. We were using it as a storeroom.”
We’re laughing when the door opens behind me. I half turn, glancing over my shoulder at the newcomer, then stop and turn the rest of the way.
This is not good.
At all.
Fuck.
How could I have let this get past me?
Why didn’t I check to see who the head of the audit team would be?
Fuck.
His gaze meets mine, then he does a double take. “Grant?”
Luke Durrant.
I force a smile.
“Luke. Hey. Wow, I did not expect to see you here.”
“Ditto. I don’t know why, but I never thought the Grant Davis I was meeting this morning was you. It’s been a long time.”
Diana looks between us. “You two know each other?” She sounds delighted by this, and I shoot her a curious look.
“We went to the same college, had some classes together,” Luke says, and it’s true, but also feels like a knife to the gut.
“So long ago,” I manage, then screw up all my courage and add, “I heard you and Matt got married a while back. Congratulations.”
His face closes. “We’re divorced.”
Part of me says, oh fuck, because hello, faux pas, but there’s another part, the part that was nuts for this guy seventeen years ago, that stands up and cheers.
“Sorry,” I mumble. “Well, this is awkward.”
Surprisingly, he laughs. “Don’t worry about it. Come on, let’s get this meeting started, and we can catch up later. Di, I’m going to take Grant back to the small, dark hole that’s been allocated as our interview room. You’ve got things here, right?”
She says something in the affirmative, but I’m not listening. My brain is stuck on the idea that I’m going to be in a small, dark hole with Luke Durrant.
It’s been a long time since I’ve had to concentrate on not getting hard in public.
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