Page 5 of Stay

“Yeah.” A giggle bubbles out of me. “But it’s not Silver Lining Events. It’s Next Level events. You know, like—”

“Bring your wedding to the next level.”

He gets me. “Yeah, exactly.”

“Nice.” His bright white teeth are mesmerizing. As are his full lips. “I’m really proud of you, Hales.”

Hales.

Tears threatened to blur my vision and my throat closes up. I didn’t expect a flood of memories to hit me like this, nor the emotions that come with it. I thought I was stronger than this.

No, you didn’t. It’s why you’re here. It’s why you stalked him on social media and found where he worked.

I moved to Banner Bay about six months ago. Planting my roots in this area is a great start to my biggest dream come true. Well, my second biggest dream come true. The first one burned to the ground five years ago.

I’d love to say it’s because the area is growing exponentially, and since I plan everything from educational events to book conventions, holiday parties to weddings, this is a brilliant career move. But that’s only half true.

I came for Cole.

While he looks over the old blueprint, I nervously spin the ring on my finger. It’s a habit I picked up when I started wearing this gaudy thing a couple years ago and I can’t seem to stop.

“It’s the old Strathom Building.” His gaze flies over the layout.

“Um yeah.” I guess. I have no idea what it used to be. I just know it was in my price range and is in a great location.

“What do you have in mind?” Cole asks without looking at me.

“I’d like to have a big office for myself and three or four smaller ones. A common work area too.” I dig out another paper from my bag. “Here. Something like this.” Embarrassment pokes my pride when I slip my colorful drawing onto his desk. “I was trying to come up with something that’s open, but still offers each employee a private space.”

I sound like a fool.

Cole runs his hands along my sketch, and I swear I feel it on my thighs. My pussy reacts accordingly.

Then he looks over at the blueprint and shakes his head. “Too many load-bearing walls here.” He taps my drawing where I want my office. “Unless we want to spin the layout the other way, but then you lose the windows.”

“That’s okay.” I lean forward to see what he means. “I don’t need windows.”

“You love the sun.” He looks up at me with this expression I can’t pinpoint. Adoration? Concern? Fuck if I know. I can’t read him anymore, and the realization stings.

Cole grabs a stack of Post-it Notes, scribbling little things and slapping them all over the blueprint. “How about we do a walkthrough so I can see the space, then we’ll go from there.”

“Sure.” I stand up. “We can take my car.”

He leans back in his seat. “I mean at another time.”

My heart drops. “Oh. Yeah. Right.” I scratch my head. “Sorry, that was presumptuous. You’re probably crazy busy today. All week. I’m glad you could at least fit me in.”

“Don’t worry, we’ll make it fit, princess.” My thighs clench at the memory of him saying that the first time we had sex. Blowing out a long, shaky exhale, I gesture at the drawing. “You can keep that.”

Cole’s brows knit. His phone rings.

I should go. He’s a busy guy and taking up more of his time than necessary would be rude.

Hooking my thumb over my shoulder, I step back. “I’m just gonna go.”

He rises from his chair and my God, he’s stunning. The black suit is tailored perfectly for his body, and he’s gotten way more muscular since I last saw him. Considering he played basketball throughout college, his physique has always been perfection. Now it’s just mouth-wateringly unfair to the rest of the human species.

“Two,” he says. His phone finally stops ringing.

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