Page 113 of Love and Cherish

“It’s Saturday,” Haylee countered and stepped into Cherish’s space. “Besides, you know what the sight of you in jeans does to me.”

Cherish chuckled low as she pulled Haylee in for a kiss. Kissing was a much better option than moving furniture around. She could get on board for this distraction and leave Haylee to the real work on Monday.

“So it’s your fault really,” Haylee said as she nibbled Cherish’s bottom lip before stepping away again.

“Well, what exactly would you like me to wear while we set up your new office? Heels and a tiara?”

Haylee’s eyes sparkled, and Cherish chuckled. “That would be fun to see. But I imagine that a wench’s outfit, half-ripped from all the hard labor, would be a much better sight.”

“That would certainly be interesting,” Febe said from the doorway, a plant in her hands as she eyed each of them over.

“Ms. Aarts!” Haylee squeaked as she spun around. If her face was red before, it was lobster red now.

Cherish wanted to step up to Haylee’s back and wrap her arms around her. Those earlobes never looked so fun to nibble. But she resisted, though she couldn’t have wiped the smile from her face if she tried. Not that she wanted to.

Febe stepped forward. “Please call me Febe. Despite Ms. Grumpy Professional over there, I don’t mind my name. Unless you’re mansplaining something to me, then you’ll call me Ms. Aarts.”

“I’m not always grumpy,” Cherish muttered as she turned back to the desk to make sure it was in the perfect position. “I’ve even been polite to the new precious assistant we hired.”

“Oh, don’t remind me.” Febe groaned and rolled her eyes.

“They can’t all be as amazing as me.” Haylee recovered and laughed as she wriggled her shoulders a little to emphasize her point.

“True.” Febe smiled, a real genuine smile that Cherish still found a shock to see. A wonderful shock but surprising nonetheless. “And on that note. I thought I’d swing by and bring this to you.”

“Oh.” Haylee took the plant as though it were a brand-new baby, fragile and delicate. She studied the leaves and turned around to face the desk as if trying to figure out where to put it. “Thank you, but—”

“It’s fake,” Febe cut off Haylee’s concern, meeting Cherish’s gaze with a pointed look.

“You told her?” Haylee whirled back at Cherish, a mock scowl on her lips.

“She saw the aftermath of last week’s purchase. I can’t help it if you manage to kill plants in less than four days when deserts couldn’t kill them over years.”

“Oh, har har.” Haylee’s narrowed eyes were undermined by the twitching of her lips into a smile. The plants hadn’t survived until Cherish took them to the office to get them away from Haylee to keep them alive.

Cherish moved over to Febe, and they both watched as Haylee walked around her new office, holding up the fake plant at different spots around the room.

“I like this.” Febe spoke softly, almost as though she didn’t want to interrupt Haylee’s tough decision of plant placement. So far, the desk had been rejected, along with the shelf near the phone, and the side table by the door. The office was small, but Cherish had no doubt that Haylee would find someplace for it.

“What exactly?” Cherish flicked her eyes to Febe, but couldn’t let them linger away from Haylee for long. But she knew that Febe wasn’t talking about the plant. Her tone said something wispier than that, something almost dreamy.

“Seeing you relaxed, and happy. In love.” Febe reached down and curled her fingers around Cherish’s in a sweet moment before letting go.

“I was going to say the same thing about you.” Cherish dragged in a deep breath. It was the first time she’d acknowledged that Febe was in a new relationship, that there was potential there. After Stuart and Jackson had left, she and Febe had gone out for dinner and drinks and talked until the restaurant closed down for the night.

“Perfect.” Haylee turned around and mimed her hands toward the plant. It sat in the middle of the desk, as if it were the center of attention.

“Right there?” Cherish asked, eyebrows rising as she turned to Febe for some kind of understanding.

Febe was no help, simply raising her shoulders and hands, her lips dipping down in an I have no idea expression.

“Of course, that’s about where the edge of the monitor will sit. I think it’ll be nice to have it where it can be seen from the corner of my eye. I can even pretend it’s real and be overjoyed by the fact that I haven’t killed it yet.”

“Well, that does make sense, and a great way to keep the positive energy up,” Febe said with a completely straight face which simply made Cherish stare harder at her.

“But the desk has to move now,” Haylee added.

“What?” Cherish’s back ached in response to Haylee’s words.

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