Page 18 of Love and Cherish

Before she could second guess herself or her plan, she stood up and walked away.

It didn’t take her long, but when she stepped back into the building, she knew she’d made the right decision. It was strange riding the elevator alone. She couldn’t remember if it had happened before. She normally arrived at the same time as many other workers and left the same way. Even when she did stay late, she always left with Cherish. Her smile widened, and she stared at her reflection in the elevator’s mirrored wall.

Her cheeks were pink. She shook her head, and she imagined her reflection stepping away from its role of mimicry and revealing the truth behind her out-of-character reaction and subsequent actions that brought her back to the office on what could have been an unexpected day of freedom. Unexpected and paid for. What on earth had compelled her to come back?

Cherish.

The answer came to her mind, and the smile slipped a little from her face. She admired Cherish and had slowly gotten to know her a little better, but that’s not what that voice or those rosy cheeks meant.

“No,” Haylee whispered to her reflection. But even as she said the word, her groan that followed confirmed she knew the truth.

Damn it. When had she started thinking of Cherish as anything other than her icy work colleague?

No, she couldn’t be attracted to Cherish. She didn’t feel anything but normal coworker friendship.

She just really needed to get laid. That’s all this was.

“What are you doing here?” Cherish looked up when Haylee walked back into the office. Haylee had steeled herself against her realization. What she was feeling was nothing more than just a little crush. Not even that really—it was more a transference of gratitude.

The hints of a smile at the corners of Cherish’s mouth as she took in the bags of food Haylee had snagged on her way back caused a flutter of butterflies in Haylee’s stomach despite the overwhelming anvil weighing her down with the fact that she’d maxed out two cards, not just one.

“Well.” Haylee smiled, ignoring the heat that increased in her cheeks and forcing the lump in her throat out of the way. “I figured while you’re busy making sure Febe is taken care of, there’s no harm in me making sure you’re taken care of.”

Haylee looked up and froze. Behind Cherish’s shoulder, Febe stood in her doorway staring at the two of them.

Cherish’s smile disappeared, and she cocked her head, eyebrows pulled together in question. Haylee played back the words she had just said and hoped the floor she stood on suddenly opened up and swallowed her whole.

“Cherish, I need coffee.” Febe’s voice had returned to its former quiet control, but there remained a waver that made Haylee’s muscles tighten. She rounded her shoulders and pulled them inward toward her chest.

“Of course.” Cherish’s entire body language changed, her attention solely fixed on Febe. Haylee knew that she could have stripped naked and performed a pole dance routine and Cherish would do little more than purse her lips and potentially roll her eyes.

Damn it, getting a crush on Cherish was not going to do her self-esteem any favors. Cherish was nothing more than a colleague she didn’t hate. She would be happy with that—it was a big enough step for her. She just had to remind herself of it regularly, until the butterflies and heat disappeared.

“I’ll get it,” Haylee said, her voice holding more strength than she felt wobbling around inside of her chest. “And there will be a delivery just after lunch from Pete’s Coffee.”

“Thank you,” Febe spoke, another look on her face Haylee couldn’t interpret. A new one to add to her ever-growing list.

Haylee nodded, a forced smile on her lips before she left them to whatever it was they talked about when they were behind closed doors.

Haylee pushed away images of Cherish and Febe doing far more than talking behind those doors.

Once the coffee and food were given out and Febe had returned to her office, Haylee sat down and turned her computer back on.

“Thank you for coming back, Haylee.” Cherish’s voice was lower than normal, and it stroked Haylee’s arms like a physical touch.

“You’re welcome.” Haylee looked up, and damn if those eyes weren’t pinned to her. The smile on Cherish’s lips made them more inviting than they had ever been. And damn it, this kind and gentle side of Cherish, the one that cared about Febe beyond her own crush, looked beautiful as it tangled with her red hair and softened those piercing blue eyes.

Oh yeah, she would be just fine. Nothing to see here, folks, except of course yet another unrequited crush. And this one she got to see every single day.

She wished Febe would call Cherish in, just so Haylee could be all dramatic and drop her head to the desk and groan.

seven

“Are you still on for our little bet?” Cherish straightened in her chair, eyeing Haylee across her desk. She wasn’t sure why her voice sounded the way it did, like she was teasing.

Haylee jerked her head up, making eye contact. Tingles rushed through Cherish at that piercing gaze. Haylee reached up and curled her hair behind her ear before raising her eyebrows at Cherish in return.

“You haven’t mentioned it lately, that’s all.” Cherish pursed her lips, trying to draw back to where she’d been before, where she was safe and protected from the wild card in front of her.

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