Page 9 of Heart Like Yours

“Hey,” he says, standing up and in front of his desk. “I’m glad I caught you before you left. Why don’t we sit?”

He motions toward the matching couch and comfy chairs before twisting to grab some folders from his desk.

“Yeah, I was just tying up some random odds and ends,” I fib with a forced laugh as I move to sit on the brown leather chair. Whenever we do have meetings here, we both naturally gravitate to the couch, which usually results in his closeness distracting me. Something tells me I’ll need to pay full attention right now.

He turns to join me, his brows scrunching together briefly when he sees me in the chair, but his expression smooths just as quickly.

“Sorry it took me so long. I wanted to make sure I had everything in order and as much information as possible for you,” he says, picking the side of the couch that’s closest to me. Garrett sets the folders on the wooden coffee table and faces mefully. The seriousness in his expression has my breath freezing in my lungs.

“I’m just going to dive in and ask you flat out, being completely honest right now, what do you want, Paige?”

My heart skips before taking off like a horse at the races.

“Wh-what?” I stutter, trying to figure out how he expects me to answer. Without meaning to, my eyes drift to his full lips. Images of what it would be like to kiss him dance through my mind, but I clear my throat, shaking them away just as quickly.

“On Monday, you told me you want more. In what ways? Do you want a bigger team? A promotion? A new job altogether?”

He offers different options as if it would be easy to pick one.

“Like I told you, I don’t exactly know what I want. Lately, it just feels like…” I shake my head. “Something’s missing.”

Garrett watches me intently and I squirm under his assessing gaze. Needing to fill the silence, I continue, hoping I’m not shooting myself in the foot or setting myself up to get fired by being honest with him.

“I love this company and publishing. I love helping authors and working with the team, and this job has taught me so much. But this role has shown me that I can do so much more than crunch deadlines and micromanage a team.” I pause, dropping my eyes to stare at my hands in my lap. “I just don’t know what that looks like. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said anything to you when I don’t even fully understand what I’m feeling.”

Garrett’s hands are on top of mine before I’ve even finished speaking. The warmth of his palm over my hand has my body reacting. My cheeks burn as I glance up and find him shaking his head.

“No, I’m glad you told me. I can’t help if you don’t trust me with these things.”

We sit in silence for a moment, my heart pounding in my chest, and all I can do is nod and whisper, “Okay.”

He smiles softly, squeezing my hand gently before finally releasing me.

“I have an idea,” he starts, reaching for one of the files he brought with him and offering it to me. “Before you answer, I want you to hear me out.”

“I think I can do that,” I say, opening the folder. My eyes snag on the words in bold at the top of the page. I gasp and shove to my feet. “Tell me I’m reading that wrong.”

I demand, scanning over the words again and again, but they don’t change.

Garrett sits patiently in his seat, watching me gape over the job offer in my hands. Finally looking up from the page, I ignore the twinkle of amusement that shines in his hazel eyes and point to the page.

“You want me to be the COO of SweetHeart Publishing?” I ask dumbfoundedly, convinced either he’s lost his mind or that I’m dreaming.

But he simply nods, pushing to his feet and picking up the other file as he stands in front of me.

“I want you to be the COO of SweetHeartAssistance,” he says matter-of-factly.

My jaw drops open and all I can do is blink once. Then again.

“This is a joke, right?” I stammer, looking back down at the open folder in my hands, and shake my head.

“No, it’s not,” he says, his tone calm and even. My gaze snaps back up to him and I finally manage to slam my mouth shut so I can suck in a deep breath. Garrett waves a hand, motioning to the chair behind me. Almost numbly, I lower myself back into the seat. He sinks to sit on the edge of the couch cushion, not once looking away from me.

“Garrett,” I whisper his name, unable to say anything else, but he takes it for the cue that it is.

“I want to expand the company and I want you to help me do it.”

Silence hangs between us as I try to process what he’s saying. After a long moment, I shake off the shock, tucking it away to deal with later, and straighten in my seat. There will be time to sort through the onslaught of emotions at home, after I have all the information.

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