Page 101 of Fireworks & Forehead Kisses

“He?” I glanced around the room, wondering who thehewas she could be talking about.

There were only a few single guys in the office that would even be close to being in Hannah’s league. Aiden Pierce, who worked in HR, but he was gay, so I doubted she was referring to him. Isaac Roberts, who worked in marketing, but I hadn’t seen him with anyone tonight, and Leo Grant, who I noticed was standing with a very attractive woman who I’d never seen before, talking to the DJ.

“Leo?”

He’d worked for the company for five years now. Like Hannah, he was a fellow Brit who moved to Boston when he was twenty-two after graduating from Oxford with honors. He received his law degree from Harvard and has worked for the company for six years now. Some of the women in the office nicknamed him Duke of Hastings because of his accent, and he resembled the actor who played the character in the first season ofBridgerton. I’d always suspected Hannah had a crush on the Regé-Jean Page look-a-like, but she’d never copped to it. Since I wasn’t one to pry, I’d never asked her about it.

“Shh.” She put her forefinger to her mouth as she hushed me. “Anyway, I figure if I’mnotgonna have myLove Actuallymoment, I might as well drink.”

She set her drink down at the bar and motioned for the bartender to get her another one. As we waited for the bartenderto finish filling the drinks of the other guests, I was considering cutting her off when we heard her name being called behind us.

“Hannah.”

We both turned around and saw Leo.

“Hi, Duke…I mean…Leo,” Hannah quickly corrected her Freudian slip.

I suppressed a grin as a slow song began to play through the speakers.

Leo held out his hand. “Would you like to dance?”

“What about your date?” Hannah asked as she picked up the drink that the bartender had just made her and pointed in the direction of the attractive woman he’d just been talking to. “Don’t you think she’ll mind?”

Leo glanced over at the woman who he’d come to the party with. “My sister? No, I don’t think she’ll mind.”

Hannah’s eyes were wide. “That’s your sister?”

He nodded. “She’s visiting from London. I thought you knew that. I’m single.Verysingle.”

I watched as Hannah’s cheeks flushed, and she set her glass down and nodded. As the two of them made their way to the makeshift dance floor, I hoped that he had good intentions toward her. Hannah had a very hard exterior, but she was very sensitive. Not that she needed me to look out for her, but I did feel very protective of her, and I wouldn’t be above firing him if he hurt her, not that I’d ever admit that, since it was probably illegal grounds for dismissal, and he was an attorney.

When the duo made it to the middle of the floor, Leo placed his hands on Hannah’s hips. Her head peeked over his shoulder, and she mouthed, “Love Actually,” to me with a huge smile on her face. As much as I didn’t love the idea of inter-office romances, seeing Hannah this happy was worth it.

Speaking of happy, my eyes automatically tracked the woman who had made me happy the past two months. I watchedas she excused herself and walked down the hallway to the bathroom. The party was still going strong. Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves. I checked the time. The two hours I’d promised myself I would stay were up. With my self-imposed obligation fulfilled, we were free to leave.

With long strides, I crossed the room, a man on a mission. As I waited outside the bathroom door, I could feel my heart rate increase. Over the past two weeks, Ashley had been pulling away. We’d only spoken a few times a week, and our talks were never any longer than a few minutes. Last week, she was sick, so that was the “reason” she’d missed a few calls or cut our talks short, but I still felt like it might have been a convenient excuse.

Something had shifted in our dynamic since Thanksgiving. Maybe she was upset that I’d shown up for the holiday uninvited. Maybe she’d met someone else and was counting the days until she was a single woman again. The thought of that made my blood boil.

Tonight, I wanted to do everything I could to solidify whatever time we had. I may not be able to offer her everything she wanted, but I did know I wasn’t coming to the table empty-handed.

The door opened, and I took a step toward her. “Hey.”

She was startled to see me, or maybe she was just startled to see anyone standing there, and she jumped back a little. “Hi.”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“It’s okay.” She smiled as she looked up at me, and all the anxiety I felt drained out of me. It was the same thing that happened the first night I’d met her at the bar.

“Are you ready to go?”

“Oh, yeah. I guess.” Her brow creased. “I mean, is the party over?”

“No, but that’s a perk of being the boss. I don’t have to stay to the end.”

“Oh, okay. Should we say goodbye?”

“No, that’s another benefit.”

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