Page 99 of She Likes It, Hey Micah
“We’re going to make the reopening happen, just like we planned.”
“Who is we? You and me?” Based on the horrified expression on his face, he’s picturing the whole thing being a disaster. He confirms it when he mumbles, “This is going to blow up in my face, isn’t it?”
I grab his arm. Though a part of me expects him to flinch because he’s so tense, he relaxes at my touch and shifts his arm so he can take my hand. “If you think about it,” I say brightly, “your life can’t get much worse than it already is, right?”
We come to a red light then, which gives him the opportunity to turn and stare at me with utter incredulity on his face. “Does nothing rain on your parade?” he whispers, almost in awe.
I grin. “I happen to like rain. Just like I happen to like you.”
Fischer clenches his jaw, glances to make sure the light is still red, and then he pulls me in for a kiss that leaves me blushing.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Fischer
October 26
I’ve met my fair shareof powerful women. When I was working with Miranda, many of our clients were beyond wealthy and possessed a lot of influence in Sun City thanks to Miranda’s ability to relate to the fairer sex and convince those women to trust us with their investments. At the time, it was the best thing to ever happen to me because it helped us grow our business at an unprecedented speed. I learned to appeal to them as well, using charm and smiles to catch their interest, and they all had a certain smugness to them, rightfully earned with their hard work and enterprising natures.
I’ve never seen anyone like Micah Taylor when she rises to a challenge.
Unlike when we got snowed in, Micah shows no signs of insecurity as she moves around the lodge directing anyone who has shown up. She called in any of the Greenwood staff who weren’t scheduled for opening night, promising food and a free photo with Houston Briggs on top of their regular hourly wages. Debbie, the caterer, brought in extra staff as well even though half her team is working a wedding tonight in Sun City, and they’ve been assisting the decorators and moving furniture all afternoon despite that being nowhere in their job descriptions. Every five minutes, someone new has a question for Micah, and she always has an answer, one she gives with a smile.
Not that it was ever in question, but if I didn’t love Micah before, I certainly do now. She’s the most amazing woman I’ve ever known.
Houston shows up around five, when everything is still in chaos, and finds me hanging string lights in the lobby. “Looks like things are running a little behind,” he says instead of greeting me. He’s dressed in a black button-up and silver tie, his blond hair artfully mussed, and he doesn’t seem all that impressed with what he sees.
I roll my eyes. “Feel free to tell your sister that. She’ll put you to work.”
“Where is Micah?” Folding his arms, he looks up at me with all sorts of judgment in his eyes. We didn’t really talk the other day—I let Micah handle the info dump for tonight’s event—so there’s some definite awkwardness between us. I haven’t decided if he’s really as down-to-earth as he seemed at trivia night or if his MVP status has gotten to his head.
“Last time I saw her,” I say dryly, “she was teaching the string quartet to play your walkup song.”
“Seriously?”
“No. She’s in the kitchen prepping the waitstaff.”
To my surprise, Houston laughs. “Need any help?”
Micah finds us five minutes later, arguing over how much slack we need to put in the lights. “Hi, Hou. What are you doing here?”
He frowns, still holding a string of lights above his head while he stands on a ladder across the lobby from me. “You asked me to come.”
“No, I mean what are you doing here so early? I told you that you didn’t have to show up until after seven.”
“I needed a distraction from…never mind.”
“From Darcy?”
He drops the lights, and I barely manage to hang onto my end. “How do you know about Darcy?” he asks. “Never mind. Yes, from Darcy.”
“What about Tamlin?”
This time, he nearly slips off the ladder. This guy clearly doesn’t have a lot of control over himself right now; it’s a wonder how he became Sun City’s best pitcher in the last thirty years. He grits his teeth. “What about her?”
Though I can tell Micah is itching to continue on to wherever she was planning to go when Houston distracted her, she keeps her attention on her brother. “There was some serious chemistry on Thursday. I think you should explore that.”
Houston jumps to the ground, which is probably a smart move. “There’s nothing to explore with Tamlin Park,” he growls. “I’d rather explore… We don’t have to talk about this.”
