Page 125 of One Night Only
Keller: OMG, Andy just took Em into the board room with the Head of HR!!!
I take the phone from Robbie, looking closer, reading the message at least four times. I know I’m not normally the kind of guy to overreact. I’m usually chill as fuck, sometimes to a fault, but I feel something inside of me snap like an overworked rubber band and, shoving Robbie’s phone back at him, I storm out of the gym. Because when it comes to the woman I love, I’d burn down the whole goddamn city if I had to.
The tires on Happy’s G Wagen screech as he slams on his breaks, coming in hot and stopping at the curb outside the HMC offices, causing a few people to startle, turning and gawking at the truck as if we’re here to rob the joint.
“Tex, you sure you don’t wanna stop and think about this?” Robbie asks from the back seat. For the fifth time.
“Yes, I’m sure.” I unfasten my belt. “Thanks for the ride,” I say to Happy, hopping out.
“Go get your girl, Tex!” Happy cheers, tooting his horn a few times as if we haven’t attracted enough attention already. There’re people pulling out their phones and snapping pictures.
“You comin’ or what?” I look at Robbie.
He rolls his eyes and mutters something under his breath, but he unfastens his seatbelt and hops out, joining me on the sidewalk. And as we head toward the lobby entrance, Happy tears away from the curb with another squeal of his tires, tooting his horn a few more times before disappearing into the Midtown traffic.
I’m a man on a mission as I snake my way through the lobby and onto a waiting elevator. Robbie presses the button and stands there, arms folded across his chest, staring at me expectantly. But I don’t know what he wants.
“Like you wouldn’t do the same thing if it was Fran up there in a boardroom, about to lose her job,” I snap.
He looks up in thought a moment, and then, with a resigned sigh, he relaxes, tucking his hands into the pockets of his sweats. “Okay, yeah, you’ve got a point.”
I nod, staring at the floor counter. The second the elevator chimes, I’m out the doors before they even finish opening.
“Good morning, and welcome to HMC—oh, hi, Dallas.” The receptionist stands, offering a cute giggle like she always does.
“Hey,” I say flatly, barely even looking in her direction as I pass by the front desk and enter myself through the glass door. Sure, I feel like an asshole. I hate being rude to people. But now is not the time for niceties.
I continue through the corridor lined with offices, noticing a few of the HMC employees inside offering surprised double-takes as I pass by, Robbie hot on my heels. Rounding the corner, Fran stands outside her office, hands on his waist, hip popped, high heeled foot tapping like she was expecting us because of course she was, her boyfriend no doubt having ratted me out before Happy even pulled up to the curb downstairs.
Coming to stand in my way, Fran looks up at me, her big blue eyes imploring.
“Dallas, they’re in there with Carlo,” she says, as if that means anything to me. “He’s the Head of our HR department.”
“Even fuckin’ better,” I mutter, stepping around Fran and continuing to the frosted glass door of the boardroom.
I don’t stop to knock, instead pushing open the door without hesitation, finding Andy standing over by the windows, a bald man with glasses seated on one side of the table, and my girl right there, sitting up straight, hands in her lap all proper, those big honey eyes widening the moment she sees me.
I spear Andy across the room, pointing my finger in his direction as I round the table. “I need you to know right now, if you fire her—” I thumb Emily. “Not only are you making the biggest mistake in the interest of this company, but you can have Legaldraw up a letter of termination for my contract and I will seek representation elsewhere, I swear to God.”
Andy’s gaze is unwavering as he stares at me, his face set firm. He folds his arms across his chest and arches one brow, his only tell that he is, in fact, listening.
There’s a gasp from the doorway, and with a sideways glance, it’s then I realize not only Fran and Robbie standing there watching in, but a few other HMC employees have gathered around to watch the drama unfold.
I look at Emily, meeting her eyes, and her face is sheet white and fraught with worry, and it kills me a little on the inside to see her so affected.
“I love this woman,” I say, looking directly at Emily. “I love her. And I have from the moment I laid eyes on her. Something happened to me the night that we met. I can’t even begin to explain it because it doesn’t make sense. But everything changed when she came into my life. And every day since, I wake up with purpose because my life is infinitely better with her in it.”
Emily bites back a smile, her eyes gleaming with the hint of unshed tears.
I turn back to Andy. “I love you, man. I truly do. Not only have you been an amazing manager and agent, but you were my first friend in this city. You took me in, not just here, but into your home too, and I will never forget that.” I shake my head. Pointing at Emily, I continue, “But that woman right there is, hands down, the love of my life. And if I have to choose, then I need you to know that I choose her. I willalwayschoose her. Every. Single. Time. Hell, one day I’m going to ask that girl to marry me.”
Someone gasps again, and I snap my mouth shut, realizing a few seconds too late exactly what I just said. I turn, glancing at Emily to find her eyes wide, like she can’t believe I just said that either. Well, damn.
Pushing my hair back from my face, I try to clear the bubblethat’s suddenly burrowed itself deep in the back of my throat, turning back to Andy. But when I see him smirking at me, my brows knit together with confusion.
“Well,” Andy says, biting back his grin. “All I can say is that when you do ask her to marry you, I hope it’s at least a little more romantic than this.”
Huh? I blink at him, trying to make sense of his words.
