Chapter 33
thirty-three
. . .
Georgia
I walked into the office and was greeted by a face that I didn’t recognize. She looked to be a little older than me, with a kind smile.
“Hey, I’m Georgia. You must be the new receptionist?”
“Georgia, hey. Yes. I’ve only been here for a week.
My name is Halle, and I started when you were in the hospital.
Everyone was so worried. I’ve been so excited to meet you as you were in a meeting the day that I interviewed with your boyfriend,” she said, before covering her mouth and shaking her head.
“Am I supposed to know that? Anyway, I haven’t seen the boss since I started here. Will he be in today, too?”
“That’s okay. It’s not a secret that we’re together.” I’d leave out the fact that I hadn’t heard from said boyfriend in several days. “He hasn’t been in?”
“No. Not since I started here last week.”
So much had happened in the last week and a half. It felt like years had passed.
Maddox and I had declared our love to one another, I’d fallen through the ice, died, come back, slipped into a coma, recovered as quickly as I’d been wounded, and the man whom I normally spoke to a hundred times a day, who hadn’t left my side the entire time I was in a coma, had left without saying where he was going.
But he owned the company. He couldn’t hide forever.
“Well, he’ll be in soon. It’s great to meet you. Welcome to the team. You’re going to love working here.”
I made my way toward the stairs, and everyone came out of their offices to greet me. They’d all sent flowers and cookies and all sorts of treats while I’d been in the hospital. I took turns hugging everyone, and even Nadia Wright looked emotional when she squeezed my hand.
“We’ve missed you. Both of you. Is Maddox coming back today?”
A lump formed in my throat, but I forced a smile. “He’ll be back soon. He’s just taking care of a few things.”
Freddy and Craig told me they’d be waiting for me at lunch to defend my ping-pong title.
Sydney told me she had lots of good office scoop to fill me in on, and she followed me up the stairs. “I was crying at the office one day because I’d been so worried about you, and Freddy consoled me. He’s since taken me to dinner, and we’re sort of secretly dating.”
“I love that.” I shook my head and smiled. “Two of my favorite people are dating. That’s amazing.”
“Ahhh… we missed all that sunshine at the office, Georgia. So happy you’re back. Where’s the boss?”
I cleared my throat. “He is taking care of a few things for his family. He’ll be back soon. I’ll see you at lunch.”
“Thank you. I’m guessing he’s the one who sent all the flowers this morning?” she said as she turned to jog down the stairs.
I hadn’t received any flowers this morning.
I’d gotten a few more arrangements yesterday, and I always sent a text letting him know that I received them, and I missed him.
I wasn’t going to beg him to come back to me.
Not after all we’d been through. I knew he was going through something, and he needed to do it on his own.
He never responded to the texts. He just sent more flowers.
Bossman never did anything the easy way.
Like picking up a phone and telling me what he was going through.
Nope. He just filled my house with peonies and hydrangeas and every single card said the same thing.
I love you. M.
“Georgia!” Virginia squealed from behind my old desk. My chest squeezed at the sight of her sitting in my spot. The place where it all started.
That felt like it was so long ago.
“Hi! Thanks so much for all the sweet treats you dropped off for me at the hospital.”
“Of course. Boy, did we miss you. The boss called to make sure your office was all set up for you this morning.”
“Oh, really? Did he say when he was coming in?” I asked, trying not to sound desperate.
She looked at me, a little puzzled. Obviously, everyone knew we were together, but they didn’t know that he’d left after I’d woken up or that we hadn’t spoken in days.
“He didn’t say. But I’m guessing he’s the one who sent you all the gorgeous arrangements. I had them brought into your office.”
I moved around the corner, and she was right behind me. There was a nameplate on the wall outside my office that read: Georgia Reynolds, Creative Director.
My breath lodged in my throat when I stepped inside to see the white desk, floor-to-ceiling bookshelves that ran along one wall, and every open surface was covered with a floral arrangement.
I needed a minute.
I was confused and tired and suddenly feeling angry that the man just kept sending flowers that I didn’t care about instead of showing up and talking to me.
“I’m just going to get settled in here. Thanks for everything.”
She smiled. “Should I bring you a cup of coffee?”
“I’m okay for now, but thank you.” I closed the door, desperate for a minute alone.
It hurt that everyone was asking about him, and they all expected me to know where he was.
Because he was my boyfriend, after all.
And the man that I loved.
He didn’t get to just run away from me every time he was scared.
I picked up my phone and let out a long breath.
Hey. Stop sending the arrangements. Enough flowers have been sacrificed for the fact that you’re too cowardly to tell me what’s going on.
And, of course, you aren’t going to answer. That’s your thing, right? Well, I’m done with this ridiculous situation.
Yes, it was scary. I hate that our first Valentine’s Day together is tainted by all the trauma that went on. But you don’t see me running away, do you?
I died. You brought me back. We’re all good. Get over it.
I’m throwing all the flowers in the garbage. I’m not accepting another delivery until you speak to me.
I spent the next few hours going through emails and reading a few submissions.
“Hey,” Sydney said as she stood in the doorway. “We ordered takeout in honor of your first day back. Can you sneak away for lunch now?”
She glanced around the room at the floral arrangements and gasped.
I hadn’t lived up to the threat of throwing them in the garbage.
That was just me having a meltdown. “I would never have guessed Maddox Lancaster was such a romantic guy. He always seems so intimidating and grumpy to everyone else. But with you…” She moved to one of the arrangements and leaned down to smell the peonies. “He’s just so different with you.”
“In what way?” I asked because I needed a reminder at the moment.
“It’s something that’s hard to explain. But you know how we both love our romance books?”
“Yes.”
“Well, the hero is always so consumed by the heroine, right? That’s what we love so much.
And that’s how Maddox is with you. It’s like no one else exists.
” She shrugged as she walked toward the door.
“We were all imagining that he was glued to your side when you were in the hospital, and no one knew if you were going to wake up or not. That must have been terrifying for him. You know, when you realize you’ve found your person and then you think you might have lost them… Ahhh… I can’t imagine.”
I thought about her words as I followed her down the stairs.
My chest was heavy, and I stopped in the lounge where they had pizza and salads set up.
There was a cake that read: Welcome Back!
It had an ice skate on it with a big red X, which actually made me chuckle for the first time since I thought about the accident.
My father had done some digging and found out that a kid had taken his snowmobile on the ice earlier that day, and someone had reported him to the park district, and he’d been cited. But they hadn’t made it out to check the ice for safety yet.
Not many people went out there, so unfortunately, I’d most likely been the first person to step out on the ice after.
I hadn’t had much of an appetite since I’d returned home from the hospital, but I picked at my pizza and tried hard to focus on the conversation.
But my mind kept wandering to Maddox.
And what Sydney had said.
I pulled out my phone and sent another text.
Ignore those earlier texts. The flowers are fine. You can keep sending them for as long as you need to. I love you, Bossman.
Freddy convinced me to play a game of ping-pong, and the only reason I was beating him was because he kept getting distracted by Sydney, who was cheering and giggling as we rallied back and forth. My head wasn’t in it.
And my heart… it wasn’t even mine anymore.
“Lunch break is over,” a deep voice said from behind me. “Get back to work.”
I whipped around to see Maddox standing there in a pair of dark jeans, a crisp white button-up, and a navy blue sports coat. He held a large white box with a pretty red ribbon tied around it.
Everyone hustled, saying their hellos and welcome backs to him, and, of course, he completely ignored them.
But his dark eyes were on me.
“Such leading man energy,” Sydney whispered as she squeezed my arm and moved toward her office.
“Hey.”
“Hey,” I said, not moving, the ping-pong paddle still in my hand.
“I got your texts, and I know you’re tired of the flowers, so I thought I’d come see you instead.”
“I don’t need flowers, Maddox,” I whispered as a tear streamed down my cheek.
“What do you need, Tink?”
I set the paddle down when he moved closer, and I looked up at him. “I need you.”
“I’m yours. I have been since the first day you fluttered into my office.” He set the package down on the ping-pong table, and his hand landed on my neck, fingers grazing my cheek.
“Why’d you leave?”
He sucked in a deep breath and then let it out. “Because nearly losing you made me realize how much I love you, and that scared the shit out of me. I don’t want to live in a world that you aren’t in, Georgia.”
“I don’t either. But I’m not running away from you because of it.” I raised a brow in challenge.
“Well, if you ran, I would catch you. Every single fucking time.”
“You can’t run from this,” I whispered.
“I know. I’m sorry, Tink. That’s why I’m here. It was cowardly, and I don’t have an excuse other than I was terrified I was going to lose you. I give you my word it won’t happen again.” He leaned forward and swiped at the tears running down my face as his forehead rested against mine.
“I accept your apology. Please don’t tell me that those are the skates you were giving to me on Valentine’s Day,” I said, glancing at the white box.
“Hell no. You’re never putting on another pair of skates, if I have a say in it. We’re keeping you on solid ground, moving forward.” He pulled back and handed me the box. “But there was something else in that box with the skates that I never got to give you. So, I went with something different.”
I took the bow off as his hand settled on my hip, and he smiled. I pulled out a pink helmet that had my name painted in white on the side. “What is this for?”
“Pickleball, baby. I’m not letting you play any sports without the proper equipment ever again. In fact, you should wear it when you play ping-pong. Who knows what could happen with that little ball?”
My head tipped back in a fit of laughter. It felt so good to laugh again. “I am not wearing this helmet at the office to play ping-pong, you overbearing brute of a man.”
“Look inside the helmet. There’s a surprise tucked in there at the top.”
I flipped it over and saw something gold and sparkly. Tugging the key out of the interior strap, I held it up. “What’s this?”
“A house key. I wanted to ask you to move in with me before you fucking plunged into the ice, and I thought my world had come to an end.” He tugged me against his body.
“You want me to live with you, huh?” I bit down on my bottom lip.
“I really do.”
“I’m on a lease at my rental house, though.” I shrugged, knowing that he wouldn’t care about that.
“I bought your rental house weeks ago. I’m your landlord, baby. And I insist that you move in with your boyfriend. I’ve hated every second that I’ve been away from you.”
“Me, too.”
“So, is that a yes?” He bent his knees so that he was at eye level with me.
“It’s always a yes for you.”
His mouth crashed into mine, his tongue slipping inside, with not a care in the world that we were in the middle of the office. I heard clapping and cheering, and we both pulled away.
Maddox glanced over at everyone watching and rolled his eyes. “Does no one know how to work anymore?”
His voice was all tease, and he gently kissed the stitches that still remained on my forehead before scooping me up and cradling me in his arms as everyone laughed.
He took the stairs two at a time as he hurried me to my office, passing Virginia and holding his hand up like he didn’t have time for questions.
I chuckled as I held the key in my grip like it was a lifeline.
Our lifeline.
The start of our future.
And I couldn’t wait to get started.