Epilogue
PARIS
“Paris, how’s everything going? Are you settling in alright?” my new boss, Heidi Mason, asks.
“Yes. It’s been a great week,” I reply as I follow her toward a conference room where we’re meeting with the team working on this new book her favorite client is releasing in six months.
I barely survived the two weeks at Dad’s house.
Bridgit, his wife, was nearly murdered by me no less than a dozen times.
I practically sprinted to the city when my apartment was ready.
Now that I’m working though, everything is better.
I’m no longer in his house. I’m so busy that I haven’t had time to think about River.
Fine, that’s a lie. I’ve thought about him every night as I fall asleep, wishing his hand was on my hip and his warm chest against my back.
I’ve been so tempted to search for him online, but I feel like we made some sort of silent agreement, an agreement to keep that night to ourselves and never look back.
Easier said than done. Tomorrow I’m going clubbing with some friends, so maybe I can meet someone and forget about Mr. Mile High Club.
“You’re going to love the team. I gathered all our best people for this book launch.
We have all the best line and content editors and wait till you meet our marketing team.
They are seriously amazing. I’ve worked with them on my last six big launches, and they all hit the top ten,” Heidi says as her heels click on the tile floor.
“Wow. That’s great,” I say enthusiastically. Internally, I’m just hoping they aren’t jerks. Because I know as Heidi’s assistant, I’m going to be the one stuck working with them the most.
“Oh, can you grab that poster? I left it on my side table,” Heidi says as she looks through the items in her arms.
“Sure,” I state, spinning on my heels and walking briskly back to the far end of the floor to her office.
I find the poster in record time and power walk back through cubicles and corridors to the conference room.
This place is giant. It takes up three whole floors of this high-rise building.
I swear I’ve gotten lost at least five times this week.
My fingers itch again to search for River online as I wonder if he works somewhere like this or if he’s a doctor or a lawyer or maybe a professor.
I’m stewing over the options as I rearrange the items in my arms and push the door open to the conference room.
My heel gets caught in the small divot in the floor likely caused by the locking mechanism and I go sailing onto my knees, the poster and my laptop skidding across the floor.
“Crap,” I hiss as I reach for my laptop, hoping I didn’t break it on day six at the office.
“Are you alright?” I hear Heidi say. A few people ask the same thing.
“I’m fine. Just my pride,” I mutter as I continue to pick up the items. But as I reach for the poster, a hand closes over mine. My body goes rigid. I know that hand. I’d know that hand anywhere. I’ve dreamt about it for a solid month now.
“Are you alright, Paris?” his deep voice asks. I finally gather the courage to look up and I’m greeted by a very concerned-looking River.
“Uh, y-yeah,” I stammer.
He gets to his feet and holds out his hand to help me up. I accept it, and the moment our hands join, I swear I feel an electric current. Was that there before?
“You sure?” he asks as he pulls up a chair for me.
“I’m sure,” I squeak.
“Good,” he replies, taking the seat next to mine.
“Oh. Do you know each other?” Heidi asks, giving me a surprised look.
I feel the color rushing to my cheeks.
“We met on a flight back from Paris a few weeks ago,” River says, giving me a wink.
“Wow, what a small world!” Heidi exclaims.
“Well, this will make things so much easier since you two are already acquainted,” she says.
Oh, Heidi, you have no idea how much we are acquainted, I think. I glance over and River raises an eyebrow as if he can read my mind.
“Let’s get this meeting started,” Cameron, Heidi’s boss, says, and all our attention goes to the end of the table as the discussion begins.
I glance over periodically to find River watching me. Each time, I blush and look away quickly as if I was caught doing something naughty. When the meeting ends, Heidi comes over to me with River next to her.
“River’s firm keeps an office here for late nights. I’ll have River show you where, so you’ll know where to find him,” she says.
“Oh, uh, great,” I say. River holds out a hand, motioning for me to walk in front of him.
I step into the hall, and he steers me down some corridors and up a flight of stairs.
When we get to the door to the next floor, he places a hand on it to keep me from opening it.
He leans in so his front is against my back.
“I’ve been thinking of you nonstop for four weeks, Paris,” he admits, his breath hot against my ear.
“Same,” I admit, not looking back because I know I’m blushing.
I know he’s grinning without looking at him. He’s such a cocky asshole. But damn it if that doesn’t make me want him even more. He leans closer, brushing my hair over my shoulder. “Is office sex on your bucket list?” he asks.
I laugh and spin around to face him. “It is now, Mr. Dumont. It is now.”
The End
* * *
You can read more about Paris’s friend, Megan, in Reluctantly Perfect. Check out the link on the next page for more details.