Chapter ThirteenFischer
Chapter Thirteen
Fischer
As much as I hate to admit it, I’m falling for Micah Taylor.
And that’s bad. So, so bad. The last time I fell for a coworker, I ended up getting my reputation torn to shreds and losing everything I had.
Though I doubt things could get any worse than they were six months ago when Miranda ruined my life—stomping on my heart in the process—I’m not keen to see the kind of damage a woman like Micah will do when she realizes I’m no good for her.
It’s a miracle she’s kept me around this long, considering how little time she gives the guys who actively try to date her.
Therefore, this attraction will remain only that—an attraction. But I worry I won’t have the fortitude to keep it to myself if she carries on as she has been.
She’s incredible. In less than four hours, she’s mapped out the entire lodge in impressive detail, including each bit of decoration and every minute of the staff’s time.
She was born to plan events like this, and I genuinely can’t figure out why Lila would keep her on a leash when she was born to run. To fly.
I’m not sure there’s a limit to what Micah can do.
I only wish she knew that like I do.
“What do you think?” she asks me for the millionth time, as if she expects this might be the one time I disagree with her. Honestly, I’m too tired and distracted to focus on anything but the way she is so confident in her plan until something shifts, like she remembers that she’s just an assistant.
I’m sure it’s a lingering sense of ease from when we were sitting so close together on the couch—when I nearly took a step I shouldn’t take—but I have no problem putting my hand on her arm as I speak to her in the kitchen where we’ve ended up.
“You’re a far better event planner than me, Micah. I trust your judgment.”
She blinks, glancing down at my fingers once before meeting my gaze again. “But—”
“It’s a guest book. Whatever you think is best, you’re going to be right.”
“So you think it’s a good idea to dig up the old guest book and keep using it?”
“What did I just say?”
She bites her lip, which she does anytime she tries to hide her smile. It happens a lot, and it’s driving me crazy. “I’m just worried about making too many changes. Lila—”
“Lila is completely wasted,” I remind her. “She’s lucky you’re doing any of this in the first place. If it were up to me, I would let her fail.”
Her smile hits me straight in the chest. “It’s probably a good thing it’s not up to you, then.”
“Exactly.”
A knock on the swinging door pulls my attention away from Micah’s mouth. The driver—Kenny—pokes his head into the kitchen and grimaces, like he already knows we’re not going to like what he’s about to say. “Bad news. There’s no way we’re getting out of here tonight.”
When he holds up his phone, I grab my own and quickly search the weather report. Several different articles pull up about a winter storm warning and road closures, which is not what I want to see right now.
“What if we leave right now before it gets worse?” I suggest.
Kenny shakes his head. “You strike me as New Mexico born and raised. Ever driven in snow?”
I shake my head. I took cabs and the subway when I was in college, and I generally didn’t leave my apartment if it was snowing because I was New Mexico born and raised. I was not meant for cold weather.
Nodding, Kenny points to the one window in the kitchen, though there’s nothing but white outside. “I’m not driving in this. You can risk your own life if you want, but I’m staying until the roads are safe.”
From the looks of things, that probably won’t be until tomorrow. Though it’s not ideal, at least the lodge is ready for guests and there are plenty of beds for us to sleep in. “I guess we’re spending the night,” I mutter, running my hand over my thigh. This could get interesting.
Micah looks like she can’t decide if she’s excited or worried. “Should we check on Grant and Lila? Tell them what’s going on?”
“Grant won’t be coherent enough to understand anything I tell him,” I say and roll my eyes. “Not until morning, anyway. Kenny, do you need anything? Pick any room you want, and it’s yours for the night.”
“You should pick room six!” Micah tells him with a bright smile. Apparently excitement is beating out her nerves. “It is all sorts of cozy, and I think you’ll love it.”
“I’ll check it out,” Kenny says and leaves us alone.
Though we’d been alone just a few minutes ago, the silence around us feels heavier than it did. Like something has changed.
“So, I guess we get to spend the night together,” Micah says.
My eyebrows shoot up of their own volition.
Turning bright red, Micah shakes her head at the same time she grabs my hand, which is sort of sending mixed signals. “I didn’t mean it like that! Not that you’re not great and all. I just meant we’ll be sleeping together. In the same place! Different rooms, obviously. Unless. No. Sorry.”
Most of that was flustered rambling, but my mind focuses on one word at the end there.
Unless. Unless what? Unless I want to share a room with her?
I’m still working on the holding her hand part, and she thinks I might want to do more?
One: this is a business trip that was supposed to get us home by seven.
Two: I am not the sort of guy who jumps straight into intimacy without building a foundation first. I don’t jump into intimacy, period.
And three: I can never let my growing interest in Micah become anything more than what it already is when she deserves so much better than a broken and possibly cursed man.
For some reason, I keep having to remind myself of that last one.
“Which room do you think will suit me?” I ask without acknowledging her rambling.
Still a bit pink, she smiles at me gratefully. “Probably the one in the far corner.”
“Why?”
“Because it has two sets of windows, so it feels like you’re right on the edge of the forest. You seem like the sort of guy who appreciates a chance to sit in stillness.”
It’s a bad idea, but I still wrap my other hand around our clasped hands, enjoying the smoothness of her skin beneath my fingertips. Her touch still has an electric spark to it, but at this point it’s almost comforting. Like it’s reminding me that I’m alive.
“I like stillness,” I agree slowly, “but I’m learning there’s something important in animation as well.”
She sucks in a breath. I’m not sure why she’s looking at me so intently, but I’m looking right back, noting each freckle on her face and the way some of her curls seem to have a mind of their own.
When I look at her like this, it’s hard to believe I met her less than two weeks ago.
Sometimes it feels like I’ve known her longer than I’ve known myself.
My phone buzzes so loudly on the table that I let out a curse and press a hand to my heart. It doesn’t help that Micah starts laughing at me, so when I answer it, I don’t exactly sound cheerful.
“What?”
“Oh, yeah, see, this is why I usually stay away from phones.”
“Kale?”
My roommate laughs as if me saying his name told him everything he needs to know. “Oh, you’ve got it bad.”
“What are you talking about?” Movement catches my eye, and I look up right as Micah slips out of the room without a backward glance. That’s not going to improve my mood. Where is she going?
“I’m talking about you and your girl, Fischer. You’re with her, right?”
I don’t want to know how he knows. I didn’t even tell him I was driving out to the lodge today since I figured I would be home around the same time I usually am. “Why are you calling, Kale? And how are you calling?”
“I have a landline.” He says it so matter-of-factly that I almost feel dumb for asking. “And I’m calling to make sure you’re not stupid enough to drive home in this mess. It’s really coming down.”
I glance around the empty kitchen, almost expecting him to walk out of the pantry or something. He’s always been excessively knowledgeable about things, but I figured he was just perceptive. Now I’m starting to wonder if he might be psychic.
I grip my phone tighter. “How do you know—”
“Don’t hate me, but I hacked your phone when you first moved in.”
My head is spinning too fast to make sense of this conversation. “Did you just say…hacked?” My yoga-doing, knit-wearing, ‘doesn’t like going downtown because of the surveillance cameras’ roommate is telling me he hacked my phone?
Kale speaks slowly. “Okay, your vibes just shifted. I probably shouldn’t have said that.”
“You didn’t hack my phone.” There’s no way.
He laughs nervously. “I did. I took a risk taking on a roommate, but you were so desperate. I had to make sure you weren’t dangerous.”
“But how could you—”
“You know my company does cyber security, right?”
I think my brain just snapped. “Your…company?” I would be convinced someone was messing with me and pretending to be my roommate if he didn’t sound so distinctly like himself.
“Considering you managed to build up a multi-million-dollar company, I thought you were smarter than this.”
So did I. Wait . “How do you know about my company?” I ask, then shake my head. “Never mind. Does that mean you know who I am?”
“I’ve known since the day I met you. Why do you think I told you I had a room to rent? You were clearly at rock bottom and needed some help.”
“Help from a hacker ?”
He groans. “Don’t call me a…that’s not, like, a thing . Technically I created my company to protect people from being hacked.”
“Because you’re a hacker.” I don’t even know why I’m arguing. I’m pretty sure I’ve hit the end of my rope for the day, and I should really just hang up and check out that corner room Micah was talking about. It’s not even four in the afternoon, but I’m ready to crash.
“Did you really call to tell me not to drive in the snow?” I ask.
“And to make sure you don’t do anything stupid with Micah.”