Chapter Twenty-SevenMicahOctober 25
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Micah
Lila is acting…strange. By some miracle, I beat her to work and have her coffee ready to go in the hopes of soothing her irritation from yesterday, but she hardly looks at me as she grabs it from my hand on her way to her office.
Some days she’s happy, some days she’s mad, but I don’t know if I can remember a time where she flat-out ignored me.
Instead of ordering me around all day, she spends the morning in her office, making the occasional calls to the planners down the hall to make sure everything is set up and ready to go.
That’s usually my job. The only time she does talk to me is to ask for a phone number or an email address of one of our contacts.
After a few hours of this, I send a text to Fischer because I’m definitely on edge.
Me: Is Grant acting weird today?
Fischer: Weird, how?
Me: I don’t know. Lila isn’t mad at me.
Fischer: Isn’t that a good thing?
Me: It might be. But it might also be terrible.
Fischer: Unless you get evidence to the contrary, assume it’s a good thing.
Fischer: Think positive. *smiley face*
Thinking positive would mean thinking about the end of the workday when I can go home and hang out with Fischer.
He promised to watch Parks and Rec with me tonight if we can both get away at a decent time so we can decompress before the event tomorrow.
I’m not sure thinking about that will help me today because I plan to kiss him more than watch the show, and waiting for that will only make time crawl by.
Just before noon, the elevator opens to let Grant and Fischer into the Ember lobby, and my heart kicks into overdrive at the sight of him.
Fischer, not Grant. Obviously. My excitement stutters when Fischer gives me a confused look, and there’s plenty of worry in his expression. What is that supposed to mean?
“Grant, darling.” Lila glides out of her office before I can page her, as if she knew exactly when Grant was going to arrive. I hadn’t known he and Fischer would be coming into the office today.
I’m pretty sure Fischer didn’t know either.
As Lila takes Grant’s hands and air kisses his cheeks, he watches the pair of them with his eyebrows pulling low.
Both of Fischer’s hands are clenched into fists at his sides, muscles bunching beneath his shirt, and I don’t know if I’ve ever seen him so tense. And that’s saying something.
“Would you like me to gather everyone into the conference room?” I ask hesitantly.
Lila throws a sharp glance back at me. “No need.”
Before I can offer up any other options to make myself useful, Dani and Ava come down the hall, the other planners right behind them. Even the accountant and the lawyer arrive in the lobby, all of them with jackets, ready to head out.
Did I miss an email or something?
“We’re all going to lunch to finalize the Greenwood event,” Lila tells me.
“Oh!” I reach for my purse.
“You’re staying here.”
“Oh.” My stomach drops, though it wouldn’t be the first time I got left behind to man the phones. But if they’re finalizing the event, I should be there. After all, I’m the one who made all the calls and placed the orders.
Grant helps Lila into her jacket, and then she turns her full focus to me as everyone else shuffles into the elevator. “Be a dear and forward the spreadsheet to my phone, will you?”
“S-sure.” That’s not a strange request, but it still feels ominous.
When the elevator returns, Fischer gives me a sympathetic smile and then takes a step toward the open door.
Grant grabs his shoulder. “Might as well keep you here too, Price,” he says. “In case anything pops up.”
Fischer opens his mouth, probably to argue, but I clear my throat. Shake my head. So he clenches his jaw and steps aside so Grant and Lila can pass arm in arm.
The instant the elevator door closes, Fischer relaxes. “I can’t decide if that’s a good thing or a bad thing,” he says as he takes three wide steps to come to my desk and scoop me up against his side. “But I’m not going to complain about being left alone with you for the next couple of hours.”
I’m almost certain everyone going to lunch without us is a bad sign, but I keep that thought to myself. As Fischer said in his text, I need to stay positive, just as I always do.
“Do you want to know a fun fact about Ember Events?” I say, pressing my palm to his chest. He wore a navy blue Oxford shirt today, and I’m loving the dark and velvety look it gives him.
Fischer takes a moment to play with my curls before he answers. “I want to know anything you want to tell me.”
I bite my lip, which instantly shifts his attention to my mouth. “We have a fantastic supply closet. Plenty of room for a couple of people to hang out.”
He rolls his eyes. “Are you trying to seduce me at work, Miss Taylor?”
“Oh, there’s no trying here. Only succeed—”
He cuts me off with a kiss that skips the sweetness of last night, jumping straight into the kind of kiss that always makes me blush when I read about them in books.
What Fischer lacks in peppy personality, he makes up for in enthusiasm, and I am not about to complain about his newfound kissing confidence.
He kisses like he has things to say but lacks the words, and I don’t want to miss a thing.
When we finally come up for air, I laugh as I drop my head against his chest. “One might think you’re in a hurry to get somewhere.”
He wraps his arms around me, holding tight. “Making up for lost time,” he counters. “Now, what was this about a storage closet?”
We are absolutely not getting any work done while the others are at lunch, and I don’t even care. Hooking my finger on his collar, I tug him forward, never taking my eyes off of his as I lead him deeper into Ember.
***
My new favorite hobby is kissing Fischer Bradley.
My second favorite hobby is talking to Fischer Bradley.
For three hours, we have the office to ourselves, and we spend it either making out in hidden corners or sitting on the floor of my cubicle, me in Fischer’s lap with my back pressed against his chest as he runs his hands along my arms in a tantalizing, tender touch and answers every question I ask him.
Unlike before, there’s nothing he hides from me now, and I wish I had known how beautiful his soul was so I could have pushed him to open up sooner.
With each new thing I learn—like how he’s a terrible swimmer but loves being in the water anyway, or how his favorite food changes with his mood—I like him that much more, to the point where I’m not sure I could like him more than I already do.
Then he goes and tells me something new, and the limit moves again.
Like when he tells me he hates coffee.
“What?” I spin around to face him. “How many cups of coffee have I given you?”
He smirks. (Let me tell you—Fischer smirks are the kind of smirks that make women instantly fall in love.) “I lost count,” he admits. “At least they were decaf.”
“But you didn’t have to drink them!”
He runs his fingers through my hair, tangling them up in my curls. I don’t want to imagine how frizzy my hair has gotten after the way we’ve spent this morning, though he doesn’t seem to have noticed. If nothing else, he doesn’t care. The look in his eyes hasn’t changed.
“Micah Taylor,” he says softly, “I drank them because you gave them to me.”
My heart does a strange, thunking stutter in my chest as those words sink in, and I grab his free hand to steady myself. “I’m going to ask you a question you’re not going to like,” I say.
His smile doesn’t change. “Ask me.”
“How long have you been attracted to me?” Oh goodness, that question sounds so self-centered. “Never mind. Don’t answer—”
He cuts me off with a kiss that is so gentle it brings tears to my eyes.
“I have been fascinated by you from the moment I met you. I’ve always found you beautiful.
I was jealous of Brennan at the park because he was braver than me, and I’ve thought about kissing you since the day we went to the caterer.
” He kisses me again. “I think I was in love with you long before I realized it.”
There’s that word again. Love . And unlike the last time, there is no hesitation or cloaking of his meaning. “You love me,” I whisper.
His eyes soften to a degree I didn’t think was possible for him, melting my heart with his gaze until I’m just a pile of emotion in his arms. “I tried not to.”
I can’t help but laugh. “I am so glad you failed.” Before he can kiss me, I grab hold of his loose tie and say, “Will you come to Halloween at my brother Chad’s house?”
His eyes go wide. “What?”
Goodness, he looks terrified. Is it really that daunting to hang out with my family again? He did just fine at trivia night. Oh, maybe that’s why…
Grinning, I run my fingers through his hair. “We won, remember? We don’t have to wear any crazy costumes. Actually, I should make sure we’re actually doing it this year. Hang on.”
Though Fischer groans in complaint, I pull my phone out and send a text to Chad.
Me: Are you going to be home for Halloween?
He answers immediately.
Grizz: Yeah, I’ll be there.
I didn’t realize how much I missed my brother until a wave of relief and excitement washed over me as soon as I read his response.
Me: Yaayyaayay! You can meet Fischer! And Brook is bringing Jordan! And apparently Houston is bringing a date though I have no idea who. Hopefully it’s Tamlin Park because he was totally flirting with her during the entire game of trivia last night!
Grizz: Tamlin Park? The reporter?
I proceed to tell him all about trivia night and how much tension there was between the two of them, all while Fischer does his best to distract me. He’s doing a marvelous job, and it doesn’t take long for me to give up on Chad and return my attention to the man in front of me.