Chapter 32
Thirty-Two
SEPTEMBER CURRENT DAY (MONDAY)
I look out of the wall of windows behind my desk and gulp. I grip the arms of my chair tight to keep them from shaking but my breathing picks up. Instead of the incredible view, I see my body falling through the glass and plummeting towards the ground. Why did we have to be on such a high floor in this building?
My eyes close and I turn my chair around. Slowly, I open them and try to convince my body that this office is actually on the ground floor. But the height is quickly forgotten when the man leaning against the doorframe comes into focus.
I take in all six feet of him. His suit jacket is off and the muscles in his arms ripple against the thin button up shirt. His honey-colored hair is perfectly in place—I want to run my hands through it and mess it up. His freckles aren’t as prominent because of how much sun his face has gotten lately, but up close they’re still there, in all their perfect chaos. His butterscotch eyes shine bright, with more love than I thought was possible—it steals the breath from my lungs.
“Come here often?” he says, his lips pulling up into a smirk.
I smile, fighting a laugh and say, with a shrug, “I’m new to town and this place came highly recommended so I thought I’d check it out.”
“And what do you think so far?” He steps into my office, and my heart pounds in time with each step he takes.
“It’s a little too far off the ground for my tastes, but the people are great so far.” I smile when he chuckles; the sound still coats me like liquid sunshine—warm and bright. “But ask me again in a few weeks, my mind might change by then.”
“About the height, or the people?” He’s only a few steps away now, and I stand, ignoring the question.
“What about you, is this a favorite spot of yours?”
“It is now,” he says, stopping right in front of me and holding out his hand. “Warren Mitchell.”
“Analise Summers.” I smile as I take his hand. “Looks like I’ll be your new neighbor.”
He tugs me closer and wraps an arm around my waist. In a voice that sends a shiver down my back, he says, “And what if I want to be more than just your neighbor?”
“Oh no.” I push against his chest and take a step away. “We said we could be professional at work. It’s day one and you’re already suggesting office sex.”
His eyes light up and his smile turns wicked. “Oh, Analise.” My eyes close at the way he says my name. “ I didn’t say anything about office sex. Once again it’s you who can’t stop thinking about it.”
My eyes fly open. Damn him. How does he always do this to me?
“I hate you,” I grumble.
“You love me.” He grins and the corners of my frown twitch up.
“I love you and I hate you.”
“That I can deal with,” he says, moving closer and leaning in until his lips are at my ear. “Hate sex is hot.”
“Keep this up and you’re sleeping on the couch tonight.” It comes out shaky and I feel his smile grow.
“You don’t want to do that.” His voice is pure sin. We’re playing with fire here, but as much as I love it, I won’t let us mess up on the first day. No matter how tempting he is.
“And why’s that?”
“Because I think you’re going to enjoy what I have planned for you tonight.” He runs his hand down my back as he says it and I suck in a breath.
“You better leave before you get me in trouble on my first day.” My voice is nothing but a breathy whisper.
“I think your boss would be forgiving this once . . .” His lips press against my jawline, and I laugh.
“ My boss isn’t the one I’m worried about, I’ve heard he can be bribed easily,” I tease. “But I promised my boss’s boss.”
He groans, but when he pulls back there’s a smile on his face. “How about a kiss to get me through the day?”
“Now that’s something I will gladly agree to.” His lips press against mine and I sigh. “I’ll see you later.”
As he’s walking towards the door, Peter enters and presses his lips together as he looks between us. Warren smiles at him then leaves so fast you’d think he was late for something. Peter watches him go then turns to me with an expression that says he’s trying to be tough, but there’s amusement in his eyes and a smile pulling at his lips.
“I’m going to regret this decision, aren’t I?” he teases, a full smile growing on his face.
“Oh, absolutely,” I say, and we both laugh.
It wasn’t until I moved here last week that I realized how close Warren and Peter actually are. Outside of work, they’re best friends. It didn’t take long for me to realize Peter was the one who suggested Warren start going to therapy. Even though he didn’t know everything prior to coming to Hartford, he knew enough to piece together what was happening and who I was to Warren. And he felt no shame stepping in at times to push us together.
In the past week, we’ve seen him and Mac many times. I’m not worried about him misinterpreting my humor anymore, and I understand his better now—he’s even more relaxed here than he was in Hartford. It’s nice to have real friends from the start.
“You guys still good for dinner tonight?” he asks. As much as we can pretend it’s a dinner to celebrate my first day of work here, it’s really just another double-date night.
I smile and nod. “We’ll be there.”
* * *
At the end of the day, Warren stops by my office, and we head home together.
“I hope my boss thinks I did a good job on my first day.” I bump my shoulder into his on the walk.
He grins at me. “You know, he actually asked if I could tell you to tone it down a bit. If you were that impressive on day one, soon he’ll be reporting to you.”
I laugh. “I’ve heard he has quite the fetish for bossy women, he might like it if that happened.”
He grabs my arm and pulls me off to the edge of the sidewalk, kissing me the way he can’t at work—long, slow, and deep.
“You might be onto something,” he whispers against my lips. “Do you think there’s time for me to take you home before dinner?”
I check the time and even though there’s not a lot of it, I say, “If we run.”
His face lights up like the sun— my sun —and I almost can’t believe the last month was real. That he came back to Hartford, that we mended this relationship, that we’re both still so in love with each other, that I now live with him in D.C. Everything finally feels exactly how it’s supposed to be.
Ali, Trent, Sterling, and Will are all coming to visit at the end of the month and we’re obviously still planning to go back to Hartford for Sterling and Will’s wedding in November.
For the first time, I don’t feel like I have to give up anything—Warren, my friends, my career, or even my dad. So far, he’s kept up with his meetings and is getting close to one month sober. That relationship is slowly re-building, but I’m trying to give him a chance. When we go back to Hartford we plan to see him, but I haven’t invited him out here just yet. Maybe for the holidays if all goes well up to then.
Warren grabs my hand and starts running back to our place, even picking me up and carrying me when I can’t keep up in my heels. We laugh and smile as we maneuver through the streets of our new city, our new home.
He’s still carrying me as we step through the door of our place. “Welcome home, Miss Summers.”
“Keep this up and you might get promoted to Mr. Summers.” I pull his lips to mine.
“What am I now?” he asks between kisses.
“The sun, obviously,” I say against his lips, and smile at the laugh it pulls from him.
“No.” He pulls back, shaking his head. “I’m your sun.”
“Summer and her sun.” I point between us with a bright smile on my face and the love that washes over his features steals the breath from my lungs.
“Exactly,” he whispers. Then his lips crash into mine and there are no more words shared between us other than “I love you.”