17. Reed
“Thai today?”
Reed lifted his fingers from the keyboard and grinned. He knew that voice. He had missed that voice.
“Depends on who’s asking,” he teased right back before turning in his desk chair to find Maya standing in the doorway of the office they used to share.
She was grinning at him, wool coat in one hand and the other on her hip, looking every bit the city girl she was in a snug black sweater and jeans with her long hair framing her beautiful face. Nearly every inch of her skin was covered, but the form-fitting outfit left nothing to the imagination, showing off her curvy figure and reminding him of the first time he’d seen her in jeans that night he’d dropped by her house unannounced over the summer.
He stood from his chair and walked toward her, prompting her to enter the office. Just like old friends, they walked to each other with arms open to greet one another with a hug. He slipped his arms over her shoulders while hers went around his waist. His lips grazed the side of her cheek leaving a light peck before fully enveloping her in a hug. God, it felt good to have her back. They squeezed each other tightly, lingering past the point he would with any old friend before pulling away.
“I wasn’t expecting to see you yet,” he said, his eyes roaming over her face and body, taking her in after all these months.
“I got into town last night.” She was beaming, apparently just as happy to see him as he was to see her. She looked down and ran her hand over her cheek before meeting his eyes again. “I thought I’d stop by to say hello before the office closes for the holidays.”
“Well, it’s good to see you.” He took a step back, restoring some semblance of personal space between them. “You look great.”
“So do you. You finally ditched the suits, I see,” she said with a smile as she gestured towards his jeans.
“Yeah, I figured they couldn’t expect much from part-time help.”
They smiled at each other for a moment longer. His eyes continued to take in the subtle and not so subtle changes that came with time away from someone you were once used to seeing everyday. Eventually he noticed her looking over his shoulder, though, at the files stacked on his desk and the document pulled up on his computer screen. He laughed quietly. He knew she wouldn’t be able to help herself.
“What are you working on?”
“A response to Jonas Hill’s latest bullshit claim,” he said, tossing a glance toward his desk. “I’m struggling. This was always something you did better than me.”
“You want a second opinion?”
“You don’t have to do that. You’re on vacation.”
“You know I don’t mind. In fact, I’m dying to see what he said.”
“Maya,” he warned.
“Come on, Stanton.” She stepped in a little closer, a troublesome smirk forming on her lips as she invoked his last name like she used to when they were partners. “It’s still our case,” she whispered.
He looked back and forth between her and his desk a few times, then brought his hand up to pinch the bridge of his nose. Resistance was futile when it came to her, but why would he deny her and himself anyway?
“Okay, we can do some work, but,” he stressed as he held up a finger before she started a premature celebration, “then you’ve got to let me take you out for lunch.”
“Deal.”
Reed stepped over to his desk and rolled out his chair for her, allowing her to settle in before he pushed it back into place. He rested his forearms over the back of the chair so he could look over her shoulder while he brought her up to speed, but he quickly realized that wasn’t necessary at all since she was already scrolling through the document on her own.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” she muttered as she read through it, scoffing and snidely chuckling at specific lines she found particularly ridiculous. “No. Not happening.”
He just stood back and let her do her thing, smiling as he observed and read along himself. He had missed this. He had just plain missed her.