Chapter 12
Gavin
We worked late last night.
We’re working late tonight, ready to have a mock presentation for our testing to take place with actual people tomorrow. I have three of my staff present, and Emily has four of hers. We’re providing notes and switching up product demonstration boards mid-test.
Emily sits beside me. Her arm grazes mine as she reaches into the center of the table and grabs a bottled water. She sits back down, and her chair is close to mine, which makes her body closer to mine.
Every part of me itches to place my hand on her leg or to put my hand over hers. But I refrain.
We hooked up the other night after the bar. I brought her back to my place and took her straight to my bed. She didn’t emerge from my bed until the following afternoon. As much as I wanted to keep her in my bed, we both had shit to do.
But I haven’t stopped thinking about her since.
Having her so close to me right now is making my thoughts run rampant. My knee bounces under the table and she sits back, eyes me, and then places her hand on my leg.
She turns to me, her hand still on my knee under the table.
“Meet me in the kitchen.” She stands and leaves the room. I look around the room and notice that no one pays any attention and I follow.
“Are you okay?” she asks as soon as I’m in the space.
“What? Yeah, no, I’m fine.” I say, stopping next to her.
“The bounce in your leg says otherwise. Seriously, what’s going on?”
“I’m just eager to get to some conclusion here. We can make changes all day and night. We’ll always see something that we need to change. We’re ready.”
“Oh, that’s all?” she asks, playing with the pendant on her necklace.
“What else would it be?” I ask.
“Nothing. I just noticed that you get fidgety. I just want to make sure that everything is alright,” she explains.
I turn to face her, my hand moving to the countertop right at her hip. I leave a little space while I lean in.
“I’m fidgety because my hands are dying to touch you. I’m fidgety because I want nothing more to put my lips on your skin, and I want nothing more than to claim you as mine on top of the conference room table.” My lips ghost her ear, and I can visibly see her skin rise with goose bumps with my words and her pulse jump.
She’s still as a deer in headlights, while I pull back slightly, my lips a breath away, skating across her cheek.
There’s no one around us. And I use that as an opportunity. I take her mouth with mine. I pull her by the hip against me and deepen the kiss.
She gives in and kisses me back. Her fingers raked through my hair. And then one second later, it’s all gone. She’s standing a few feet away from me, readjusting her shirt and wiping her mouth.
I am about to ask her why she pushed me away when two of her staff come walking in. I didn’t hear them before, but I sure as hell do now.
“How?” I whisper to Emily.
“Hey, guys. Oh, shit. Are you guys having a private conversation?” the woman asks.
“No, no. We’re just stretching our legs and talking new timelines.” Emily says quickly while widening her eyes at me.
“Yeah. Looks like we’re ready to go tomorrow, right?”
“You guys already put out the word for test audiences?” her counterpart asks.
“We did. We’re ready. You guys are ready. We just wanted to make sure that we’re moving forward.”
“We’ll be ready tomorrow.”
We all return to the conference room as if nothing happened moments before.
We stand behindthe privacy glass and watch the demonstration with the testing audience. Michelle stands between Emily and me. Each time we see a smile, I fight the urge to high-five. But by the end of the day, it’s safe to say that our marketing materials and the project are green-lit and ready to present to our client.
I make a beeline straight to my office and call my assistant in.
“I need you to set up meetings with our client. Let them know that it’s time to deliver and we want to get something on the books either Thursday or Friday, preferably Thursday. If they can do it first thing in the morning, all the better.”
“Sir, don’t they need more notice?” she asks.
“They know this is coming down the pipeline. It won’t be new information. We just need a seat at their table for a few hours to show them what we got.”
“Yes, sir.” She says.
“Oh, and Melinda. I need another conference room the night before, whichever day the client can do, and dinner. Invite Jackson, Mandy, and Julian from our team. And from Emily’s team, Janet, Clay, and John.”
“Purpose of the meeting?”
“Final run-throughs, and last-minute prep,” I tell her.
She walks out and I observe her typing on her keyboard, then pulling the phone to her ear. As I watch her mouth move, Emily comes into the office. Today, she’s dressed in jeans, a band t-shirt, and a blazer. She looks punk rock, but also with a hint of elegance.
The smile on her face is infectious.
“We did it. We’re ready to go.” She squeals.
“And Melinda is penciling the remaining in.”
“Oh, perfect. We should also do one more run through.” She offers.
“We will. Melinda will set that up after she confirms when we will present.”
“Good. Good. Anything else for me to do?”
“Meet me for dinner tonight? Clearly not here.”
She looks around, cautiously.
“I’m not asking for the moon. I just want to have a quiet night out. Let’s call it a celebration or something.”
“A celebration? Gavin, we have finished nothing. We shouldn’t put the cart before the horse,” she tells me sternly.
“Okay, fine. I want to spend some time with you. Not in a bar or a club. At a place where we can just hang out.”
“Gavin.”
“Emily.”