“Right,” I reply dryly and cross my arms over my chest. Devin’s eyes narrow a little while I glare at him.
“Mimi, as VP, you and Devin—as you are aware, will be working closely with one another, there’s an up-and-coming author whose book is extraordinary, and I want her to sign, but she’s adamant she wants to self-publish. I need you both to work on getting her to sign with us. I want that book.”
I sigh and chew the inside of my cheek. Under the table, my foot was twitching restlessly. I feel Ayla’s elbow digging into my side and turn my gaze to look at her.
“I almost dropped dead when daddy said that was Devin. Like seriously?” Ayla whispers to me, and I roll my eyes. “Whose face is that well chiselled. He looks like he just stepped out of a magazine. If ever there was a man carved by angels, it’s that specimen right there.”
“Oh my God, Ayla, shut up.” I hiss through gritted teeth. While he talks with my dad, I let my eyes rake over his face. I mean, she wasn’t wrong, but I didn’t want to think about how perfect his stupid face is. I’m furious with him, and I have no way of venting this anger inside of me without showing him how much he hurt me when he left—which is not going to happen.
The meeting finally comes to an end, and I hurriedly get up to my feet and walk out of the conference room as quickly as my legs would take me. Molly already had another coffee ready for me and followed me toward my office. “You have a conference call in two minutes.”
“Push it back,” I utter and walk into my office, push the door shut behind me and lean against it. I still couldn’t believe it. Devin was back. Just like that, he just pops back into my life after he took off without a damn word.
Ahh, I want to scream.
“It’s good to see you…” I mutter bitterly. “Is it Dev? Is it good because I can think of a million different words to better describe how it felt to see you, and none of them is good?” I rake my fingers through my hair and bite down on my lip. Maybe I can pretend I’m not feeling well and go hide under my duvet until he leaves again.
“No, I’m not going to hide. Screw him.” I huff and pace back and forth. A knock on my door stops me short, mid-pace. I look up when the door opens, and the man himself walks in.
Oh shit. You got this, Mira. Stay calm and be cool. Like he doesn’t even matter. You got this.
“Tinks,” My stomach tightens at the nickname, but I keep my face stoic while he walks in and closes the door behind him. “Do you have a minute?”
I clear my throat and force myself to nod. “Sure. What can I do for you?”
Devin’s brows fuse a little, and he smiles. “Well, I thought we could get reacquainted and catch up. Considering we’ll be working closely together moving forward.”
I blink and, for a long moment, just stare at him. “Reacquainted?” I repeat, and he nods, looking at me intently, the corners of his eyes squinting.
“Yes, it’s what people who haven’t seen each other in a while do after they meet again—get reacquainted.”
I scowl, “I know what reacquainted means, Devin.” The corner of his lips twitch a little, and he rubs his forehead like he’s trying to fight off the urge to smile. “I’m just not sure what you were expecting bolling in here after almost ten years. A hug?”
Devin takes a step toward me and rubs his jaw, “I mean, I wouldn’t say no.”
I scowl and cross my arms over my chest, “I would.”
“Tinks.”
“Stop calling me that. It’s Mira.” I snap irritably. Devin wets his lips and shakes his head as he takes another step toward me.
“Not to me,” He answers evenly. “To me, you’ll always be Tinks.” I lift my gaze to him when he towers over my five-foot-five frame. “And to you, I’ll always be Dev.”
“We’re not kids anymore, Devin,” I reply stiffly, making sure to put more emphasis on his name. “What made you suddenly decide to come back after such a long time?”
Devin stuffs his hands in his trousers’ pockets to the designer, custom-made navy suit he’s wearing. I’m not even going to get into how freaking good he looks in a suit. “I didn’t. My dad asked me too.”
“Why didn’t he come himself?”
“Do you want to grab a coffee?” I stare up at him, a little taken aback by his sudden request.
“I already have coffee.” I point to my cup sitting on my desk, and his eyes follow my finger, and he does that lopsided lazy grin he used to do when he was trying to convince me to do something.
“How about lunch?”
I roll my eyes and sigh. “I’m on a diet.”
Devin’s eyes rake over me and he frowns. “Are you trying to disappear? You don’t need to diet.” I wrinkle my nose at him, and he smiles.