She missed them more every day, so maybe she was getting there.
She glanced at the clock—ten minutes before her alarm. There was no point in closing her eyes again, so she got out of bed and got ready for work.
When she arrived at her desk, she found two things.
One, her entire computer was covered in plastic wrap. Tower, screen, keyboard, mouse. All of it. And thick, too—her computer could survive an explosion with the multilayered protection around it.
Two, a steaming cup of coffee from her favorite coffee shop.
She hadn’t even looked up yet, but she knew she’d find Noah’s light on. She was often the first one in, and when his car was in the lot before hers, it was usually because he’d arrived early to mess with her workspace. She grabbed the warm drink that smelled like caramel heaven and walked to his office.
She stopped in the doorway, fixing him with her best glare, trying to pretend he hadn’t completely thrown her for a loop last night.
He didn’t even look up. “Morning.” He said it like nothing was out of the ordinary.
And in a way, it wasn’t. This was standard operating procedure. Last Friday she’d covered everything on his desk with Post-it notes.
It was that pesky proposal that had her stomach turning over itself, but she wasn’t going to be the one to bring it up.
“Your use of plastic isn’t good for the environment,” Mia said.
“Recycle it.” He still hadn’t looked away from his computer screen. A single pink Post-it remained on the back, and she wondered if he’d missed it.
“You gonna help me get it off?”
“Did you help me the time you put cups of water around my desk like a castle moat?”
She had not.
She took a sip of her coffee, savoring the sweet flavor. He knew exactly how she liked it. Without conscious thought, she let out a little sigh.
She lowered the cup to find his gaze on her face.
A few seconds of silence passed and he leaned back in his leather chair. “Stop thinking so hard and just marry me already.”
She nearly dropped hot coffee all over her shoes. Her eyes darted to the open doorway.
“No one else is here,” he said, guessing what she was thinking.
Still, she turned and closed his door before sitting across from him. She cupped the warm drink between her palms, unsure how to begin.
“Mia.” His voice was low and even.
“Noah.” Hers came out unusually high-pitched.
She kept her eyes on his immaculate desk.
“Look at me.”
Something in his voice forced her eyes to his. He looked at her the same way he always did—with focus, friendly affection...maybe a hint more intensity than usual. But overall, he just looked at her like he was Noah and she was Mia.
So what was it about this moment that had her breath trapped in her lungs?
“Don’t make this a bigger deal than it is,” he finally said.
That sent an exhale between her lips. “Marriage isn’t a big deal? Insurance fraud isn’t a big deal?”
He pursed his lips and glanced around briefly, as if to confirm his earlier assertion they were alone. “Insurance fraud isn’t why you’re hesitating.”