SIX
HEATH
“Why are you smiling?” Meadow asks when I enter the conference room.
“Because it’s ramen night. Get your stuff.”
She looks down at her laptop and all the files she’s got spread out around her. “I’m still working.”
“See you kids tomorrow,” Craig says before he’s out of his seat and walking toward the door. He doesn’t have to be told twice.
“Come on, the office is closed, and you can’t finish this tonight.” She gives me a look like she wants to bet, and I shake my head. “Let’s go. If we’re not there by seven, they won’t seat us.”
“Who says I’m going to dinner with you?” She finally gets up and grabs her stuff.
“I do, and I know for a fact that Briar isn’t having dinner with you tonight.”
“They say if you eavesdrop on conversations, you won’t like what you hear.” Meadow glares at me, and I wish I could tell her how cute she is when she does that.
“It’s hardly eavesdropping when you two were standing in the public hallway discussing it. Besides, the point is she’s working late, and you don’t have plans. Ramen is literally the best food on the planet, so get your ass up, and let’s feast.”
“You’re so bossy.” Meadow huffs as we walk to the elevators.
As we stand in comfortable silence, I think about the fantasy I have more often than any others. It’s the one where we work together and we get to spend our days teasing each other and sneaking into spare closets to make out. It’s having lunch in my office and then a hot fuck on top of my desk. It’s nights where we leave together and go out to dinner or go home and make it ourselves. Sure, I think about Meadow naked and spread out on my bed, but I also think about lazy Sundays where she puts on one of my shirts and we do a crossword puzzle. I also think about our kids and if they’ll have her nose or mine.
“What are you concentrating so hard on?” she finally asks when the elevator doors open and we step on.
“You,” I answer honestly and then hold open my jacket for her to wear. “Here, put this on.”
“I’m fine, it's not that cold. You can wear it.”
“It’s dropped twenty degrees since lunch. Put it on.” I stand there holding it out, and for a moment it’s a battle of wills. I don’t know why she pushes so much when she knows I’m right. Okay, so maybe I do, but it’s fun to see her give in.
“Fine, but don’t get pissed when I accidentally spill soy sauce all over it.” Her smirk makes my insides warm as she buttons up the coat that swallows her small frame.
“Don’t fret over that,” I say as I tuck the collar around her neck. “I’ll send you the drycleaning bill.” Then I wink at her, and she looks adorably pissed.
“You would.” She tries to hide the edge of her smile, but it’s no use.
My hands are still on the collar of the coat as the elevator descends and we stare at one another. It’s like the moment earlier in my office all over again, and I want to tell her everything that I’m feeling.
“Do you have any idea what you mean to me?” I confess, and her smile drops. Her eyes meet mine, and her lips part as I bend down closer. “All this time I’ve been waiting.”
“Waiting for what?” she asks, and I feel her breath against my lips.
“For you to stop hating me.” I brush my mouth gently over hers and breathe her in. Her lips are full and soft, and I can’t help but glide my tongue over the bottom one that she bites when she’s concentrating.
The kiss is slow, like time has stopped, and I drink in every detail of it. I want to take her soul and fuse it to mine so that she can’t ever be away from me again. For years, I’ve waited to make her mine, and now that the time has come, I don’t know if I can let her go.
Her chin tilts up, and I feel her tongue touch mine with gentle pressure. She’s unsure, but how can she be when this is our destiny? She’s my forever, and I plan on binding her to me from this moment on.
Just then the elevator doors open, and Nelly is standing there. “There you are,” she says and looks between Meadow and me. “I was on my way to your office.”
I can feel Meadow physically and emotionally pulling away, and I’m so caught off guard because I don’t expect it. Is she embarrassed to be caught kissing me? I’m still in shock as the collar of the coat slips from my fingers and she darts off the elevator.
“See you tomorrow,” Meadow calls out as she practically runs outside.
“I’ll be right back,” I say to Nelly as I move around her and chase after Meadow.