I nodded, smiling at him. Instead of picking up a box, he walked across the room and stopped a few feet in front of me.
“I’m glad you finally agreed to live with me,” he whispered, the sparkle back in his eyes, gold flecks catching the light.
My heart swelled, burst, and pooled at my feet. “Me, too.”
“You know I love you, right?”
“I do,” I said breathily. “I love you, too.”
“Marry me?” he asked, grinning from ear-to-ear.
“Not today.”
MAX
I entered Alexander Industries from the side door outside my office. I tossed my briefcase and the plans I should’ve been working on the night before onto my desk.
I tried to wipe the smile off my face, but I couldn’t. I knew I was going to be as useful as a bucket without a bottom all day.
I leaned against my desk and recalled Kari placing her things around the house. A picture of her parents next to the one of mine on the mantle above the fireplace. Her necklaces draped off the mirror in the bathroom. Her jewelry boxes on the dresser in the bedroom. Her things mingled together with mine settled something inside me, soothed a part of me I didn’t know was raw. It just felt natural. Complete.
I smiled wider as I checked my email and voice messages.
“Max. Dan. If you don’t get my last check sorted out today, I’m going to come in there and raise hell. I’ve left Hilah a couple of messages and I’m not fucking waiting anymore.”
What a way to start the day.
I shot Hilah an email and cc’d Cane, asking her what was going on with it. A reply came back right away that she took care of it and that Dan was coming by later that morning to sign off. She also asked a few questions about our new hire, Ms. Samantha West.
As soon as I read the last word, my email pinged again. This time from Cane.
To: Max Quinn
From: Cane Alexander
Re: Seriously?
Tell me there’s a huge fucking mistake somewhere. I know I didn’t just read that right.
I grabbed the back of my neck and heaved out a breath.
This might be harder than I expected.
I pushed away from my desk and started towards Cane’s office.
Might as well grab the bull by the horns.
I saw Sam’s blonde curls through the glass doors separating the offices from the front desk. She caught my eye and flashed me a wide smile and a small wave. Figuring I should say something to her before Cane, I walked up the hallway and pushed through the glass.
“Good morning, Max,” she said happily.
“Hi, Sam. Are ya settled in?”
She was poised behind the marble-topped front desk, mailing labels shooting out of the printer beside her.
“Yes. Hilah met me up here when I arrived. She showed me around.” Sam glanced around the front desk and shrugged. “I have everything organized already and was kinda bored, actually. I’m helping Norm in accounting with some invoices now.”
See? This will work out just fine.
“Great. If you need anything, just let me or Hilah know.”
“I do need one thing, actually,” she said. “Lucy seems to have taken her keys with her and I don’t have a key to the plan or supply closets. Hilah said she’d make me a copy this afternoon, which is fine, but I need to grab some printer paper now and she’s with a guy named Dan.”
I looked through the other glass door to Hilah’s office. “Dan came in?”
She nodded. “He was pretty upset. I’m not sure what’s going on, but Cane flew in there right behind him.”
“If you need anything, just buzz me, okay?” I reached in my pockets and grabbed my keys and tossed them on her desk. “Those are my keys. You can copy all the ones with a blue ring around them. They’re just the communal keys for the office and should be everything you need.”
“I’ll use them now and then get them copied at lunch, if that’ll work.”
“That’s fine.”
The phone rang and Sam picked it up. “Alexander Industries,” she said cheerfully.
Hilah’s door opened and Cane stormed out, heading straight for me. He swung open the glass forcefully, his face marred in frustration. He looked down at Sam and scowled and nodded to me and towards my office.
I sighed and turned towards the hallway.
“Good morning, Mr. Alexander,” Sam said to Cane’s back as he followed me out. Cane ignored her.
We were silent as we marched down the hall. It was never good when Cane was riled up first thing in the morning. It just made for a long ass day.
I took my seat in my office and Cane shut the door behind him.
“What the fuck is that sitting at the front desk?” Cane asked, his hand on my filing cabinet.
“Sam needed a job—”
“Good for her. Why is she here?”
“She’s filling in for Lucy.”
“Are you kidding me?”
“No.”
Cane blew out a breath and sat across from me. “You know she’s certi-fucking-fiable, right?”