Reece smirked. “So glad to get the Christopher stamp of approval. Now what other things do you know about her that I don’t?”
Christopher burst out laughing. “Man, you fuckin’ this chick. You practically already live with her. I think you know everything I know.”
“Good point,” Reece replied, and the two ended their conversation before walking into the meeting.
“You coming over?” Bailey asked at the end of the workday. It was 6:03 P.M.; she’d missed her 6:00 P.M. scheduled departure and didn’t even take notice.
“May I?” Reece asked, sitting on the edge of her desk.
Bailey grinned. “After six months, it’s ‘May I?’”
“Six months? I thought it was seven.”
“Six or seven,” she said, packing her bag. “And yes, you may.”
“How about the next night?” Reece asked.
“Yes.”
“What if I just stayed with you over the weekend?” he went on, watching her face carefully.
“You usually do. And I don’t mind at all,” she replied.
“What if I just stayed with you next week, too? Maybe we could drive together to work,” he suggested.
“Okay.”
Reece grew bold. “What if I just stay with you indefinitely? And move my three things in? And, you know, just live with you?”
Bailey froze. “What?”
Reece said nothing. She heard him. He didn’t need to repeat it. He simply waited for an answer to a question he had no business asking at work. What the hell was wrong with him that he felt compelled to talk about really personal shit at work? First the “I love you” and now the “May I move in with you?” Why not just get on his knee and propose while he was at it? Do the whole office romance thing just right. Have the wedding ceremony in the conference room!
Bailey stood up slowly, hooking her work bag and purse over her shoulder.
“No one’s ever wanted to move in with me,” she said softly. “Not even my fiancé.”
“Your what?!”
“No,” Bailey said. “You don’t get to do that. Don’t look at me all shocked. First you tell me you love me in the copy room. And now you’re asking to move in with me while we’re standing in my cubicle. So yeah. I get to drop the bomb about my ex-fiancé and do it right here at work.” She folded her hands over her chest and waited.
“I don’t even know how to process that!”
“I was engaged. He broke it off last year. Last spring, to be exact.”
“How long were you together?”
“Two years, give or take,” Bailey replied.
“Why did it end?”
“He couldn’t handle my condition. It just became too much. He said I had issues he wasn’t willing to deal with in the long term.”
“Asshole.”
Bailey smiled. “It hurt my feelings, but it made sense, too. I know I’m not the easiest person to love . . .”
“Are you kidding me?” Reece hopped up from the desk and took hold of Bailey’s shoulders. “You’re too easy to love. That’s your real problem. You know how I know that? Because I can’t stay away from you. I just wanna be with you all the time. You’re my favorite person, Bailey. That’s not hard. That’s a cakewalk.”
“I’m gonna remember those words when you start seeing all of it,” she replied.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean when you move in. And you really see. You may find you’ll have an entirely new perspective about me.”
“I’ll just love you even more,” Reece said.
She flooded his heart with those words: “When you move in.” He thought he wouldn’t mind drowning in them. She could hop on her surfboard and paddle out to save him.
“Do you mean it?” he asked.
“Mean what?”
“That I can move in. I mean, do you really want me to?”
Bailey nodded. “More than anything.”
“And you promise to give me all the details of this engagement? Because I gotta admit I’m still thrown.”
She laughed. “Well, it’s not my favorite thing to talk about, but I think you deserve to know. I mean, now that we’re living together.”
Reece led her out of the office doors.
“I’m particular,” Bailey said as they stood in the parking lot. “But if we’re gonna do this, we’re gonna do this right.”
“Okay.” Reece had no idea what she was talking about.
“You’re not moving into my house. You’re moving into our house. And I know you don’t have much furniture or anything, but I want what’s important to you to fill the spaces in our home.”
“That’s really just a tackle box and some books,” Reece said.
“And that’s fine,” Bailey replied. “What about your stuff in storage?”
“My tools?”
Bailey nodded.
“Where would I put them?”
“I have a shed. Remember the shed you rebuilt for me? Our shed. Why don’t you move your tools in there?”
He nodded.
She could say it and hope it wouldn’t offend him. “I’m . . . I’m adopting you.”
He stared at her—quiet, serious—and she wished she could take it back.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered.
“Say it again,” he demanded.
She furrowed her brows and repeated the words: “I’m adopting you.”
“For good?” he asked.
“Yes.”
He wrapped his arms around her and picked her up, twirling her in circles in the office parking lot. She laughed and squealed, then sighed into his mouth as he kissed her deeply. Right there. At work. Where they weren’t supposed to be kissing. Where they weren’t supposed to be together at all. He kissed her with one thought: how he would make love to her tonight—do anything she wanted—worship her—because she loved him and wanted to give him a home.
He set her on her feet and pulled his car keys from his bag.
“I’ll see you at home,” he said as he walked to his car.
She stood outside her car, watching as he pulled out of the parking lot. She thought about sharing her world with him, the changes that would come, and she anticipated nothing but fun. That was Reece. Fun. They were about to have so much fun together. But first, she needed to get home. Hers was the only house key.
But that was about to change.
***