Marin sits on the floor in front of my coffee table, which is stacked high with file folders. A cup full of steaming hot coffee balances precariously on top of one of our proposals.

“I’m going to miss this when we move into our new office,” Marin says, crossing her legs as she pops a torn-off piece of bagel into her mouth.

I take the cup and put it on the table, on a coaster where it belongs. “My furniture isn’t going to miss it.”

Marin playfully rolls her eyes. “Hey,” she replies with a smile. “Have I ever spilled?”

She has never spilled, a fact that I begrudgingly acknowledge.

“You’re always glaring at me and my beverages, but I’m not the one who has trouble keeping my caffeine in its cup.”

I suppose she’s right. I’ve ruined too many shirts with my morning espresso to have a leg to stand on here.

“Oh, good news.” Marin takes a sip of her coffee and puts it back on the coaster. Bless her for respecting my furniture neuroses. “I talked to Skipper. She’s gonna let us use the house for events.”

My stomach practically plummets to the floor and back into my throat thanks to my excitement. Marin’s grandmother—affectionately referred to as Skipper by everyone who loves her, which is…everyone—owns a beautiful property in Northern Virginia, right on a small lake. Skipper is loaded thanks to generations of wealth passed down to her, and her home is to die for. I’ve imagined the kinds of weddings and parties I’d plan there if we ever got the chance.

I never thought we’d get the chance. I could cry.

“I see that euphoria you’re trying to hide,” Marin teases. “The rates are going to be astronomical. She has a construction crew there doing improvements as we speak.”

“I don’t care how much it is,” I say, having to remind myself to breathe. “Anyone who would want that place would be willing to pay it. Oh my god, I’m so excited. Do you know what a draw this’ll be? She’ll give it to us exclusively, right?” Skipper spends most of her weekends at her penthouse in New York anyway, the house is usually empty save for the staff.

Marin doesn’t look nearly as excited as I feel, which is unusual considering this is great for business.

“Why are you making that face?”

“There’s a catch.”

Excitement? Gone. “What is it?”

“I don’t know,” she replies nervously. “She asked me to come over tomorrow to talk to me about it. She said she’s gonna make me an offer I can’t refuse.”

That makes me laugh. “Is she the Godfather now?”

Marin cracks a smile, but her nervousness is written all over her face. Like me, Marin went against her family’s expectations to start this business. Unlike me, she has a last name and a legacy to live up to, and more than a few people who wouldn’t mind watching her fail.

Skipper’s never been one of those people; she’s always been in Marin’s corner.

“I know this isn’t going to do much to calm your nerves, but Skipper loves you. She wants this business to succeed. She invested in it. She’s not going to drop a bomb on you tomorrow.”

“I know that logically.”

I nod. “I get it. Just think about all the hot construction workers you’ll get to see tomorrow. Maybe you’ll run into a shirtless, sweaty hunk who wants to show you how to use his hammer.” I waggle my eyebrows at her suggestively and that finally gets her to laugh.

“Depending on how things go, I might come back here grumpy.”

“I’ll take you grumpy,” I say, patting her hand. “I’ll keep you well stocked in chocolate chip cookies.”

Staring out at the road below our new office, Jesse’s footsteps echo off the walls as he walks across the empty space to where I’m standing in the back. He’s accompanied by the amazing smell of my favorite Thai takeout.

The plastic bag rustles as he drops it on my desk, one of only two pieces of furniture in here at the moment. The other is Marin’s desk, which is on the opposite side of the makeshift glass partition that temporarily separates our offices until we can get something more permanent brought in.

Jesse wraps his arms around my waist, then kisses my neck. I rest my hand on my cheek, and we both melt into each other, forgetting the stress of the day.

“My favorite guy with my favorite food,” I tease as the hair on the top of his head tickles my cheek. “What did I do to get so lucky?

“I missed you,” he says, standing up and turning me into his warm embrace.

“I missed you, too.” He’s on the tail end of another project, and the promise of getting to see each other more often is hanging in the air. For now it’s just the occasional lunch and dinner breaks, with Jesse crawling into bed with me a few hours before I have to wake up and start my day.

“Love what you’ve done with the place.”

“At least we have some furniture now,” I reply, looking at the shiny white desk behind me, then over at Marin’s.

“We’ll have to christen it.” He grins before he kisses me.

It’s a promising idea, but, “Mine only. Marin would kill me if she ever found out we had sex on her desk.”

Jesse pouts, and the only choice I have is to kiss it off of him. When we part, Jesse looks around our office. “I hate that partition,” he says, pointing at the glass. “It makes mid-day quickies impossible.”

“The sacrifices of a small business owner,” I tease. “Guess that gives me more motivation to level up so we can get a better office space. For mid-day quickies, of course.”

“It’s always good to have inspiration.” Jesse takes a look around the space, his expression getting serious. “You really did it.”

I did. We did, Marin and I. Having our own office space was the first marker of success I drafted out in my notebook when I had the crazy idea to start this business, and here we are.

“I love you,” Jesse says. “I’m so proud of you.”

I grin, because I’m proud of us, too. But I’m not the only one who’s made huge strides since we met. Jesse has too, both personally and professionally.

“I love you,” I reply with a smile. “And I’m proud of you.”

Hayley let slip the other day that Hunter is looking to expand the business, and he’s thinking about asking Jesse if he wants to be a partner.

“We’ve come a long way,” he tells me.

With a kiss, I say, “Yeah.” Then my stomach grumbles, breaking the moment.

Jesse chuckles, then turns and opens the take out bag. He wraps my chopsticks in a couple of napkins, then takes the top off my container of Pad See Ew before he hands it over.

I sit on the desk, and once he’s ready to eat, he sits next to me.

We eat together as I talk about my plans for the office. Jesse’s uncharacteristically quiet, though.

“Something on your mind?” I ask. I expect him to brush it off and assure me that no, there isn’t. But he doesn’t do that. He just shrugs and turns, propping his knee up on the desk so he faces me. “Yeah, actually.”

My heart trips over itself until it’s slamming into my ribcage double-time.

“What is it?”

He smiles. “Real estate.”

I don’t follow. I’m racking my brain to figure out what he’s talking about and…nothing. Does not compute.

Jesse takes what’s left of my food and puts it down on the desk before he takes both of my hands in his. This is a good sign, even though I don’t know why. It settles me a little.

“Your lease is up soon and so is mine. A lot of good things are happening. We’re good—”

“We’re great,” I interrupt.

He laughs and kisses the back of my hand. “We’re great. I was thinking it might be the right time to move in together.”

There goes my heart again, but this time for the best reasons. I’ve been wanting to broach the subject, but I’ve been nervous about it. Not that I needed to be, obviously.

“Yeah?”

He shifts, then gives me a nervous grin. “Yeah. I know I work awful hours sometimes, but I want to keep coming home to you. Somewhere that’s ours.”

I wasn’t sure we’d ever get here, but now that we are it feels better than I ever could’ve imagined.

I just lean over and kiss him.

“Is that a yes?” he asks, smiling against my lips.

“It’s an enthusiastic yes,” I reply, nodding.

We’re both grinning and kissing, and it’s a total mess, but I can’t keep my hands off of him.

We get a little carried away, and before I know it, Jesse’s tie is flung across the desk and his shirt is a crumpled mess on the floor. I’m sitting on my desk with my dress rucked up around my waist, Jesse kissing that spot behind my ear that makes me a little nuts.

A loud bang from the loading dock across the street sets Jesse on edge, and he looks over at the window, squinting against the sunlight streaming in. “You need to get some curtains.”

I rest my hand on his cheek, and turn his head until he’s focused on me. “Maybe,” I reply, wrapping my fingers around his belt and pulling him closer. “I’ll probably get some eventually. But right now? All I need is you.”