CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Tara
When I arrived at work on Thursday morning, everything felt off kilter. I couldn’t remember the last time I took a day off, and it felt strange to be returning in the middle of the week. Still, I was excited to be there. Having an entire day to myself felt wrong, especially when it meant not seeing Sean for a full twenty-four hours. It surprised me just how much I missed him.
I stepped into the conference room, checking emails on my phone as I walked. I didn’t expect Sean to already be in the office, but when I looked up he was sitting at the table shaking his head at me.
“You know,” he said. “If you’re late like this, I may need to rethink our agreement.”
I chuckled and glared at him, feigning seriousness.
“Oh?” I asked. “You may want to check your contract, Mr. Yates. You’re locked in for the duration.”
“Well,” he teased. “If that’s the case, then maybe I need someone new to work with. Someone who can be on time to our meetings.”
I laughed and walked over to him. Paisley sat beside Sean with her sketchbook open and a colored pencil in her hand. When I approached, she set down her pencil and jumped to her feet. She hugged me quickly before she sat back down and continued her drawing. I watched her for a second before I turned my attention back to Sean. He was smiling at me.
“What?” I asked nervously.
He shrugged. “Nothing. It’s just nice to see.”
“What’s that?” I asked with a frown.
“You two together,” Sean said. He shrugged again, clearly trying to keep his voice casual, but it didn’t work. My heart leapt at his words. I blushed and cleared my throat awkwardly. There was so much I wanted to say in response, but we were at work and Paisley was sitting between us.
“So,” I said. “We should get started. I—”
“First,” Sean interrupted. “Where were you yesterday?”
“Oh,” I said, taken aback. “Your dad actually asked me to take the day off. He said he wanted to spend some time with you himself, that he had some things to discuss with you.”
“He certainly did,” Sean said under his breath. His expression changed quickly. He had been light-hearted and happy just seconds before, but now he looked like he was trying to control a sudden rage.
“He said he wanted to take you to lunch,” I continued slowly, watching Sean’s face with rapt attention.
“He did,” Paisley answered. I hadn’t realized she was listening. “We got pizza.”
“That sounds fun,” I said with a smile.
Paisley shrugged. “The arcade was pretty cool. But, we didn’t stay to eat. We took the pizza to go.”
I glanced up at Sean with a questioning look. He shook his head and looked away. He obviously didn’t want to talk about it, but it wasn’t in my nature to let things go.
“What did he want to talk about?” I asked. “He didn’t mention any specifics to me.”
“Nothing,” Sean said. He tried to wipe the anger off his face, but it was no use. I could already read him too well. “Just work stuff. I’m sure it’s nothing you haven’t already discussed with him.”
“Really?” I asked skeptically. “That’s it?”
“Yeah,” Sean nodded. He looked at me with conviction. He knew I didn’t believe him, but he was silently pleading with me to drop the subject. When I opened my mouth to argue, he glanced down at Paisley to remind me we weren’t alone. I closed my mouth quickly and nodded. I understood. There were some things Paisley didn’t need to hear.
“Okay,” I said. I smiled at Sean to let him know the conversation was over. “So, did you go over the files I left for you?”
“I did.” Sean nodded. He looked grateful to be talking about work. “My speech is tomorrow, right?”
“Right,” I said. “We should practice it today because I want it absolutely perfect. This is too important to mess up.”
“Have a little faith,” Sean joked. “I’ve done well so far, haven’t I?”
“You have,” I admitted. “Which is why we have to keep the ball rolling. We can’t afford to move backward. Not now that we’re finally gaining some real momentum.”
Sean rolled his eyes playfully and groaned. I knew he was just being difficult, but I still glared at him warningly. Yesterday was my first day off in longer than I could remember and I hated it. Now that I was back in the office, I was ready to get to work. Things were starting to look up for the company, and I wasn’t about to slow down now.
“So,” I said. “Your speech.”
I reached into my bag and pulled out a fresh copy. I handed it to Sean and watched while he looked it over. He nodded as he read, and I knew he recognized it from the day before. I smiled to myself. He hadn’t spent all day yesterday slacking off. Even when I wasn’t around, Sean still did his job. He’d come a long way from the slacker, attitudinal man I first met.
“Seems pretty straightforward,” Sean said when he finished skimming the paper. “Am I reading this word for word?”
“Yes,” I nodded. “That’s why we’re practicing. You need that memorized before tomorrow.”
“Memorized?” Sean blinked. “I won’t have the paper with me?”
“You will,” I said. “But it won’t look good if you continuously glance down. You need to know it already. The paper will only be there in case you forget something in the moment.”
“Okay.” Sean sighed. “This is going to suck.”
I laughed and shook my head. With a nudge, I pushed him to his feet. He grimaced at me and cleared his throat.
“Get going, mister,” I said.
***
Sean read his speech over and over, and I quickly began to memorize it myself. It wasn’t a long speech. I designed it to be no more than ten minutes, but it felt long to Sean. I knew he was having trouble by the way he stumbled over the words and constantly cleared his throat. Still, it was early and he had plenty of time to get it down.
When he messed up yet again, Paisley looked up from her sketchbook and shook her head slowly.
“Nope,” she said. “That’s not it.”
“How do you know?” Sean asked her with a surprised look.
“Because I’ve been listening to you practice for like eighteen thousand hours,” Paisley explained simply.
“I think someone’s bored,” I said with a meaningful look at Sean.
“Yeah, me,” Sean said with a groan. “I think we all need a break.”
“That’s not exactly what I was thinking,” I said mischievously.
Sean looked at me with nervous eyes, unsure what I was getting at. He watched me carefully while I reached in my bag and pulled out a bag of trail mix. I grinned and wiggled my eyebrows at him. Paisley glanced at the bag and frowned.
“What’s that for?” Paisley asked.
“Well,” I began. “It was supposed to be my snack for the day, but I think we can put it to better use.”
“What do you mean?” Paisley asked. She closed her sketchbook and focused her attention entirely on me.
“For each mistake your dad makes,” I said. “We throw one at him.”
“What?” Sean asked with a laugh. I grinned at him.
“You heard me,” I said. “Paisley and I need some entertainment and you need some motivation. This works perfectly.”
“I don’t know how I feel about this,” Sean said hesitantly.
“That’s the point!” Paisley laughed. “Let’s do it!”
“Look what you’re teaching her,” Sean scolded. “She’s an impressionable young girl and you’re corrupting her. I don’t think I can stand for this.”
Paisley reached into the bag of trail mix. She grabbed a peanut and threw it at Sean’s face. Sean’s eyes widened in shock, and Paisley laughed, a huge belly laugh the filled the conference room. I had never heard her laugh like that before and judging by the look on Sean’s face, neither had he. He grinned at me appreciatively before he looked back at Paisley.
“I see how it is,” he said. “You girls are ganging up on me.”
“Yup,” I nodded. “Now, get to work.”
I grabbed a raisin from the bag and poised my hand for the throw. Sean raised the paper in his hands to hide his face. I giggled and nudged Paisley with my shoulder. Paisley laughed back and grabbed a handful of trail mix, ready to throw when necessary.
For the next hour, Paisley and I took turns throwing pieces of food at Sean. Each time he stumbled over a word, he got beaned with a peanut or a raisin or a chocolate chip. He couldn’t pause too long or mutter the word “um” without one of us tossing things at his head. By the time the bag was half empty, Paisley and I were both flushed from laughter.
Sean was doing well, though. He quickly learned his speech to avoid any more flying food, and he even looked to be enjoying himself. He smiled every time Paisley laughed, and I knew he was having a great time.
When Sean finally got the hang of his speech, Paisley and I had less reasons to throw the trail mix. We started eating the pieces instead of using them as ammo. When lunchtime rolled around, the bag was empty and Sean’s speech was perfectly memorized.
“I think you’ve got it,” I said. I had to admit, I was impressed.
“Only because I was afraid you two might never stop,” Sean laughed.
Paisley shrugged. “We got hungry.”
Sean and I laughed.
“You’re ready for tomorrow,” I told Sean. I stood up to face him, and I smiled warmly as he walked toward me.
As we stood there, I had the urge to lean forward and kiss him. It wasn’t a new urge. I’d felt it on and off all day, but now that he stood so close to me, I had a hard time ignoring it. I cleared my throat and shuffled my feet nervously.
Sean stepped closer to me and glanced over at Paisley. He made sure she wasn’t looking before he kissed me swiftly. It was soft and quick, so quick I almost didn’t feel it. He stepped back and smiled. I laughed softly and felt my cheeks blush.
“I am ready,” Sean said. “Tomorrow will be great.”
“It will,” I agreed. “Now, you guys get out of here. Paisley, make sure Sean practices some more tonight, okay? You know what to do.”
I winked at Paisley and she winked back conspiratorially. Sean laughed behind me and gestured for Paisley to pack up her things.
“Remember,” Paisley said suddenly. “This weekend. You’re coming over, right?”
I glanced at Sean who just nodded.
“I remember,” I promised.
“Good,” Paisley said. “Because we’re going to make dinner and rent movies. Right, Sean?”
“That’s right,” Sean said with a nod. “We have it all planned out, so you can’t bail now.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it,” I swore. I grinned at Sean, my eyes drifting to his lips again. He knew exactly what I was thinking because he grinned back at me.
As he stepped around me to join Paisley, he brushed my arm with his fingertips. I felt a shock run through my body and I shivered. His touch was already so powerful, it could have knocked me over if I hadn’t been prepared for it.
Sean mouthed “goodbye” to me and ushered Paisley across the room. She turned and waved as they stepped out into the hallway. I watched them go, my heart aching with how much I already felt for them both.