Chapter 8
Oh my goddess, I thought, please tell me I didn’t just ruin everything.
I had read in magazine interviews that Andrew took work very seriously. Did he think I wasn’t being professional enough for engaging in personal matters during work hours? I didn’t want this minor detail to affect his impression of me.
Or-worse yet-did he really think that I was on a date during work hours, in my company’s own store? I couldn’t let such a rumor get back to Lily, even if it would be easy enough to straighten out by telling her that I was talking to Noah. Any lack of professionalism could ruin my reputation in the eyes of potential clients-and the Alpha King.
I leapt to my feet and said, “I’m so sorry, Andrew. This is my lawyer, Noah. I had some things to go over with him.”
A minute or two passed, but it felt like an eternity.
Suddenly, the anger rolling off of Andrew dissipated. His posture relaxed, and his face melted into a smile. The oppressive atmosphere that had come over us the second Andrew stepped into the shop disappeared just as quickly as it had fallen.
“Oh, you don’t have to explain anything to me,” he said. The edge was not quite gone from his voice, but it was much more cheerful than it had been moments before.
I let out a breath that I didn’t know I had been holding. My own b*dy relaxed, but not fully. I could feel Susan still ready to pounce inside of me.
After a reaction like that, it was hard to believe that I didn’t need to explain myself to him. I didn’t know what that was about, but I did know that I would need to be more cautious when interacting with Andrew in the future.
Noah cleared his throat. Andrew and I both turned to him, and he jumped like a startled mouse.
“I should probably be going now,” he said, his voice meek and timid.
I felt bad sending him off that way, but given what had just transpired, it was probably for the best. I didn’t want him to get caught in the crossfire of whatever was going on between Andrew and me.
“All right,” I said. I wanted to touch his shoulder in reassurance, but with Andrew still standing right there, I decided it was better not to. “Thank you so much for
your help.”
“No problem.”
Noah glanced between Andrew and me and back again before his eyes settled on me. I could practically see the gears working in his mind, but what conclusion he came to, I wasn’t sure. Whatever it was, it seemed to steel his resolve and straighten his spine.
“I’ll be in contact,” he said more firmly than I had heard him the entire time since we had first met. I liked it, this take-charge version of Noah.
“He really likes you,” Susan said again, but I shook her off.
“Of course, I really appreciate it,” I told Noah. “Any time that you find something noteworthy, you can text me, call me, e-mail me, whichever is most convenient.”
Noah nodded his understanding. He stared at me for a moment, his eyes alight with puppy love and something deeper that I could not quite identify, before he looked away.
I watched him collect his papers and then walked him to the door, wondering what could possibly be going through his mind.
As soon as Noah left, Andrew placed his hand on my shoulder, causing me to face
him.
“Well, now that your affairs seem to be in order, at least for now, shall we get down to business?”
He gestured to the table that Noah and I had been sitting at moments before.
I nodded.
“Of course. Let me just get Lisa’s binder, and I’ll be right with you.”
Andrew flashed one of his disarming smiles.
“Take your time.”
I smiled back and scurried to the filing cabinet behind the counter, where we kept all the binders on our current projects. It wasn’t hard to find Lisa’s; it was the thickest one out of all of them. Heaving the thing out of the filing cabinet probably counted for my daily workout.
“So,” I said as I shut the cabinet, “what would you like to discuss today? Catering?
Music?”
“Those would both be lovely, plus an update on the budget.”
Always with the budget. For someone whose job was more diplomatic, he surely had an entrepreneurial mind. It was yet another thing to love about him.
“I have some ideas for the decorations that I would love to go over with you as
well.”
I sat down next to him and opened the binder.
“Sounds like a great idea,” he replied. He scooched closer to me, our shoulders and thighs almost touching…although not quite enough for me. “Where do you want to start?”
“Well, as much as I would love to discuss all these fabulous details, there is one more technical and more pressing detail that we really need to get on first.”
“Oh?”
Andrew co cked his head to the side like a puppy. It was, frankly, adorable, and I couldn’t help the grin that spread across my face.
I fl*pped through the pages to a blank year-round calendar.
“The wedding date. The venue I showed you is ready to have any room available any time that we need it because it’s your daughter’s wedding, but…well…they need to know when exactly that will be. You know, for preparations, to avoid double- bookings, all that.”
“Right. I should have thought of that. I guess with my busy schedule, I hadn’t really given that any thought.”
I arched a brow at him.
“Really? You hadn’t given when the wedding should be any thought because of your busy schedule?”
He laughed. “I know. It sounds a bit…”
“Backwards? Unproductive?”
“Yeah, I suppose you could call it that.”
“Well, now that you are thinking about it, when do you think would be a good time
for the wedding?”
Andrew rubbed his chin, deep in thought.
“Let me take a look.”
He pulled out his phone and started scrolling through his calendar.
“I know they want to get married as soon as possible, but I’m pretty booked for the next couple of months. A lot of meetings. I can’t imagine that any sooner than that would work well for the venue, either.”
As he swiped up on his phone, his hand swept backwards and lightly touched the back of mine where Noah’s had earlier.
My heart raced. Color rushed to my face. On reflex, I pulled my hand away, which caught Andrew’s attention.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “Did I-”
“No, no. It’s just…you surprised me a little, that’s all.”
I blushed harder and stared down at the binder as though it were the most interesting thing in the world.
I chastised myself. I would not become undone like a schoolgirl around her first crush. He had to be seduced by me, not the other way around, even if Susan said I was already completely smitten by him.
Yet with Andrew so close to me, his unique scent of Labdanum and sea salt made both Susan and me restless.
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