Page 65 of The Probability of Us

“Good morning,” I spit out, breathless.

Warren chuckles from his seat and Peter glances between us, a small smile growing on his face. “Good, you’re both here. Have a minute?”

I nod and gesture for him to join us. I compose myself as I move back to my chair and Peter takes the one beside Warren.

“What can we help you with?” I ask when no one else speaks.

“Are both of you free for dinner tonight?” Peter says and I blink a few times before registering what he said.

“I am,” Warren answers first, but he looks as confused as I feel.

“I’m free too,” I add.

“Great.” He stands and I’m thrown off again.Is that all? “Right after work, at the steakhouse next to the hotel?”

“Sounds good,” I say as he walks out the door and leaves us looking at each other like what just happened was all a dream.

“Any idea what that’s about?” I ask and he shakes his head.

“Not a clue.”

* * *

“Ready?” Warren’s head pops into the doorway of my office and the way the evening sun shines into the building and reflects through his hair makes my lungs forget how to function. He’s glowing. He’s golden. He’s gorgeous.

And he’smine.

It’s too much—this feeling, this love. Him being back. Him leaving again in three days. I turn thirty in a few months for fuck’s sake, he’s almost thirty-three, and we’re about to start a long-distance relationship—again—when it didn’t go so well the first time. We’ve got to be out of our damn minds.

But I see him standing before me now and I know I’d rather do long distance with him for the rest of my life than be with someone else. I love this man more than I love anything in this world. He is the beat of my heart, adding a beautiful melody to my life, the breath in my lungs keeping me alive, and the colors of a sunrise, shrouding my world with the promise of a new beginning.

“You need to stop looking at me like that,” he says, and it sounds more like a groan. “We’re about to go to dinner with my boss, who is now technically your boss too, and when you look at me like that, I lose all my sensibility. I have no control.”

I smirk at him. “Is that such a bad thing?”

“God, no.” The words come out as a laugh. “I love when you look at me like that. But why don’t we get through this dinner first, then you can look at me like that all night.”

“Fine, I can act normal around them.” I grab my bag, shut off my computer, and walk towards him, leaning in when I’m beside him. “But in my head, I’m always looking at you like that, just so you know.”

His eyes close and he takes a deep breath. As if on instinct, his hand drifts to my hip and squeezes. “Now you’ll have me thinking about that all evening.”

“You would’ve been thinking about it anyway.” I look around to make sure no one’s around before kissing him on the cheek. “Now, come on. It’s time to go.”

We meet up with Peter and Mac at the elevators, he hits the down button and as we step into the elevator I glance over at Warren who shrugs. He’s as in the dark about this as I am.

Is it just the four of us?I had assumed this was going to be a larger group.What the hell is this about?

We exchange polite small talk on the walk over and until we get seated. But it’s not till we get our drinks that Warren decides to broach the question looming over our heads.

“What’s this about, Peter?”

I’m not sure whether to be worried because Warren, the CFO of Peter’s company, doesn’t know what’s going on here, but Peter smiles and the sincerity of it eases my mind.

“This isn’t traditionally how I’d like to do this,” Peter starts, looking at me. “I haven’t even had the chance to run the idea by Warren, but since you two know each other, I’m hoping this can be more of an open discussion.”

“What idea?” Warren chimes in, voicing my question as well.

“Miss Summers,” Peter starts, and my lips press together. He laughs. “Right, Analise. I know we’ve only worked together for less than two weeks, but you might just be the most impressive person I’ve met in my entire professional career.” His smile turns sheepish as he looks over at Warren. “No offense.”

---