Page 38 of You & I, Rewritten

“My favoriteanda fail-proof way to ensure office morale is boosted, killing two birds with one stone!” I hop on the counter next to him. “Actually, three birds.”

“Oh yeah? How’s that?”

“Because you, my sexy little baker, will be having fun!” I say, planting a kiss on his cheek. “Now come on, chop chop!”

He rolls his eyes at me, taking out the remainder of the ingredients and placing them on the counter, clearly separating what he’s going to need from what was unnecessary for me to buy. Before I know it, he’s already meticulously measuring out ingredients and combining them into a big, glass bowl. Sipping on my wine in his kitchen and in his world, my heart melts for the man who told me that baking brings him joy, especially seeing the smile on his face when he pauses what he’s doing to look over at me.

“Wanna help me mix?” he asks, holding the wooden spoon in my direction, which of course I do because I’m realizing there isn’t a whole lot I wouldn’t do for this man.

Taking the spoon from his hand, I let my fingers linger, feeling the warmth of his touch against mine. Our eyes meet and the electricity I always feel around him buzzes around us, my own personal lightning rod.

Setting the spoon on the counter, I take him by surprise when I lunge at him, crashing my lips to his and wrapping my arms around his neck. I take a deep inhale of him, the chocolate and sugar accentuate his natural sweetness causing me to deepen our kiss, taking his tongue in my mouth as I force our bodies closer to one another.

“Well hello,” he whispers against our lips, his hands frozen at his sides, traces of flour on his fingertips. “What was that for?”

“Oh, no reason,” I say, picking up the spoon and sliding in front of him, claiming my spot at the mixing bowl. “I’m just having a lot of fun, that’s all.”

He laughs, putting his arms around me and kissing the side of my head. “So am I.”

* * *

“Did you bring them?” I ask, unable to hide my excitement. I raced to the conference room to ensure I was the first one to our weekly staff meeting the following morning. Well, besides Graham.

“Can you pleaseshut up?”he hisses at me, though not even he can keep a straight face. Lifting a bag from beneath the table to his lap, he slides a large container to the center of the table. The rest of the team starts filing in, taking their usual seats. Klair, who’s in on the surprise after I filled her in last night, sits down next to me, both of us leaning back in our chairs with our arms crossed.

“Ooh…are those cookies?” Audra inquires.

As soon as she lifts the lid of the container, filling the conference room with the mouthwatering aroma of the baked goods, it’s game over. I don’t know what it is about chocolate chip cookies that turns offices into a feeding frenzy, but it happensevery timewithout fail. I know these are some of the best cookies I’ve ever had so when I hear the disturbingly close to sexual noises coming from the rest of our team, I smile knowing they are in agreement.

“Thank youso muchfor the cookies, Klair,” Mark says, his mouth stuffed with the chocolaty goodness, his eyes closed in enjoyment.

“Um. These areamazing!” Jane says, echoing his sentiments.

“Actually, I didn’t bring the treats today,” Klair says, raising her eyebrows in Graham’s direction.

The entire team swivels their head at Graham, who’s sitting quietly, twirling his pen between his fingers, clearly uncomfortable with all the attention suddenly on him.

“Graham, this was so nice…thank you so much,” Audra says, stealing another cookie from the container and placing it on her notepad.

“It was nothing, honestly,” he says, straightening in his chair. He looks around the conference table, looking each of our team members in the eye. “I just wanted to do a little something to show my appreciation for the hard work you all have been doing. It doesn’t go unnoticed, not by my father and definitely not by me. So, load up on some sugar, and unless anyone has anything super pressing, let’s use this time to just relax, have some more coffee, and chit chat.” He grabs a cookie, taking a big, dramatic bite, the smallest smudge of chocolate sticking to his upper lip that I literally have to force myself to keep from leaning across the table and licking off.

I can feel the mood in the conference room noticeably shift, the cookies doing the morale magic I hoped they would, and seeing Graham being so casual with the rest of the team makes my heart soar. While the cookies were just a small gesture of appreciation, it was his genuine and kind words that seemed to cause a much-needed thaw within our team’s dynamic, and for that, I couldn’t be prouder.

CHAPTERSIXTEEN

“Don’t worry.”I reach over and give Lana’s arm a reassuring squeeze. “This is nothing to freak out over. Our office has worked with Hannah and her team for years, so I assure you, this is very low threat and will be over before you know it.”

Lana’s looking at me like she doesn’t believe a word I’m saying, but she nods her head anyway. She’s wearing a casual but chic jewel-toned pantsuit and her dark hair is pinned neatly back. She looks strong and feminine and ready to shake up the literary world.

The two of us are sitting in our conference room waiting to be called into Graham’s office which has been transformed into a make-shift studio. I’m focusing my efforts on remaining calm for her sake because by the way she’s picking at the mocked-up cover of her book, I can tell her nerves are all over the place.

“Besides, you’ve created something pretty special. The world is going to love it as much as I do,” I reassure her, knowing that if I were in her shoes, I’d need to hear it.

She looks up at me, her smile genuine and warm, but those piercing green eyes of hers are a million miles away. “Thank you, Will. That means the world coming from you.”

Before I can give too much thought to howoffLana seems right now, Graham comes through the frosted-glass doors, flashing me that signature smirk, looking every bit the man in charge today. I smile back at him but notice he’s immediately followed by his father, Mitch, who’s in lockstep with Hannah.

Sliding our chairs back, probably harder than we both intended to, Lana and I both awkwardly stand up at Mitch’s impromptu arrival, insinuating a more serious meeting than either of us anticipated.If Lana wasn’t nervous before, she sure is now!

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