Page 39 of That Time in Venice
Chapter14
“So, what do you think?”Anika bit her thumbnail, closely watching Reed as he reviewed the sketches and images she brought to their weekday lunch. They were eating sandwiches on the first floor of the office building where heworked.
She finally put together all the elements for Brielle’s room and had presented them, but trying to gauge his reaction was not the only reason she kept her eyes on him. He looked striking in a navy suit, navy tie, and pale blue shirt that brought out the blue in his eyes. She didn’t miss the fact that other women paid him an extraordinary amount of attention, trying to be surreptitious but failing miserably when they kept their gazes on his handsome face much longer thanappropriate.
For Brielle’s room Anika envisioned a beautiful display of butterflies adhered to the wall above the bed. The manufacturer she sourced them from assured her the adhesive was temporary, and as Brielle grew out of her butterfly phase, they could easily be removed without damaging thepaintedwall.
“Do you think she’ll like it?” She was impatient and desperately wanted to hear histhoughts.
“She’llloveit.”
“Really?” She put a lot of thought into the design and picking the colors for the bed linens and curtains. The room should reflect Brielle’s personality and be a place where the little girl looked forward tospendingtime.
“I can’t see how she won’t love falling asleep below all these butterflies everynight.”
Anika rested her chin on her hand. “And when your cousin builds the window seat, that will give her a new place to storehertoys.”
His cousin, Ryan, built custom furniture and had already been by to measure thespace.
“He said he can get to that this week.” Reed took her hand and brought her knuckles to his lips. Her skin tingled where his mouth touched. “I can’t wait to see the finished product.” He was talking about the house but the soft expression in his eyes melted herinsides.
“The whole house is almost finished,”Anikasaid.
“Hmmm. So I’ll have to come up with excuses to spend timewithyou.”
“You won’t have todothat.”
“No excuses necessary?” His thumb gently rubbed across herknuckles.
“Noneatall.”
They leaned in to each other at the same time and kissed. She could kiss him all day. His lips were soft and delicious, and the physical contact never failed to warm herbelly.
They spent the rest of lunch making plans to get together and finalized the details for the house. When the alarm on Reed’s phone went off signaling the end of his break, Anika’s shoulders slumped. Their time together was tooshort.
“Got to run back to the office,” Reed saidregretfully.
“I’m glad we got the chance to spend a little time together.” Even though she was attracted to Reed and wanted to get inside his pants, she nonetheless hoped for more moments similar to this one, where they could simply enjoy each other’s company. And there was no pressure. He seemed to want to just be with her, which made her fall deeper under hisspell.
“I’m glad we did, too. You have any appointments thisafternoon?”
Anika shook her head. “I’m working in the office all afternoon, and um, I have a meeting withLaura.”
“About becoming an owner?” Reedasked.
“That’s the impression she gave me.” A nervous flutter flickered through herinsides.
“Are youready?”
Reed massaged her shoulder, and the gentle squeeze and roll motion helped relax her anxietysomewhat.
“I’ve been ready for a long time. I just need her to officially make me anoffer.”
“It’ll happen. Keep your thoughts positive.” He reassured her with a smile and a gentle squeeze of hershoulder.
They emptied their trays and before parting ways, Reed pulled Anika in for another quick kiss. By the time she arrived at her car, she could barely remember walking to the parking lot. She was so drunk on Reed, she could only assume that she’d floatedthere.
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