Page 40 of Almost Home
Thankfully, he walked in at twelve fifty, just in time to make sure we had everything ready. Was I prepared to be in a room however long this meeting would last with this iteration of Wilder? The one who’d arrived this morning in a black designer suit, white shirt, black tie, and trimmed hair and beard?
No. No, I was not. And then, not even touching the fact that girl power icon and brilliant business mind Madeline Reynolds would be sitting at the same table.
“Everything okay around here?”
He’d asked me to trade off lunchtimes so we had someone in the office throughout the day. It made sense, and fortunately, I’d brought my lunch and shoveled it down the minute I’d hung up with Madeline Reynolds’s assistant so that I wouldn’t be starving by the end of the day.
I shot to my feet. “The Reynolds meeting is now at one o’clock.”
He paused for half a second and his eyes flicked to mine. “Ah. Okay. You ready?”
I nodded. “Just need a quick bathroom break, and I’ll get some new coffee brewing.”
“I’ve got the coffee. Do what you need to do, and then hang at your desk until they arrive.” He slipped his tie tighter and adjusted it before he stopped even with my desk. “Her assistant is texting you when they park, right?”
“Yes. We’ll have a quick heads-up. Assuming they aren’t early, that means we’ve got about seven minutes.”
He might’ve nodded, but I’d already taken off to use the bathroom, making sure it all looked orderly and the soap was full just in case she needed the facilities during the meeting. I could hear Wilder’s low murmur into his phone from the break room as he pushed the button to brew the coffee, and finally shuffled back to my desk and straightened out my chair.
“You good?”
I nodded, nerves crawling up my throat and heart racing. I hoped I was. But this was all very intense, and what if I said something wrong? Or what if Icouldn’tsay anything because I was too starstruck?
Now that he’d trimmed his beard—and not just a little, but so much that I could actually see the trace of that dimple he had in his left cheek—I could see the corner of his mouth pull up. “You’re good.”
“If you say so,” I felt compelled to add as I stood and took a deep breath.
“I do say so. You’ll be fine.”
Though part of me wanted to shoot off a sarcastic remark about his confidence, years of doubting myself and my choices rushed back at this, the least opportune time ever.
“Maybe I should go. I’m not sure I won’t do something weird or say something wrong.”
His dark brows dipped low, and his gaze moved between my eyes, like each one held a different truth. “You’re staying. You’re fine.”
My phone buzzed with the assistant’s text. “They’re here.”
Wilder turned to me. “Tie straight?”
I pressed my lips together. “Actually, no.”
He looked down, but of course couldn’t see.
“Let me,” I said and stepped into his space. I specifically didn’t breathe or take any time to appreciate our proximity. Like so many other things, now was not the time.
Careful not to touch anything but his tie, I straightened the knot, then pressed it down. His gaze rested heavily on me, and when I met his eyes, my stomach tumbled. “All set.”
“Thank you,” he said, low and gruff and don’t mind if I do, delicious. The sound, the scent, the visual… all of it.
What is wrong with me?I couldn’t stop thinking about him, especially since Saturday. He’d been a befuddling combination of open and heartbreaking. For me, with that man, there couldn’t have been a more attractive pairing.
Unless he’d trimmed his beard and worn this suit, maybe. I’d never thought I preferred one style over another, never having truly cared about such things, but my current level of discombobulation over simply standing near him when he looked like this was more than a little ridiculous.
“Incoming,” he said, still looking at me, his eyes somehow darker, before he turned just in time to step toward the opening door.
I exhaled, working to steady myself. Why hadn’t we had a heated moment like that hours ago, without an audience, when I could break the ice between us and bring up the weekend?
“Mr. Saint?” A thin, surprisingly young man peeked inside and seemed to be shuffling a device and two phones, then opened the door fully as Wilder stepped forward.
