Thirty-Three
Joanna
Icouldn’t stop checking the time, waiting for a call or text from Jenner. Almost an hour had passed since he’d left that voice mail, telling me he was meeting with my father, and I could only imagine what was going down between them.
My father hadn’t spoken a word about last night’s dinner during any of the times I’d seen him today.
That didn’t surprise me.
He wasn’t the most open communicator. I had a feeling he wouldn’t discuss it again unless I was the one who brought it up.
Still, there were so many unsolved thoughts.
Where this left the three of us.
What Jenner and I were going to do if my father wanted to murder my boyfriend every time he saw him.
If Jenner was going to represent our company.
Instead of constantly dwelling on my life today, I’d been trying to busy myself with work, burying my mind in marketing.
Each attempt had been extremely unsuccessful.
But I had so many projects that needed attention, so I decided to stay at the office long after everyone left. To get in the zone, I played some music and made myself some tea, trying to really focus on the social media campaign we were about to launch.
It took almost nothing to distract me, jumping the second a text came through, disappointment filling me when it wasn’t Jenner’s name on the screen.
Monica: So? Any news?
Me: Nope. Crickets. Where are you?
Monica: About to board the jet to Vegas, where I’ll be for exactly three hours to help a client get ready for her concert, and then we’re flying to New York.
Me: Your life is so fabulous; I can’t stand it.
Monica: Text me the second something happens. I feel like I’m waiting on pins and needles.
Me: Have a safe flight. Miss you already.
Monica: XO.
I was just setting my phone down when there was a knock at my door.
I didn’t know who it could be. I was positive everyone in the department had already gone home for the night.
“Come in,” I said.
Flutters shot through my body when the door swung open, and Jenner’s deliciously handsome face came into view. He closed it behind him, and I heard the sound of the lock.
“What are you doing here?” I asked, standing from my desk, rushing to the front of it, where he met me, my arms instantly going around his neck.
He cupped my cheeks, holding me steady. “I’ve missed you.”
The feeling was so mutual that I could weep. “You have no idea how much. I know we talked last night and this morning, but today has been hell without you.”
A devilish grin grew across his beautiful mouth. “I drank so much at Dominick’s. I don’t remember a thing I said to you.”
“You just kept apologizing that this happened.” My body aligned with his as I held his back, gripping his suit jacket, so plush and firm in my hands. “And you told me how much you love me—several times.”
“At least you know I’m an honest drunk.”
I took a deep breath. “How did it go with Dad?”
Without saying a word, he leaned down and kissed me. I breathed him in, tasting the flavor that was so unique to Jenner, swallowing the reassurance I felt from his mouth. That feeling only increased when his hands dropped to my waist and he hauled me even closer to him.
I was breathless by the time he pulled away.
“I’ve been thinking about your lips all day.”
My heart pounded as I said, “Does this mean you’re trying to avoid my question?”
He took my hand and led me to my desk, lifting me onto the wooden edge before he took a seat in my chair in front of me. He quickly glanced around the room that I’d spent the last several weeks decorating, his eyes eventually returning to me. “You’ve got a nice office.”
It wasn’t large by any means with just enough space for a love seat and a couple of plants, a floor lamp and wall art. I’d expected a cubicle, so it had been quite the pleasant surprise.
He licked across his bottom lip as he added, “I’m getting a feel for it. I intend to spend a lot more time in here.”
My face turned as I tried to process what he meant. “More time?”
“Now that I can visit you here.”
And then it clicked.
I grasped his hand, holding it between mine. “So, Dad’s not going to kill you?”
He laughed. “I might not be playing poker with him and his buddies next week, but I’ll still be alive.” He kissed the tops of my fingers. “He’s warming up to the idea of us. It’s going to take him a little while.”
I exhaled a huge sigh of relief. “Next time you have news of this magnitude, can you lead with it? My heart can’t take the buildup. I’ve been dying inside.”
“But it was so fun, watching you squirm.”