“I need you to come back to the office,” she states, not offering anymore information.
I pull the phone away from my ear and glance at the time before saying, “I can’t. I need to get to my daughter’s softball game. If I come back to the office, I’ll be late.”
“One of your matches is here and asking to see you,” she tells me, and I can’t stop the groan from escaping my lips. “Seems important to me, but whatever.”
I run a hand through my hair and stare up at the sky for a moment. Ever since Levi and I talked in that closet, she has been more uptight and shorter with me, snottier than she had been before. I could tell she had an attitude when she was hired, but I swear it has increased tenfold, directed at me.
“Okay, I’ll come in now.”
Hanging up the phone, I turn to look at Cole, but he’s already staring at me. “Go,” he says, walking around the table to approach me. “I’ll set up the rest of the centerpieces for you to save you some time.”
“Thank you.” I step into his open arms and wrap mine around his waist. “And you know, if you’re free around the same time tomorrow, I could really use your help.”
“I’ll be here.”
I pull back and smile up at him before I reach for my purse and head towards the stairs. Waving at the hostess as I slip out of the building, I enter the busy New York City streets bustling with businessmen and women rushing home from their workdays. But here I am, heading back into the office instead of going home to change for my daughter’s game because someone couldn’t just send me an email.
Thankfully, Stanley’s is only a few blocks away from the office, so I reach it rather quickly. For once, the stop walk lights seemed to be in my favor. I wave at Russell as I rush by, frantically stepping onto the elevator and hitting the button for the eighteenth floor.
The entire ride up, I tap my foot impatiently as I glance at my phone, grateful that Blue had planned on going to the game tonight, which hopefully means Claire won’t worry when I show up a little late.
I fly off the elevator the moment the doors open, my heels clicking loudly against the floor as I practically run toward the doors in the corner. Tearing them open, I glance around and spot Leanne sitting at her desk.
“Hey,” I say as I walk up, not bothering to smooth down my hair or clothes. “Where are they?”
Leanne doesn’t look up from her computer and instead lazily gestures toward my desk. I look over to see the back of some guy’s head, his plaid covered shoulders the only thing I can see over the back of my chair that he’s sitting in.
I walk over, trying to calm my beating heart from the light jog over here, and set my purse on my desk as I approach. I rest my hands on the wooden top and look up just as the man spins around in my chair and when I see who is sitting there, my eyes go wide.
Levi. But not just Levi—Levi without gel in his hair so it’s soft and loose and slightly wild. Levi in a red and white flannel and dark jeans that hug his perfectly toned thighs instead of a suit.
“Hey, Lowe,” he greets, his lips tilting up into a large, dazzling smile, flashing me that set of perfectly straight, white teeth. I’m not sure if it’s the nickname or him smiling at me that’s causing the butterflies to erupt in my stomach.
“What are you doing here?” I ask, my shock finally vanishing. “I thought you weren’t coming back till Thursday?”
“Yeah, well,” he shrugs as he continues to stare up at me. “I figured I didn’t need to go golfing with my business partners again. They don’t do well losing.”
I laugh and shake my head, taking a seat on my desk so my knees are facing him. “How nice of you to save their egos. You could’ve called, you know. You didn’t have to stop by.”
“I wanted to see you,” he tells me so easily, like those words don’t bring a blush to my cheeks. “Want to go grab some dinner? I’m starved from the flight, and I’d love to take you out on a proper first date.”
“Oh,” I say, glancing down at the watch on my wrist. “I’m sorry, I can’t tonight. I’m free Thursday night, though.”
Levi groans and tips his head back against my chair for a moment. “Of course, that’s the one night during this week I have plans.”
“Well, we do work in the same building,” I remind him with a soft smile. “You’re more than welcome to pop down and say hi.”
“How about Friday night?” He asks, and I shake my head.
“That’s the night of the match event I’m prepping for,” I remind him. His face falls slightly, but then I say, “Why don’t you come? It doesn’t have to be considered our first date if you don’t want it to be, but it’d be nice to spend some time with you outside of the office. I always end up bored during these things, anyway. Besides, we could pretend it is a match event for us.”
Levi smiles and leans towards me, but hesitates. I watch him for a moment and it looks like he wants to reach out and grab the hand that’s resting on my knee, but he doesn’t.
“I’d love to go,” he tells me sincerely. “Is there a dress code?”
I shake my head. “It’s at Stanley’s, so just dress for the vibes.” I slide off the desk and reach for my purse before looking back down at Levi. “I really need to be going, though.”
Levi pushes himself out of my chair and stands, towering over me even with my heels on. He gives me a half smile, thatstupid dimple begging for me to put my pinky in it. My cheeks flush at the thought and I look down at my shoes.
