I scan the article, not seeing my name, but seeing that he mentioned Kirstin Davis Matchmaking Services. Thankfully, itdoesn’t look like he commented on much else, which makes me breathe a sigh of relief.
“I’d like to see Antony and Maria top that,” she says with an enormous grin as she leans against my desk. “You did it, Mar.”
“Yes, the hard part is truly over,” I reply sarcastically, unable to stop myself. At her raised brow, I spin in my chair and drop my head to my desk, releasing a loud groan.
Kirstin rests a hand on my shoulder before pulling up a chair to sit beside me. “What’s going on?”
“Nothing new,” I tell her, not wanting to rehash this conversation for what feels like the hundredth time. “Still just stuck in my own damn head.”
“Well, I won’t give you the same piece of advice, then,” she says, and I lift my head to look at her. “What? Clearly, it’s not advice you need, otherwise you would’ve taken it by now. You just need to follow your heart, Marlowe.”
A smile tugs at my lips. “That sounds an awful lot like advice, Kirstin.”
She abruptly stands from the chair, causing me to laugh when she says, “Then I will see myself back to my office before I risk giving you more. I should start charging you, by the way. I could be a motivational speaker.”
“I’ll start putting your quotes on t-shirts,” I retort, which makes her snort. “Oh, and bumper stickers. Definitely bumper stickers.”
“Get back to your emails,” she tells me with a laugh as she spins on her heels and stalks off towards her office.
I shake my head before doing just as she says, spending the next few hours going over submissions and replying to emails.
Before I know it, I hear the familiar sound of dress shoes on the tile floor and the corners of my lips tug up on their own accord. I keep my eyes on my computer, refusing to glance up even though it’s like there is a magnetic pull between us.
“There’s my hardworking girl,” I hear before I finally look up and watch him lean against my desk. “Think you can get away for the rest of the night and join me for a night out? Celebrate the end of the work week?”
“I thought hot shot CEOs never have an end to their work week? And isn’t it Thursday?” I lean back in my chair and fold my arms over my chest, trying to stifle my smile.
Levi stares down at me, a grin of his own threatening to appear. “Maybe. But this hot shot CEO also gets to decide who and when to delegate work to, and this man,” he says as he gestures to himself. “This man here wants to take you out and have a weekend off.”
“Well then,” I say as I shut my laptop, not taking my eyes off his as I push out of my chair and stand in front of him, only a foot of space between us. “What are we waiting for?”
I can’t help the chuckle that escapes me as his eyes light up. “Really?”
“What can I say?” I shrug, reaching for my purse and slinging it over my shoulder. “Seems you got lucky.”
“That I did, Lowe,” he replies, standing upright as he reaches for my hand, interlacing our fingers together. “That I did.”
We arrive at the bar half an hour later, tucked under Levi’s suit jacket. It had begun to sprinkle on our walk over, which turned into a downpour as we rounded the corner.
Stepping inside the large, loud bar, Levi drops and shakes out his coat before doing the same to his hair, causing me to laugh. My shirt is slightly wet but not enough to be seen through and my hair is only a bit matted down.
Music is blaring over the loudspeakers, reverberating in my chest as Levi reaches for my hand to lead me through the crowd. Half of the people are still dressed in their work clothes, much like Levi and I, the other half in more casual attire.
As we get closer to where the makeshift stage is, which is hosting a band currently doing sound check, I notice a familiar head of red hair. I stop and glance up at Levi only to see him already smiling at me.
“Figured it was time to get the gang together,” he says simply before resuming his long strides to lead us over to the high top.
“Marlowe, hi,” JJ practically squeals once she sees us, pulling me away from Levi to wrap me in a tight hug. “Oh my goodness, I’ve missed you.”
I can’t help but laugh as I hug her back. “It’s been three days.”
“Three days too long if you ask me,” she replies before pulling away. “Oh boy, must have gotten caught in the rain. Hang on, I have a brush in my purse.”
I grin as she turns her back to me to dig through her large black bag when I see Blue beaming at me with RJ at her side. He tilts his ball cap at me in greeting and I simply smile back.
“How did you get a hold of them?” I ask, looking up at Levi.
“Cole,” he answers with a shrug. “Figured it’d be fun to get to know your best friend. I hope that’s okay.”
