“I don’t like being managed, Luke. No one does.”
He shrugged. “This is one of those times when you were overruled by everyone, including Jacob. Before we left here last night, he told everyone to stay out of the office until eleven. He passed that along to Rodriguez and Carver.”
“Why not tell me?”
“You’re going to try to convince me that you wouldn’t have rolled in around eight anyway? Maybe earlier?”
“Maybe.”
“Thou shalt not lie, Ms. Reed.” Luke patted his phone. “I have calls to make. I’m going to your office. Holler when you’re ready, and we’ll head out.”
Zane didn’t call while she was getting ready. And she found herself in a predicament. If she didn’t call him, he would probably be frustrated with her, the same way she was frustrated with all of them. But he did need sleep. Wasn’t letting him sleep the more loving thing to do? Especially considering that what she wanted was for him to show up at her front door with flowers, candy, and promises that neither of them were ready to make or keep.
She finished her hair. No call. No text.
Then her makeup. No call. No text.
She fought her rising unease the only way she knew how.Jesus, I know you love me. I know my ultimate happiness is in you, not in anything else, and definitely not in a relationship with a man. Even a man like Zane. But now that you’ve given me Zane, I’mgoing to need your help to fight this insecurity. It hasn’t even been twenty-four hours, and I’m stressed out over the fact that he hasn’t called. That’s not who I want to be. Help me keep my trust in you. Help me keep you as the focus. Help me remember that I’m yours and because I’m yours, I’m already loved perfectly and completely and forever.
With her heart and mind calmer, she threw a handful of pillows onto the bed and remembered Zane’s intense reaction to the idea of throw pillows. He was going to have to get over that.
She checked her phone. Still nothing. She opened the door, walked to her office, and pasted on her best smile as she faced Luke. “Can we go to work now?”
“Sure thing.” Luke followed her out of her apartment and watched as she locked the door. While they waited for the elevator, he nudged her arm with his. “Tessa?”
“Yeah?”
“Zane, he, uh, he said everything was okay. That y’all were cool.”
“We are.”
“You sure?”
“I’m sure. Don’t worry about us. We’re good.”
Luke dropped it, but Tessa didn’t think for a second that he was convinced. What was she supposed to say? “We’re better than good. I’ve been half in love with him since the day we met, and he kissed me last night, and I think if I don’t die from worrying that I’ll mess it up that I might die from happiness”?
Yeah. No. That was not ever coming out of her mouth. Her phone rang when they hit the lobby, and her entire body thrummed in anticipation. “Hello.”
“I can’t believe I slept through our morning routine,” Zane grumbled. “Especially not today, of all days.”
Her fear and annoyance evaporated at the frustration in his voice. “You needed to sleep.”
“Luke needs to quit micromanaging us.”
“I said something similar when I discovered him in my living room this morning.”
The sound of something—a shirt, maybe?—being pulled off a hanger. “I wish the circumstances had been different. None of this is playing out the way I’d imagined it.”
“You had imagined it?” The question popped out before she remembered that she had an inquisitive audience.
Luke came to a complete stop in front of her, eyebrows raised nearly to his hairline. “Should I give you some privacy?”
She shook her head and stepped around him. He chuckled as he jogged a few steps and fell back in beside her.
Zane, oblivious to all this, answered. “Oh yeah. It went more like me getting up the nerve to ask you out. Taking you on a long bike ride, then dinner, then maybe an evening stroll where we would talk and laugh and at some point, kiss.”
“That sounds lovely.”
