"Oof!"
Garrett caught me and set me gently on the floor.
"You have very strong shoulders."
"I lift weights," he said matter-of-factly. He stuck his phone in my face. "This is what we are aiming for."
"Is this Frost Tower?" I said, looking at the picture.
"You know of it?"
"I am a card-carrying member of the Grey Dove Bistro rewards club. I'm over there way too much, actually. Probably why I'm a little on the heavier side. Good thing I didn't squash you."
"You're perfectly proportioned," Garrett said.
"Go me!" I said and pumped my fist. If I hadn’t known any better, I’d have thought I saw the hint of a smile around his mouth.
He turned to inspect the decorations. Morticia and Lilith watched him like cats checking out a toy. Garrett stared back at them. Unblinking, they huffed and went back to hanging the metal cutouts of Halloween scenes I had begged and pleaded with them to lend me for the atrium.
"Does it feel festive enough?" I asked him. Several of his employees were already gathering around, taking selfies.
"Hashtag PharmaTech Halloween on Insta, ladies!" I called to them. "We are totally going to have an awesome Halloween party," I said, starting back up the ladder.
Garrett took the lights from me and climbed up instead. "There was some contention amongst my brothers on the number of parties," Garrett said, long arms making quick work of hanging the lights on the trees growing in the atrium.
"You have to have a kids’ party and a company party, and then an after-hours one where you can really let loose," I said as I held the ladder steady. "I'm making a bunch of Halloween-themed cocktails, like the Witch's Tit."
Garrett sucked in a breath.
"I put a little boozy cherry on top to symbolize—"
"Yes, I understand. I don't live under a rock," he said slightly irritably as he climbed down the ladder.
"This is going to be the best Halloween ever. Sebastian is going to—"
"That's supposed to be top secret," Garrett murmured.
I leaned up to whisper in his ear, "Sebastian is going to hand you his company. Trust me. I know how to character profile someone."
Was it my imagination, or did I just make Garrett Svensson shiver?
16
Garrett
Penny insisted on leaving early that day.
"I need to see your estate," she said, turning the car onto Main Street.
The train horn blared, and Penny honked back and waved to the conductor.
"Remind me to have that train decorated," she said. "Oh, and we should have a haunted house, and a candy corn-eating contest!"
She was still listing off things for the party when we stopped by the Grey Dove Bistro.
"Grilled cheese sandwiches and potato, bacon, and cheddar soup," Hazel said as she handed us a box. "I packed extra. Archer is supposed to be cooking tonight, and you know how he is."
"That smells amazing," Penny gushed, looking into the boxes.
