What do you meanwe’re booked?” I demanded loudly enough to be heard outside my office. Roxy sat at her desk in the main lobby as we yelled back and forth at each other. That was normal for us. “It’s not even Halloween yet! There’s no way in hell our Christmas drive is already booked.”
“I said what I said!” she replied.
“How?”
“Because you’re good at what you do. Peopleloveyou,” Roxy teased, her tone playful. “That, and people hate doing their own decorations. It’s easier to donate to charity and get you to do it all than do it themselves. We still have people on a waiting list.”
A waiting list?Shit, that went better than I expected it to. Yeah, we were doing better each year with the two holiday drives, but I never expected to completely book up so quickly.
“Should I add more spots?” I asked her.
Before she could answer, the bell over the door rang. Duke’s head popped up from his bed in the corner. In an unusual move for him, he bolted out the door.
“Oh, crap!” I scrambled to get out from behind my desk to stop him from doing whatever stupid shit he was about to do.
“He’s so cute! Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God! He’s so cute! Daddy! He’s so cute!”
I blew out a breath in relief at the sound of Aria’s shrill voice. Duke loved kids, so I didn’t have to worry. He wasn’t bad with adults—he just liked them less than he liked kids.
“Can we keep him?” Aria asked.
“He’s Maverick’s dog, little love,” Harley told her.
“Yeah, but I can bring him around whenever you want,” I said as I wandered out of my office. Arms crossed, I leaned against the door frame as I watched them, smiling at the sight of them.
Aria couldn’t be bothered with me being there. She was on the floor in a pile of tulle and fur as she cuddled Duke. And Duke was in heaven with all the attention she was giving him. I’d expected nothing less. Harley had told me about her love for animals and how he was considering getting her a dog. Seeing her with Duke made me think it was the right choice—but maybe one day my dog could fill that spot.
Them being distracted worked in my favor as it gave me a chance to focus on Harley, which I was grateful for, even if it was only for a moment. The way his face lit up when I caught his gazemade my entire day. The glasses were back, and honestly, I was becoming a fan of them. There was something distinguished and sexy about Harley in glasses.
“Is there any chance you and I can talk for a few minutes?” Harley asked. I tried not to get ahead of myself. There were several reasons he might be asking to talk to me privately.
“Roxy?” I turned to her, arching a brow. “Any chance you could keep an eye on the spooky queen?”
I knew she’d jump at the chance. Every day, Carson came home with a new story about his best friend, Ari, as he called her. Other than the things I’d told her, she had yet to meet Carson’s first real friend.
“Of course,” Roxy replied. “Though I think Duke will be babysitting her for me.”
“Sounds about right.” I chuckled. From the looks of it, there was no separating those two anytime soon. Inclining my head, I invited Harley to follow me into my office. I shut the door behind us, and the sound of laughter diminished.
I clocked how he shoved his hands in his pockets and how he shifted his weight anxiously between his feet.Well, that didn’t bode well for this conversation.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“I’m scared,” he said quietly. That wasn’t at all what I was expecting him to say.
“Okay,” I replied, nodding slowly. Crossing my arms, I leaned back against my desk. “About what?”
He drew in a deep breath, and I could see him formulating the best way to say what he wanted to say.
“You and me… I’m scared about us,” Harley elaborated.Oh.My heart damn near dropped out of my chest with his words. I braced for whatever came next because those words were never followed by anything good. “I’m scared about the changes that this means—not just for Aria, but for me too. I’ve built an entirelife for myself. I have my things and my schedule, and I know what to expect and when to expect it… and just…”
He faltered. It took everything I had not to cross the distance between us to comfort him. This felt an awful lot like the start of a breakup conversation. I gave him the room he needed to speak and did my best not to overthink it until he gave me a real reason to.
“I’m still all in. I’m not going anywhere, I promise. I’m just… I’m scared, and my therapist said that I need to tell you how I’m feeling,” he told me.See? I shouldn’t get ahead of myself.“I haven’t had to consider anyone else’s feelings—I mean, obviously, I’ve taken all of Aria’s feelings into consideration, and Holly’s too. But I haven’t let myself open up to anyone. I haven’t needed to open up to anyone else, and I don’t know how to do it, but here I am… trying to tell you that I’m all in, but I’m scared.”
“Okay.”
“This is me trying to consider your feelings,” he repeated with a final nod. “Yeah, that’s all.”
