“Why do that when we can pull an all-nighter and question our life choices later?” She pushes to her feet and teeters slightly with the fourverytight pairs of shorts she’s sporting. “Now catch.”
I brace myself as she bombards me with a dozen lobster gummies all at once. She shrieks out a giggle before she breaks into a sprint, barreling into me, and my arms hook around her waist as we go tumbling onto the floor.
“Good thing I’m wearing a hundred shirts,” I say dryly, resting my hands on the small of her back.
Her eyes crinkle, and her tongue taps her sharp canine, which brings what can only be a dopey grin to my face. She pitches forward, her nose pressing into my cheek as her fingers twine with my hair.
“Can you promise to be more like this at work?”
“Sweating profusely under layers of clothes during office hours?”
She laughs into my ear as her fingertips trail idly down the side of my face. “You are such a smartass.”
My eyes crinkle. “It runs in the family. If you think I’m a smartass, you should meet my sister.” My chest feels slightly taut as the weight of my words rings in my ears, and I realize it kind of sounds like an invitation to meet my family.
Only, Barbie snorts. “When will I ever step foot in Oregon?” Her brow hikes an inch. “You live in Oregon, right?” When I give her a short nod, she beams again. “Yeah, I’m going to be busy with my internship to see howdelightfuland wonderful your sister is. Tell your sister if she’s ever in LA, hit me up, and we can meet for lunch.Providedmy schedule isn’t too busy.”
“You’ll make plans with my sister, but not me?” I tease, but my voice sounds a little rougher than usual. The realization dawns on me faster than daylight burning through the clouds. I don’t want this to end—not the work trip, but the force of attraction between us. The gravitational pull. That overwhelming intensity I felt on the plane is still there, and I want to see where it’ll go.When you know, you know.
“I mean, if you’re ever in LA, feel free to hit me up, and we can meet for fruity drinks,” she says. “That would require you to tap into the reserve and use some of your PTO hours, though.”
“Just drinks?”
“Why, Ethan Carter?” Barbie drawls in a terrible Southern accent. “Is this your way of scheduling a booty call a year out from now?”
I can’t help but chuckle softly. “You don’t see us more than that a year from now?”
A look of understanding gathers in her warm eyes, and her features sober. “Oh.” It’s a gut-punching syllable.
“Hey, forget it.” I spare her a reassuring half-smile. “I was just asking a hypothetical?—”
“It’s been fun,” she whispers. “A lot of fun. Seriously. I haven’t been this… happy in a while. It’s just that I have my internship?—”
“Barbie, you don’t have to explain yourself,” I interject, but she shakes her head.
“I have my internship,” she repeats, “and my last relationship became a long-distance one shortly after my parents died. I just… I can’t go through that again. I need the guy I’m seeing to be there.” She pauses. “Unless you ever want to consider moving across the state lines?”
“Oregon’s where my family is,” I say.
“And all of your beloved hiking trails,” she teases softly, her expression almost bittersweet. “I get it. California’s where my sisters are, and even if it weren’t for my internship, I wouldn’t move away from them.” She goes quiet. “And it would bewildto move to another state for someone you’ve barely known.”
“We’ve worked together for two years,” I remind her.
“Does this mean you plan on moving?” The corner of her mouth tips upward. “I’m kidding. I know your life is in Oregon, like mine is in California. It’s like what you said on the plane about your ex—wishing you had the foresight to end it earlier because you knew you had different, incompatible goals. I wish…”
I strain my ears to hear what she’s muttering beneath her breath, but the rustle of the layers of clothing I got on makes it impossible to do just so.
Wordlessly, she inclines her head and brushes her lips against mine. It ends far too quickly. She’s already pulling away, pushing her silken hair behind her ear, before I can draw her in and kiss her deeper.
“Thanks for the last few days,” she says. “And last night.” Her eyes crinkle. “I think it was aperfectway to wrap things up between us.”
Still holding her gaze, my throat feels thick as I swallow. “Not unstrip poker?”
She expels a small laugh. “Do you want to watch the sunrise with me? I’ve never seen the sun rise over the beach before. I kind of want to witness one before we head home.”
Swallowing again, I nod. “Yeah, let’s do it.”
The eastern skyis a dazzling array of purple and orange, the sun breaking the horizon in the distance. It’s breathtaking, something I’m glad to witness with Barbie.
