Oh, Puppy.
“Believe me, he does. He was so excited when I told him you were back.”
Noah looked up and I seized the moment to press a kiss on his soft lips.
“Come on, the next stop is ours. I promise it’s going to be alright,” I muttered as the tram stopped next to the small artificial lake that separated us from the APEX warehouse.
We set off around the edge still hand in hand.
“Aarush!” my baby brother called from the door and dashed over to meet us.
“Raja, it’s good to see you.” Ever since Kat had come into his life, we’d become closer again. I briefly let go of Noah to hug my brother.
“I missed you, bubba. Hey, Noah.” Roy turned to my puppy and hugged him, too. “Man, it’s been ages. How have you been? I heard you are a big thing online these days?”
“Small fish in a big pond.” Noah shrugged.
“Better than the other way around, though.” Roy kept his face impassive for a moment before they both snorted. “Come in, I’ll introduce you to the team. Kat should be here soon, she’s picking up lunch for us.”
“She’s a godsend, your future wife.” I clapped one hand to his shoulder, the other one moved to Noah’s back as it always did. Roy’s eyebrow cocked for a fleeting moment. He noticed everything.
“That’s why I’m marrying her.”
Noah bounced on his feet like an eager puppy. “Aw, congratulations, Roy! When is the wedding?”
On the way inside the APEX warehouse, Roy filled him in on all the details about their upcoming June wedding.
By which time he’ll be gone.For a moment, I saw us dancing in our suits. My hand slipped around his waist, and I squeezed his hip. Noah threw me a glance, the most adorable smile on his lips.
“Noah, meet the team,” Roy interrupted our moment and I barely suppressed an eyeroll.
Stop cock blocking me, bhai.
“Hugh is our head designer,” he introduced the tall human man. “This is Neda, our sales manager, and Mercury and Declan, our office team.”
We all shook hands and my stupid brain went into analysing mode.Does he find anyone more interesting than me?Maybe Hugh with his silky black hair and cornflower blue eyes? Or curly-haired Declan, a walking, talking cuteness overload?
Okay, you need to stop this bullshit, Sinclair. Act your fuckin’ age.
“Babe?” Noah nudged me with his elbow. “Do you want a coffee?”
Looking around, I found Roy grinning at me. ‘Babe?’ he mouthed, biting his lip with a sharp fang.
“Americano,” I told him, dropping my eyes back to Noah’s. “Sorry, I spaced out for a moment.”
He took my hand and rubbed his thumb across my knuckles. “Happens to me all the time.”
Kat joined us twenty minutes later, laden with bags from Bright Panda, my brother’s favourite sushi place.
“Lew! Oh my God, it’s so good to see you.” Before she even took off her olive green winter coat, she flung her arms around me. I loved my future sister-in-law. “You must be Noah. I’m so happy to finally meet you.”
“Me too!” He beamed at her and I got lost in his smile for a minute.
My gorgeous puppy.
Declan and Hugh joined us as we crowded around the enormous table.
It reminded me of lunch at Lone Fox. The APEX crowd, too, felt like a family. They teased and joked, and I loved sharing it with Noah. He probably had very little of that in Bali.
