Adamstudied him for a moment, and by the look on the guy’s face, he knewParker’spromise to think about it was just a way to stall him until he told him no.Helifted the papers he had been holding so they both could see and discuss them.
Parkerjust needed to accept that the magic ofChristmaswas just a childhood thing that he should’ve grown out of.Themagic was gone, along with any need to celebrate this year.Hewas fine spending it alone.
Three
Kelli
Assoon asKelliheard voices mid-conversation as the conference room door opened, she grabbed her tape dispenser and the few random cat pictures that they hadn’t yet found a place for, and she andValeriaducked into the break room beforeParkerand his team rounded the corner.Theypeeked through the one window that had a perfect view ofParker’sdesk and waited.
“Ithink you should start dating again,”Valeriawhispered.
“What?”Therandomness of the comment caught her off guard.
“Youknow, get back on the horse again.Theysay the longer you wait, the more you’ll fear getting bucked off again.”
“It’snot the right time.”
“It’sbeen a year since you andJamesbroke up.It’stime.”
Shewas very sure it wasn’t time.Oneof the hardest things about the break-up had been withJames’sfamily.Shehad fit in with them, and could even see where her place was in his family.Breakingup withJamesmeant breaking up with his family.Andnow that her own little family of two—she and her dad—were doing their own kind of breaking apart, she couldn’t expose herself to that possibility again with someone else.
Itwasn’t until months after she andJameshad stopped dating that she realized she’d fallen for him because she’d wanted a family so badly, and his was so great.Shedidn’t trust herself to date anyone right now for fear that she’d make the same mistake again.
Especiallybecause, right now, she desperately wanted a family.Forthe first time, she hated thatZentCubegave them nearly two weeks off forChristmasandNewYear’s.Itwas a long time to be alone and feel like she didn’t belong anywhere.Thisyear, she was dreading the break.
Yeah.Itwas definitely not the time to start dating.Itwould surely be a mistake.
“Shh!They’recoming!”
Sheheld her breath asParkercame into view and wished more than anything that from this angle they could see his face and not just his backside.Parkerfroze when he saw their handiwork, andDarrenandHannahraced forward to look at it closer.
Parker’sdress shirt was fitted enough that she could see his back muscles perfectly, soKelliwatched them closely, along with his arms and hands.Butnot so that she could admire them—she’d stopped herself from doing that long ago.Andthen stopped herself again every day, just like she stopped herself now.No, this time she watched so she could interpret his reaction.
Themuscles in his shoulders twitched and his arms were rigid.Shechuckled.Helooked properly annoyed.Scoreone for teamKelliandValeria.
ThenParkerlaughed.Abig, hearty laugh.Thatwas unexpected.And, surprisingly, it made her feel like she’d won this particular battle in their “Let’ssee who can annoy the other person more” war.Interesting.
Hewalked forward to check out their display of cat affection, which was pretty great if she did say so herself.Sheknew he was seconds from turning around to see if he could see the person who had done it—like he’d guess it would be anyone other thanKelli—so she said, “Webetter get out of here.”
Insteadof walking out the door on their usual side, they took the door on the opposite side of the break room and walked the long way around, soParkerwouldn’t see them.Shechuckled the whole way.
Theyhad almost made it back to their desks when her phone buzzed with a notification.Shelooked at the screen, eyebrows scrunched together, while she tried to make sense of what she was seeing.
“Whatis it?”
Kelliheld the phone soValeriacould read it.
“CarlaCook...Isn’tshe the assistant to one of the bigwigs?”
Kellinodded and opened the text with a shaking finger and read the message out loud. “‘Hello,Kelli.MeritCasselmanandGrahamMcNeilwould like to meet with you today at three-thirty inBuildingHQ, on the third floor.Pleaselet me know if you’ll be able to make this meeting time.’Whydo theCEOand theCTOwant to meet with me?”Sheglanced back in the direction ofParker’sdesk. “Doyou thinkI’min trouble for the cat prank?”
“Howwould they even know about that?Besides, it’s not exactly something you’d get called on the carpet for.”
ButKelli’sstomach had already fallen, her ears were on fire, and she was feeling very lightheaded. “Idon’t know.It’sgot to be something.”Hermind raced, trying to figure out what she could be in trouble for.Wouldn’tthey just have her boss talk to her if she wasn’t doing something right?Ormaybe even someone fromHumanResources?Whyin the world would the two co-founders of the company need to see her?
Shelooked atValeria. “Didyou get a message?”
Justas they reached their desks,Valeriapicked up the phone that she’d left behind. “Nope.Noemails or texts at all.Maybeit’s for something good.”
