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He pointed at her with a smile on his face. “Oh, no. I’m not falling for that again. I think I’ve spilled my guts enough for today.”
She failed at holding back a smile. “I’m just trying to help.”
“Come on.” He angled his head toward the door. “There’s something else I want to show you.”
After spinning around in his chair a few times, she joined him by the door, and he slid her coat back onto her petite form. She turned to face him, and he gripped her lapels and smiled down at her.
“What?” She stared up at him, and once again, he wanted to sink into the depths of her warm brown eyes.
He shook away his thoughts, surprised by how she affected him. “Nothing. Let’s go.”
He hadn’t expected her to be so attuned to him and his feelings about his family and this company. And while she seemed to understand things about him, he knew very little about her as a person, about her family, about her business. She had quickly become a mystery he wanted to solve.
EIGHTEEN
Merritt tightened her coat around her neck as they stepped from within the elevator to the rooftop terrace. Everything was covered in a blanket of snow—the outdoor seating area furniture, the large white pergola wrapped in vines in the center of the space, and the bushes that lined the outer edge of the building.
“What a great space. I bet it gets used a lot in the warmer months.”
“It does. Skylar likes to escape up here when she’s stressed or needs to think.”
Merritt walked along the pathway toward the edge of the building, taking in the view of the city. She liked Grand Rapids. It had been a while since she’d been there with her family, but she had always enjoyed the close-knit feel of this city.
“Nice view.” The Grand River stretched before them, flowing through the downtown area, with several bridges spanning its width—some for vehicles, some for pedestrians. “It’s cool to see the city from up here.”
Gus came to stand next to her. “I keep forgetting you’re from Michigan. Did you spend much time here in GR?”
“Not a lot, but I can remember going to the Ford Museum and John Ball Zoo when I was little, and I went to a concert at VanAndel when I was in high school.”
“Who’d you see?”
“Matchbox 20, Maroon 5, and Sugar Ray.”
He gave her a curious look. “No way!”
“What?”
He appeared deep in thought. “I think I was there too.”
Her brow creased. “No, you weren’t.”
“I was! I’m not even kidding. My brother took me for my fifteenth birthday. You can ask him.”
Her eyes widened. “That’s crazy.”
“I know.” He shook his head. “It was a great show, wasn’t it?”
“It was awesome.” She smiled, remembering that night spent with two of her best childhood friends, Harley and Nicole. They had left the arena barely able to talk after singing and screaming for hours. It was one of her fondest memories.
Her teeth chattered. “As much as I like the view up here, I’m losing all sensation in my fingers and toes.”
Gus chuckled. “Sorry. We can go.”
“This is one thing I do not miss about Michigan.”
He pressed his hand against her lower back as they walked, and the warmth of his arm radiated through her coat. The moment the doors slid open, warm air hit their faces, and the chill began to subside.
“I like it here,” she told him as the elevator doors closed. “It feels like your family.”