Page 100 of An Inevitable Marriage

“Tamara,” I groaned. “I don’t need to know that.”

More laughing came from across the desk. “I’m just saying, never hurts to let them know they’re on your mind.”

“Thanks,” I deadpanned. “I’m assuming you didn’t waltz into my office just to give me that invaluable little nugget.”

Her eyes narrowed dangerously. I almost cupped my balls to make sure they were still there.

“Silly me for thinking the stick was successfully removed.” A stack of folders landed on the desk in front of me. She tapped the top one. “The year-end function files you asked for…without an explanation, I might add. The entire PR floor is running around with their hands in their hair over this.”

“I have my reasons.” I gave her a pointed stare. “Thanks, Tamara.”

She got the hint and left my office without another word. The door clicked shut, and my gaze immediately dropped to the files. Excitement, along with a healthy dose of trepidation, bubbled through my veins when I thought of the plan that’d slowly been taking root inside my brain over the last few days.

It was risky, but everything about it felt right.

A ping from my phone drew my attention to the device. I picked it up, my heart immediately making funny dips at the prospect of possibly receiving an unprompted text from Snow.

It wasn’t.

But it did get me thinking. Maybe Tamara was onto something? How would Snow know how often she was on my mind if I never showed her?

Opening the messaging app, I scrolled to her name. There was no message thread for us. I didn’t like it. Lips pursed; my thumbs hovered over the screen. Having never texted someone just for the heck of it, this was a foreign concept to me.

Where did I even start?

Me:Hi. How’s your day?

That sounded dumb. Angrily, I poked the tiny arrow until the screen was blank. Yet again, Tamara’s words rang in my ears.

I took a deep breath and tried again.

Me:How are you?

No. That wasn’t right either. I tried one more time.

Me:Wish you were here.

I hit ‘send’ before I could change my mind. Seeing the words on my screen unlocked something inside me. It felt big—too big for my body. I pushed it aside and fired off another text.

Me:How do you feel about stopping by after your shopping date with Natalie? Waiting until tonight to see you feels like an impossible task.

Carefully setting my phone down, I ignored the thundering in my chest and opened the first file. Halfway through the second page, my phone dinged with a text.

Never in my life had I grabbed my phone that fast.

Everlee Sutton:Aw. You say the sweetest things.

I frowned at the way her name appeared on my phone. Quickly scrolling through my contacts, I found her name and corrected it. Just in time for another message to pop up.

My wife:Don’t tell anyone but…I miss you, too.

There was a string of emojis after her message. One with fingers covering the eyes, another with a small smile and pink cheeks, but it was the last one I stared at the longest. It was a smiley face with hearts floating around it. I had no idea what, exactly, it meant, just that seeing it there after she’d told me she missed me did strange, strange things behind my rib cage.

I was still thinking about that when my phone dinged again.

My wife:Walking into your building now. If you’re busy in a meeting, I’ll wait with Tamara. She’s pretty fun to talk to.

That was fast. Too fast. That meant she was already on her way to me before I’d texted her. I tried not to get excited. There were many reasons why Snow would stop by the office in the middle of the day.