Page 54 of More than Fiction (Misty Springs #1)

Sophia

My skull pounded as I gently sipped water and hunched behind Elijah's front desk. I rested my head on the cold laminate counter to ease some of the throbbing tension.

I could kill Cassie for putting me on the schedule this morning, but I also knew she had no choice. I was the only one without family around to celebrate Thanksgiving with.

Last night, we had closed out the bar, then stayed for hours after celebrating Sam and Devyn’s engagement.

I didn’t want the night to end, but eventually, Hank arrived in the wee morning hours with his roomy van, allowing all of us to pile in and raking in extra cash and tips from the whole group.

Corbin rode shotgun, surprisingly chatting with Hank the entire time.

Corbin’s presence last night had a way of making every moment feel bigger—elevated somehow. When he made me that martini, I felt the unavoidable tension build between us.

I stole glances his way all night—melting a little, at how his eyes lit up when he laughed with the guys and the carefree smile that sprang across his face, like he’d been a part of our group forever.

Sometimes, when I let my eyes linger on him too long, he’d catch me. A quick wink, a playful flick of connection before he looked away. I’d drop my gaze, cheeks warm, hiding behind a shy smile.

But once—just once—neither of us looked away. Our eyes held, suspended in a quiet, aching moment. No words passed between us, but everything we’d tried not to say lived in that look .

The wanting. The hope. The ache of knowing we couldn’t. And when it got too heavy, too real, we both turned away.

No smiles that time.

In the harsh light of the morning, I heard someone approaching and peeled my face off the counter. I wiped the tiny bead of drool from my mouth and quickly straightened when I realized it was Corbin.

“Sexy,” he smirked.

Despite his obvious sarcasm, I felt my heart lift at his comment.

He pulled coconut water and a tiny bottle of ibuprofen from a bag. He also set some crackers and a banana on the counter. “Figured you could use some essentials.”

He looked impeccable despite being up as late as the rest of us. His green ribbed sweater clung to his chest and arms, and a neatly pressed collar stuck out of the top. His dark tan pants fit him like they were made just for his body, which, knowing him, they probably were.

“Thank you,” I croaked with a dry mouth. “How’d you get back to your car this morning?” I added, realizing he’d left it at Boomer’s last night.

He leaned on the counter, eyes meeting my level. “Believe it or not, there is more than one Uber driver in Misty Springs.”

“How dare you,” I gasped. “Hank is not an Uber driver. He’s an entrepreneur. He’s a brand all his own.”

Corbin chuckled. “That he is.”

We stared at each other for a few heartbeats. Words lingered on my tongue, but none of them would change a damn thing.

“I have to head back,” he said, breaking the silence as his brows knitted together.

This was it—the last time we’d see each other before we became Assistant Editor and boss’s boss’s boss… maybe one more boss was somewhere in there, I couldn’t remember.

He had his dream. I had mine.

And they didn’t intersect.

“Goodbye, Corbin.” I managed to choke out, the finality of the words weighing on me.

He rapped his fingers on the desk. “Goodbye, Sophia.”

** *

“I’m so happy it worked out. It sounds like the perfect opportunity for you.” My sister Penny’s voice was overly enthusiastic as we talked on the phone after I left Elijah’s later that day.

“Oh, and I spoke to David, and we decided to come to Misty Springs for Christmas this year. Luke is young enough, he doesn’t question Santa’s ability to track us down—he just knows he gets presents.”

My heart lifted. Penny hadn’t come back home since Luke was born. “That’s amazing news!”

I couldn’t wait to introduce Luke to my friends and show him where Penny and I grew up. My heart plummeted as I realized I couldn’t show him around our childhood home. The brick building, which held so many memories, was infuriatingly unoccupied but locked up tight.

“Oh, and Luke wanted me to ask you about some guy named Bruce? Are you seeing someone?”

I laughed, even hundreds of miles away, Luke could lighten my mood. “Tell him I haven’t found Bruce yet, but I’ll keep looking.”

***

Monday arrived quickly, and my nerves were on edge as I got dressed for my first day.

I lucked out. Cassie and Brent’s grandparents were spending the winter in Florida, and they let me borrow their car while they were away. I planned to have enough for a down payment by the time they got back.

When I walked into the chic, eclectic office of Buescher-Jones Publishing, I practically had to pinch myself to believe it was real.

Andi wasted no time jumping right in. She introduced me to Susan, bypassing any introduction to Ned, and showed me to my very own—albeit tiny—corner office.

I settled in, setting up my email and access to the Buescher-Jones server. By mid-morning, she’d asked about the manuscript she had handed me during my interview.

“So?” she asked, leaning against my desk with that signature Andi confidence. “What’d you think?”

I’d been nervous, but I told her the truth. “It needs a lot of work—spelling, grammar, sentence structure—but the story’s solid. The characters are well-developed, and the plot has a great flow. ”

Her grin was instant. “Exactly what I thought.”

Then she told me it had been Monica McKenzie’s first submission to the company—their best-selling author and a cornerstone of their success. “If we’d passed on her, it would’ve been a multi-million-dollar mistake. Trust your gut, Sophia. It’s better than you realize.”

A few hours later, I was pouring creamer into my coffee in the common area. My confidence was soaring, like nothing could pull me down—until the lobby door creaked on its hinges.

And in strode Corbin.

For a moment, my breath caught. A sharp twist of excitement pulsed through me, followed by a stab to my gut as I settled into the acceptance that he was completely off-limits.

To everyone here, Corbin and I barely knew each other, having only met briefly during my interview and again at the gala. None of them were aware of how well we got to know each other after said gala.

Corbin stood in the entry, eyes locked on me, silently assessing.

“Hey, Bossman!” Andi exclaimed as she barreled down the small hallway. “I assume your flight was good?”

Corbin reluctantly drew his attention away from me. “I assume my office is unoccupied?”

I haven’t seen Corbin in this element before.

Was this his business persona? Arrogant, no-nonsense, direct.

“I didn’t set foot in there today.” Andi came to stand near me and grabbed a coffee cup. “Do yourself a favor and ignore him, okay, Sophia?” she whispered loudly.

I grinned sheepishly before focusing my attention back on my coffee. I wrapped my hands around the mug and blew on the steaming liquid before retreating to my office.

Corbin spent much of the day behind the closed door of his office, not that I was keeping tabs on him or anything. Not that I didn’t make one too many trips to the coffee pot to see if his door was still closed.

Andi treated the office to lunch, and we gathered at a large table in the common area—everyone except Corbin.

“He never leaves that office,” Susan commented as she chewed over her salad. “I don’t know if I’ve ever seen someone work as hard as he does. ”

“His dad was always like that too, until it killed him,” Ned said with a cold sneer.

It felt wrong to sit here, reducing Corbin’s pain to flippant workplace gossip. I opened my mouth to say something, but my nerves kicked in—sealing my mouth shut.

“I heard his dad ran around with nearly every woman at the company—that’s why they don’t want coworkers hooking up,” Ned continued shoveling a bite of pasta in his mouth.

This ignited something in me. Hearing Corbin talk about his father’s past—what it did to his family, how hurt he was as a boy—lit a fuse that quickly exploded.

“I don’t think it’s appropriate to talk about that kind of stuff,” I stated firmly.

Not quite the f-you that I wanted to say, but it still felt good.

“Yeah, Ned, do us all a favor and choke on your pasta, will you?” Andi commented, shutting Ned down quickly.

Ned’s face turned red as he chewed the alfredo in his mouth, his eyes simmering toward Andi as she passively ignored him.

“You know.” Ned swallowed loudly. “I don’t know who you think made you in charge here. I’ve been with the company longer than you, so maybe you should watch your tone, young lady.”

“Maybe you should watch your cholesterol, old fuck,” Andi jeered. “Feel free to talk to Mr. Buescher if you feel you are being treated unfairly.”

I gulped as I swallowed my water. Wishing I had an ounce of the steel Andi carried around.

If Andi and Devyn ever got together, they could decimate a major city.

Ned gathered his takeout container and stormed into his office, slamming his door.

“Andi, you shouldn’t goad him like that,” Susan warned calmly. “I know he’s an ass, but he’s got connections high up at this company. You don’t want him to be an enemy.”

“He shouldn’t want me as an enemy,” Andi clipped back, twirling spaghetti on her fork like a stage magician. “Sophia’s right—he shouldn’t be out here talking shit about Corbin when he’s two feet away, working his ass off for this company.”

Despite the minor workplace drama, I couldn’t stop smiling as I packed up my desk that evening. I’d always imagined loving my job, but I hadn’t expected it to feel like this—like I was on a path to something so perfectly— me .

As I left, I noticed the light spilling out from beneath the door of Corbin’s office. Nightfall came earlier as we inched closer and closer to the end of the year, and the horizon nearly engulfed the final scraps of sunlight.

Against my better judgment, I stood outside his door, my hand raised to knock.

My pulse raced, and I swallowed the nervous lump in my throat.

This was a bad idea.

I turned and left like the coward I was.