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Chapter Twenty-Two
Mia
It was Wednesday, and I had a massive headache. Staring at these finance reports was making it even worse. But it had to be done. All the paperwork and everything else on my desk had to be done. I pushed back from my desk and gazed up at the ceiling. My head hurt, but so did my heart. I’d seen Terry around Shoegasm a lot lately, and it was torturing me.
A knock sounded at the door. Thankfully, a distraction, I thought. Looking up, I saw Terry leaning against the doorframe, two coffees in hand. He looked almost edible in his light jeans and black button-up shirt that was rolled up at the sleeves. His brown hair was a mess. He must have been running his hands through it—in stress, maybe. A pang of guilt crept in. He was only here to help me. He shouldn’t be feeling the stress of it.
“Hey,” I said, breaking the silence.
“You okay?” he said in return.
I shrugged. “Sure.”
“Liar,” he countered with a laugh. “May I come in?”
“Come on in.” I motioned for him to sit down at the chair in front of my desk.
Terry lowered himself into the chair and held a coffee out to me. “For you.”
“Thank you. How did you know I needed this?” I asked him, taking a sip of the delicious-smelling coffee. “You remember,” I commented. Terry had brought me a caramel latte.
“Of course I did. There are many things I remember about you.” He smiled wide at me. He kept reminding me that he knew me. When was I going to stop questioning it and just accept it?
I shifted uncomfortably in my seat. As happy as I was to see him at my door, I wasn’t up for this kind of conversation.
“Relax, Mia. I’m not pushing for anything. I was coming in to show you some proofs and talk to you about some reshoots I think need to be done. You looked a bit stressed, so I thought I’d bring you a coffee to lift your spirits a bit.”
“Thank you.” I smiled back at him. “It’s just been a long day here.”
“Being the boss isn’t always sunshine and rainbows, is it?”
I shook my head. “It certainly isn’t.”
“You’re doing a great job with the company, Mia. The people who work here respect you. You can see it both in their eyes when you speak and in the way they work with you.”
I beamed at his assessment of my employees. They were good people. I admired them and was happy to have them on my team. But it was nice to know that admiration may go both ways.
“I appreciate you saying that.”
“You’re welcome. I know it still doesn’t make up for the parts of the job that aren’t fun, but you’re doing a hell of a job with the company. I’m proud of you.” He held his hand up as if he expected me to interrupt him. “That probably doesn’t mean a whole lot coming from me. But I am. What you have accomplished in such a short period of time is admirable.”
“Thanks,” I said quietly. We sipped our coffees before I continued. “This was incredibly thoughtful of you and desperately needed.”
Terry just kept sipping his coffee and watching me. His inspection was making me uncomfortable. I shifted more than once under his gaze, which I swear only made his smile grow even wider. His scrutiny caused me to blush.
“Why, Miss Mia, I’m making you blush,” he teased.
I laughed in return, taking a minute to glance around at the paperwork that was covering my desk. “Maybe a little bit.”
He nodded. “Is it wrong that I enjoy it more than I should?”
“It is,” I confirmed.
“You say that like I should know that already,” Terry shot back.
“I would have thought the last couple of days—the club, outside Bryce’s apartment”—Terry bristled at the mention of Bryce’s apartment, but I kept talking—“the time we spent at your apartment—would have told you otherwise.”
He only nodded.
