“You two are great individuals.” She holds her hands out to us. “But I’ve known for a while now that you’d make an even better team. In both your personal and professional lives.” She squeezes my hand. “Mackenzie will be the head of design. Shewill continue her excellent work behind the scenes with her creative eye and exquisite touch. Meanwhile, Jeremy will be the face and voice of the company to our customers. The liaison between our product and our clients. A beautifulpartnership.” She stresses the word in an over-obvious hint. “Don’t you agree?”
Keri starts clapping, followed by Lincoln and Jill. Soon everyone is giving us applause.
Have I mentioned how much I hate being the center of attention? My body temperature has spiked so high that if I step outside, I could melt a snowbank in seconds.
Jeremy says something to Sofiya that I can’t hear over the noise. Sofiya glances at me in a motherly way. She lets go of my hand and holds her arms up to quiet the room. “Now that that’s taken care of, let’s open some presents.” She leads the way to the tree and the wrapped gifts underneath.
Jeremy catches my eye and nods toward the stairwell.
How did he know I need to escape and catch my breath?
He opens the door for me. The air in the stairwell is colder than the office. I fill my lungs and exhale slowly. I can hear my coworkers on the other side of the door, but their noise is a low rumble. The relative quiet is like a suffocating blanket being lifted from my head.
“Better?” Jeremy asks.
I nod. “How’d you know?”
His smile chases away the chill. “You aren’t the only observant one in this relationship.”
My heart stills, then races away from me. I lick my lips. I hate that I’m still nervous about speaking what’s in my heart and mind. Maybe a recipe of time, patience, practice, and love will result in me being more comfortable with myself and others. Until then, or at least right now, I’m not going to let the nervousness win.
“Is that what we’re in?” I force myself to push past my mental wall and meet his eyes. “A relationship?”
The tip of his finger traces my hairline, my jaw. His gaze roamsmy face. “I would be extremely honored if you would call me yours.”
Our foreheads rest against each other. Our noses nuzzle. “You are mine.” Who would have thought such a phrase would pass my lips? I lift my lashes and peer into Jeremy’s eyes. “And I am yours.”
It turns out the stairwell is an even better place to steal kisses than the elevator.
29
Jeremy stood in front of Mackenzie and Keri’s apartment door. A festive wreath with sparkly green and red letters spelling outHo-Ho-Hoframed the peephole in the center. He glanced down at himself one last time to make sure all zippers were zipped and all buttons were buttoned.
He wouldn’t have said he was nervous. No butterflies winged around his stomach. While this was the first time he’d found himself standing in front of Mackenzie’s door to pick her up for a date, they were so far beyond the usual first-date starting point. In a way, they had entered their relationship at a midpoint, and he found himself working backward, at least in regard to certain milestones. Although, considering they were headed to Heritage Hills so he could officially meet her mother, who knew where on the dating timeline they were.
But who really cared? All that mattered to him was being with Mackenzie, and the only thing currently in his way of that objective was the door in front of him.
He raised his fist and knocked. Seconds later, the clicking of a lock sounded and the door pulled open.
Jeremy sucked in his breath. He’d always found Mackenzieattractive, no matter how small she’d tried to make herself or how hard she’d tried to hide. But she wasn’t chasing shadows now, ducking her head and darting away. She stood fully before him, her shoulders pushed farther back than he’d ever seen, looking at him. Smiling at him. Blushing at him.
He could look at her all day and never get bored. Memorize every fine line of her face. Study each of her expressions so he’d always know what she was thinking even when she had trouble vocalizing those thoughts.
“You look beautiful,” he finally said. She had on a winter knit hat, her hair spilling out in silky strands to frame first her face and then the curves of her body as the ends stopped at the hourglass center of her waist.
Her blush deepened, and when she didn’t avert her gaze, he couldn’t help but kiss her upturned nose and then her lips.
Jill had been right. Since all good gifts came from God, there was no denying that He had brought Mackenzie into Jeremy’s life—the best gift of all. Thankfully, he’d finally released his death grip on his own plans to allow room for God’s more abundant blessings.
“Give Caroline my love!” Keri called from a room on the other side of the apartment.
Mackenzie broke their kiss. “I will!” To Jeremy, she said, “Let me grab my coat and a few other things, and I’ll be all set.”
She shrugged into a grey wool peacoat, then grabbed a couple of wrapped packages and a rectangular plastic kitchen container.
“Need help?”
“I think I’ve got it.”
