I shake my head. “This self-deprecating shit you’re doing isn’t cute, Scarlett. We both know you’re way smarter and waymore talented than anybody gives you credit for,” I say, and her lips part on a gasp. I lean into her and whisper, “Own it.”
She tries to hide her smile, but I see it. Scarlett is confident with everything she does, and I don’t know why she gets like this sometimes. Her parents must have really done a number on her if she takes what they say so seriously. She’s good at this. Way better than I imagined.
“You could do this by yourself, you know? Branch out and create something separate of your own,” I suggest.
She scoffs. “How would that work? It’s practically in my blood to work at Voss.”
“Not really.”
She clicks her tongue, flicking her hair over her shoulder. “I-It’s complicated.”
I shrug, leaning back in my chair. “It’s also an option.”
She holds my gaze for a while, and I can tell she’s thinking about it. She must know how good her designs are and how easy it would be for her to start something of her own. She’s got the talent and the drive. All she needs are the right connections, good people on her team that won’t fuck her over, and she’ll be set.
Scarlett shakes her head lightly, pushing her chair back from the table. “I’m going to check out the fiction section.”
“Good idea. I’ll come with.”
She smirks. “You just can’t leave me alone, can you?”
“Something like that.”
Every time we’ve come to the library, we never have much time to walk around and browse. The place is filled with books of every genre, all carefully picked out by the team that work here.
I should’ve known Scarlett would gravitate toward the thriller and horror section. She scans the shelves with precision, picking up a book every few minutes to skim the blurb before placing it back in its rightful place.
A book with a pink spine catches my eye and I laugh when I see the front cover. “What is it with everyone and taxidermy?” I shudder, placing the book behind another one.
“Why does it bother you so much?” Scarlett asks, laughing.
“Whydoesn’tit bother you? It’s creepy.” Scarlett just laughs even harder, the corners of her eyes creasing in the most adorable way. “You’re laughing now, but you won’t be when scientists find a way to bring those things back to life.”
She blows a raspberry, waving her hand in my face as if the idea of that doesn’t scare her at all. Maybe it doesn’t. “At least I know not to choose you to bunk with during a zombie apocalypse.”
I shake my head. “Nah, I think we could handle it.”
She snorts, crossing her arms over her chest as she leans against the bookshelves. “I really don’t think running away in terror and making out against a tree shows that we could ‘handle’ anything.”
I chuckle deeply, stepping to the side so I’m right in front of her. Her eyes still burn a furious fiery brown, but the freckles on her cheeks have faded almost completely now. I want to trace each of them with my finger, count them, connect them with lines and form constellations.
Without thinking, I grip her chin between my fingers, tilting her face up to mine. Her lips part on a gasp, her eyes bouncing around my face. “We had fun though, right?”
Her tongue darts out to wet her bottom lip. “I mean, yeah, it was okay.”
“Okay?”
“Moment of weakness, remember?”
“Right.” I click my tongue, stepping into her a little more. I raise my thumb just slightly until the pad of it presses against her plush bottom lip. “And this?”
She blinks rapidly. “This is . . . Yeah . . . This is . . .”
She tries to find the words, and I can’t help the smirk that spreads across my face. I have Scarlett Voss speechless. Again. I truly never thought this day would come. She doesn’t move from my grip. If anything, she leans in closer to my touch.
“Hey, I have a thought.”
She gasps dramatically. “You have those?”
