Page 44 of Snowflakes and Ice Skates

I reached over and pulled out an invitation for him. “Here you go.”

His eyes scanned it, and his smile returned. “I’ll be there.”

“Now Taylor just has to deliver the rest.”

They were both watching me, waiting for a reaction, and I finally sighed. “Fine.” I stood and grabbed the stack of invitations. “I’ll be back.”

I knew better than to try to fight both of them. It would be wasted energy. So I went to the elevators, smoothing my black-and-white tweed blazer as I walked. It was a good thing I looked cute today. This would be my first time venturing to the development floor. I entered the elevator and pressed the button for the seventh floor. When the doors opened again, I stepped out onto a floor that looked almost identical to marketing but was much quieter. I walked over to the receptionist, an older-looking blonde woman who glanced up when I approached.

“Hi, can you point me in the direction of the product engineers?”

Her eyes dipped to the company badge I wore clipped to my waistband. “Go left and head straight back.”

“Thanks.” I followed her direction, feeling the stares of people I passed. Why did I feel like I was intruding? But when I glanced around, I realized that everyone was focused on the screens in front of them. Most even had headphones on.

This was the opposite of my department. We were constantly talking to each other, bouncing ideas back and forth, and music played in the background over shared speakers. Not here. Each click of my heeled boots made me cringe more.

I scanned the desks, looking for someone I recognized. My neck and cheeks were flushed. I hated this feeling. Being the center of attention was high on my list of worst nightmares, and I was quickly gaining more sets of eyes on me the longer I moved down the open walkway.

Turning around was tempting. I’d chicken out and make Cora come back with me. Or we could look for them at lunch. Anything but this.

“Taylor?”

I turned at the sound of my voice. Lane was walking toward me from a meeting room. I tried to not appear too relieved to see him.

“Hi.” He met me halfway, in front of a cluster of desks. I forced myself not to look around. I knew we had an audience, but I wanted to ignore them.

“What’s up?” His casual question put me at ease. I wasn’t under attack; I needed to relax.

I held up an invitation. “I wanted to come give you this.” I paused and realized I’d made it seem like I was here just for him...which I wasn’t. Not entirely. “And Hayden and Milly.”

He took the card from me and looked it over. His smile spread to his eyes, the corners crinkling in a way that I loved. “Thanks. I’m excited about this. I told my roommate too if that’s okay?”

I nodded. “Yes of course. I hope he can come too.”

I froze when I realized his roommate could be a woman. Hopefully, not one he had a romantic connection with. Oh gosh. I couldn't even imagine what I’d do if he arrived with another woman on his arm. I didn’t think Cora’s apartment had a fire escape…

“Yeah, I think he should be able to.”

I let out a breath. Good. Crisis averted. “Do you know where Hayden and Milly sit?”’

He nodded and led me through the maze of desks until Hayden appeared.

“Hey, Taylor.” He smiled as he pulled his headphones off.

“Hi, I just came by to give you this.” I held out a card for him, which he accepted and read over.

“Sounds good. I can’t wait.”

“Me too. If you have any friends you want to bring, please feel free.”

I’d thought yesterday that there had been a connection between him and Cora, but her comments this morning about the printer made me question that again. Maybe she was just keeping her options open. My eyes flickered to Lane.

He caught me looking and smiled. “Milly’s just right over here.” He led me to a different row where Milly was staring straight ahead, typing furiously.

When he tapped her shoulder, she jumped in her seat, spinning around and glaring at him. Then she noticed me. “Oh, hi, Taylor.”

“Sorry to interrupt. I just wanted to drop this off.” I handed her the card. I wanted to move on since we’d interrupted her, but she clapped.