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“Living so close. Living with their judgment and expectations. Feeling like I’m in direct competition with my siblings—like I have been for my entire life. Not to mention having my entire career tied up in family politics.”

“Right.” Again, Arden couldn’t exactly relate, having no siblings herself. And her parents hadn’t put a ton of expectations on her—she’d done that to herself.

“I almost applied to a job in Denver a few months ago,” Sam continued, “but I didn’t.”

“Why not?”

“My parents would be crushed. I’ve never told them that I think about leaving the company, let alone Seattle. Plus, I don’t know anyone in Denver. I guess I would be sort of… scared. To move somewhere new where I don’t know anyone.”

“That makes sense.”

“Have you ever done anything that really scared you?” Sam asked, scooting closer and looking into her eyes.

Arden basked in the sight of him for a moment. The smile crinkling his light blue eyes. The dark stubble on his jaw. She wanted to remember this view forever.

“I guess this.” As soon as she admitted it, her heart pounded. She regretted being this open, this vulnerable. “I don’t usually do this.”

“Morning sex?” Sam joked.

Arden hesitated. She didn’t want to sound pathetic, admitting that she never dated. But it was the truth. She generally reserved her romantic feelings for people who were entirely out of reach. Because if she kept her love interests unrealistic, she would never get to be with them. And if she was never with them, she would never get hurt.

At this thought, she felt like she’d swallowed rocks. Because she’d thought she was doing something different, something brave, opening her heart to Sam. But she was actually doing the same thing she always did: pinning her heart on an impossibility.

Sam lived in Seattle. Three thousand miles away from Arden. They were sharing a magical few days together. But it would never—could never—turn into anything more.

She had almost fooled herself. But she was the same Arden she’d always been. Scared to open herself up to real love.

The realization was confusing. And it made her feel ashamed, like she was powerless and doomed to repeat the same patterns again and again. But there was nothing she could do other than enjoy the time they had together. She would just try to maintain some distance. Try to not get too attached.

“Yeah.” She pinned a flirtatious smile on her face. “Morning sex with a guy I met three days ago.”

“The luckiest three days of my life.” Sam pulled her closer and kissed her again.

Chapter 19

Phoebe

Phoebe sat on Arden’s outdoor sofa, basking in the sun with Mittens purring beside her. Her laptop, notebook, pens, and various beverages littered the table in front of her. She was having trouble focusing.

It was the day after Christmas. That meant she had five days left to finish writing this business plan. After that, she would be applying for a small business loan. They would be applying for a small business loan. Phoebe and Jonathan.

She felt a prickle of unease. It wasn’t because she was doing this with Jonathan. On the contrary, she was relieved about that. It truly felt as though they had found each other at the perfect time. Phoebe couldn’t start the agency by herself. No, the unease was about something else.

It was about the expression on his face when she’d discovered his Phoebe folder. It was about the swell of his biceps under his Christmas sweater. It was about the way she could have moved her hand two inches yesterday morning, as they stood by the coffee pot, and her whole world might have changed.

She wasn’t comfortable with that. She didn’t want her whole world to change.

What Phoebe wanted was to continue achieving her goals. Getting fired had not been part of her plan. That had thrown a wrench into her life, for sure. But she was determined to see it as an opportunity, which meant she had to make this new venture a success.

And that meant she had to stop letting things get complicated with Jonathan. Stop going down memory lane. Stop looking at his body in entirely unprofessional ways. Stop thinking about what it would be like to finally kiss him.

Stop.

If she continued like this, she was going to be screwed. In a bad way. She hadn’t applied to any new jobs. She would simply have to face the fact that she’d been fired—that she was now unemployed.

The thought roiled her stomach. She still hadn’t told her family that she’d lost her job. The idea of telling them about it now versus after she’d secured funding for the new business… well, it would be completely different. If she told them she’d lost her job at the same time that she told them she was now an entrepreneur, it would practically be good news. They wouldn’t have time to be disappointed in her. No; success was her only option.

She knew Jonathan was the perfect person to go into business with, and she had to make sure this business got off the ground. Even if it meant putting some distance between them. Clearly, letting anything remotely romantic happen would complicate things. She couldn’t afford any type of complication. Maybe sometime in the future, when they’d been business partners for a year or two, after they’d proven they could work together. Maybe then…