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“No. This deserves noise.”

“It deserves preparation.”

“It can deserve both.”

Claire opened the folder again, already eager to begin.

Her phone buzzed beside her laptop.

Noah: Did you eat breakfast?

She smiled.

Claire: Yes. And Victoria just asked me to lead the campaign and presentation for that coffee shop we did the rebrand for right when I started. They’re expanding. Opening three new locations.

His response appeared almost immediately.

Noah: I knew you would eventually take over the company.

Claire glanced toward Victoria’s office.

Claire: Give me time.

Then she turned back to the campaign folder.

For once, success did not feel like something she had to chase until she was exhausted. It felt like something she was ready to meet.

CHAPTER 30

The Apartment Key

As soon as Claire arrived home from work, she noticed how little time she actually spent in her apartment anymore.

It still felt like hers. It just felt quieter now. Emptier. Less lived in.

Without thinking much about it, she crossed the hall and let herself into Noah’s apartment with the spare key that had somehow become hers.

He wasn’t home yet, but it didn’t matter.

She greeted Biscuit, who had come to assume that she was his second owner. After playing with him, she refilled his water bowl.

Then she decided to tidy up the kitchen and living room while she waited for Noah to return.

She really had changed.

She never would have dreamed there would be a day that she beat someone home from work. She used to stay at the office all hours of the night just to sometimes continue working once she got home.

But now, she didn’t want to spend an unhealthy amount of time working. She wanted to come home.

Not to a place.

To a person.

Noah came in, pleasantly surprised to see her. “I wasn’t expecting you to be here.”

Claire shrugged. “Apparently I live here now.”

He glanced around, noticing she had tidied the place. “You folded my blanket.”