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Evan rolls over toward me and kisses my shoulder. “No. Right now, I’m only focusing on you.”

“Oh, that’s wonderful news. Because I only want to focus on you, too.”

Before I can kiss Evan, my phone rings.

Evan rolls back onto his back and chuckles. “Still can’t believe you waited till I was on vacation to start a company.”

I wave it off. “Oh, Carly, hey.”

“Don’t worry, I won’t take long. I wanted to let you know that the electricity contracts have been updated and we’re good to go.”

My heart is racing. “That’s great news. I’m glad they didn’t give us any trouble. You can’t imagine how happy I am that you’re joining me.” And the fact that we’re using my old apartment as an office is as fantastic as it is daunting. We already have business expenses before we even have an official client.

“Blake got in touch. We can go live with the first retirement photos.”

“I’ve already double-checked the material and written a short caption. They’re cute, even if Blake looks a little oversized in those tiny swim shorts.”

Evan nudges me. “I still think you should make him pay for this.”

I wave it off. “He’s doing us a favor. Same as Valentina and Sid. She wanted out of the system and is now letting us frame their relationship for the summer. This is more advertising than we ever dared to dream of, and it’s only possible because Sid is the client.” The old contracts with Simon have made things difficult for Carly and me. We’re not allowed to reach out to contacts we know from our time with Simon.

“Hey, Evan. How are you guys doing?” Carly asks.

I turn the phone toward Evan and repeat Carly’s question.

“My boyfriend feels guilty because you’re slaving away downtown while he’s here pretending to relax with me.”

I exhale sharply. “It’s unfair, too. But I promise I’ll make it up to you as soon as we get back.”

Evan ignores what I’m saying and kisses his way down my arm.

“Carly, I have to go now, okay? If anything comes up, let me know, and say hi to Ricky for me if you see him.”

“I will. And I’m curious to hear what he has to say about the Monarchs’ social media team.”

“Not me,” Evan growls.

Carly laughs. “I’d better leave you two alone.”

We hang up.

“That was rude,” I murmur, but Evan silences me with a deep kiss.

“I’m in Carly’s good graces.”

“I wonder why?” I reply.

Evan laughs softly. After that I forget the world around us.

In that moment, it’s just him and me.

Freshly showered and changed, I’m standing at the front door that same evening, waiting for Evan.

With one hand, I scroll through social media and get stuck on another post with a series of photos of Evan and me in New York. Hand in hand, we walk down the street where my own office is now located. We’d expected to be spotted, but decided not to let that influence our choice of how to spend a day together in New York.

Evan bounds down the last step toward me and plants a kiss on my cheek. He glances at the phone in my hand. “Hmm. We look good.”

“We do.” I study Evan’s expression in the picture for the thousandth time since the photos went viral. “You seem happy.”