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“Where’s Archer? I’m excited to see you two acting like a real couple finally,” Jane says excitedly.
I smile at her. “I don’t know. I’ve been calling, and he’s not picking up. I’m kind of worried.”
Warren frowns and says, “I was at the loft before I left to come here. I had to pick something up. He was rushing into his room when I left.”
I frown, somehow this news doesn’t help. “Did he say anything?”
He shakes his head. “No, he was in a rush.”
Well, he would have been to get ready. So where was he?
Before I can question it further, we’re asked to take our seats. I sit with Jane and we gab about anything and everything, eating the delicious dinner that Molly picked out herself—something she prided herself on—and listening to speeches and testimonies while we eat.
Still, the entire time I’m sitting there, I look toward the door and check my phone, looking and hoping for any sign of Archer.
But I get none and I spend the night worrying whether he’s alive or not.
It’s late when I show up at the loft, and I left early just so I could come and check on him. The nerves in my stomach tighten as I knock on the door.
I run the risk of my brother answering, but I already had the excuse that tonight was part of our arrangement and he missed the event.
That was the other thing, I had to make excuses for him to my boss. Did he want to stop now that I had the job? Was this a way of pushing me away now that we’d both gotten what we wanted?
Him, a romp in the hay a few times with me, and me… the job. He was also supposed to be getting money for it, but would never accept it, so I stopped offering.
If I had to choose between him and my new job though, I’m afraid I wouldn’t be picking the work.
The door finally opens and a bleary-eyed Mike blinks at me in surprise. “Hey, Viviana. What are you doing here?”
“I’m sorry to wake you, Mike. Is Archer here?”
He frowns. “I think so. I didn’t check when I got home.” He opens the door wider. “Come on in.”
I thank him and he heads back to bed as I pad over to Archer’s door, I contemplate knocking but there’s nothing I haven’t seen before.
What if he wasn’t there?
I twist the knob and slowly push into the room, it’s dark and there’s a fan running. When I look at the bed, there he is, passed out.
He’s wearing just his boxers and some socks, his legs dangling off the bed and his suit lying out next to him. He looks like he was in the process of getting dressed.
I lift my dress and move toward him, staying quiet and noting the rise and fall of his chest. Good. Not dead.
Just… exhausted.
I push away my earlier disappointment in him and sigh. He’s been working crazy hours, nearly sixteen-hour days and then on the weekends, trying to put this house together that the last guy dropped.
I go and pick up his suit, hanging it in his closet before I go over and stroke my finger across his cheek. He twitches and I smile. I just want to move him so he’s comfortable and make sure he’s okay.
“Archie,” I say softly. I also want to stay quiet so my brother doesn’t hear me. “Archer, honey, wake up.”
His eyes flutter and his hand comes up to rub over his face and he inhales deeply, like in a panic and shoots his body up, looking around the room. “Oh, fuck.”
I stifle my laughter.
He spins and sees me and his eyes, that were blurry and unfocused, sharpen on me.
“Viv,” he says, his voice gravelly as he takes me in, my body still sheathed in a silver dress. He blows out a harsh breath. “Fuck, Viv. You’re gorgeous.”
