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I grinned and Grady just laughed, shaking his head.
“I’m working on making all the macarons, and then all the orders will be ready to package and ship! Grady will be answering questions in the comments while he shows you around the kitchen while we work! Thank you all for watching!” I waved to the camera and walked back to my station, where I got to work.
Hours passed and Grady kept the live video on. Apparently, many people were asking questions. Periodically, he would ask each of us questions that were asked by people in the comments, and we would call out our answers from our stations. It was a surprisingly entertaining way to pass the time while we worked. Grady ended the livestream once the audience began to dwindle, and I expressed my gratitude once again to those who had attended.
The clock was nearing seven by the time the macarons were finished. They were finally in their cute sandwich forms, and Liam helped me put them in their adorable macaron boxes.
“Okay! That’s a wrap everyone! Tomorrow, we’ll pack them all up and take them to the post office!” I said cheerfully, even though I felt like I needed to get a cab for the short walk home. I didn’t know if my feet would make it.
“Hopefully, we can get them all done tomorrow!” Anne said, but I could hear the exhaustion in her voice. I felt incredibly guilty that she’d been working so much, and I knew that I would have to do something for her. She deserved the biggest bonus I could manage because of all of this.
“Why don’t you come in at nine tomorrow?” I told her, holding my hand up to stop the protest I could already see forming in her eyes. “Seriously, Anne. You’re the best, but you need rest. Please, just come in at nine. I’ll be fine.”
“Are you sure? I really don’t mind being here on time,” She protested anyway.
“Yes. I’m one hundred percent positive. I’ll see you at nine.”
Anne grinned before gathering her stuff to leave. Grady was doing the same, packing up all of his remaining equipment. He also deserved anything he wanted after the insane amount of time he’d put in.
“I’ll be back in the morning to shoot a video of you packing some orders, but I have to fly out tomorrow night. Boss has another job for me to work on.”
“Tell your boss you deserve like a million days of paid vacation because you’re the best.” I helped him break down a tripod and put it into his bag.
“I’m not sure he’d agree to that many days off, but maybe a few. I’ll give you his number so you can tell him.” He laughed and began walking towards the door.
“Really, Grady. Thank you so much. I don’t know how I could ever repay you for all the work that you’ve done.”
“None needed, Emma. I’ll see you tomorrow,” He said as he walked past me to the door. We fist-bumped right before he walked out, and he held the door open for Anne.
When the door closed, it left me alone with Liam.
20
Liam
Even though I was ninety-nine percent sure that Grady was not Emma’s boyfriend, I had to set a trap just to make sure.
“Do you always fist bump your boyfriend goodbye?” I asked, watching Emma slowly turn from looking at the door.
She snorted. “Grady is not my boyfriend.Justmy social media manager. He’s from New York.” She continued laughing, and I couldn’t help joining in because of the confirmation that it gave me.
I’d known the second I saw her months ago that I still wanted her, and even though I knew it would probably stir up old family issues, I didn’t really give a shit. And spending the last two days with Emma just further confirmed that there never has been or ever will be someone else. Only her.
And now that I knew she wasn’t with Grady, I prayed that there wasnoman in the picture. Because I wanted to be her man.
“Can you believe you finished all of that baking in just two days?” I asked her, stepping closer to her. A lock of her hair had fallen from the net and was in her face, and I wanted to sweep it away. But I refrained…for now.
“Ididn’t do it.Wedid. All of us. There is absolutely no way that I would have ever been able to make that much in two days without you and Anne.” She bit her lip, and I couldn’t look away. “Thank you, Liam. It really…it means a lot to me that you have helped me so much. You didn’t have to put so many hours in for me.”
Would telling her that I would put a million hours in for her would be worth it? No, I should probably keep that to myself for now.
“I’m more than glad to help. And I’ll be here tomorrow to help, too.”
“You don’t have to—”
“Iwantto help. So I’m going to.” I stopped her so she couldn’t come up with some excuse to prevent me from coming tomorrow. I loved seeing her succeed like this and seeing the happiness on her face as she worked so hard. There was no way I was missing the final day.
Blush colored her high cheekbones and I could no longer prevent myself from reaching out to her. I lightly brushed the hair off of her forehead and then touched her cheek. She stayed as still as a statue.
