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“Sure thing. Welcome to Wildes,” he said, shaking Rafferty’s hand again and watched through the window as Bronte, Callahan and Boots slowly moved around the Outdoors, soft giggles traveling into the shelter. He couldn’t wait to tell his mother about that morning, about the way Callahan and Boots bonded. He knew she’d appreciate it more than anyone else.
But then another thought entered his mind: he couldn’t wait to tell Ginny about it too.
* * *
After Rafferty and Callahan left, and Bronte’s mood shifted back to frowns and mumbles, Gavin finished up work and decided to leave early. It was a quiet Friday, the volunteers were gone and the staff were running through their chores before the weekend staff came in the next morning. With Cedar lazing in the front seat of his truck, Gavin started his journey home.
Except, he found himself parked in front of a converted six-storied warehouse with an exposed brick exterior, and windows taking up most of the building. He had every intention of going home to scrub Cedar down and spend the evening watching whatever random movie he could find on Netflix, but clearly his mind had other plans. His dog lifted her head in confusion, because even she thought they were going home.
“I don’t know why we’re here either,” Gavin said softly, turning off the truck and found Cedar giving him what he decided looked like a ‘of course you don’t’ expression. Chuckling, he reached over to scratch behind her ear and then looked at the building. “I missed her and I want to say you did too. So how about we go say hi to Ginny and then we can go home?”
Truth was, Gavin had been thinking about Ginny ever since the event. When everything was over and done with, he’d stayed behind to help wrap up, but then Ginnyinsistedthat he and Bronte leave. Apparently her team had a process and they would make sure nothing had been left behind. A foolish part of him wanted to spend that evening with Ginny, but she was completely in work mode. In the days since, he picked up his phone to text her and make small talk, but something would stop him.
Gavin knew it was silly to assume that just because they’d had the best sex of their lives didn’t mean that everything was okay. But he liked to think they’d gotten over a big bump in theirrelationship. Right? They hadn’t snapped at each other at the event and she’d been pretty nice to him too. None of that meant they were okay, but Gavin was happy to block out that part of his brain and only focus on the fact that they were okay.Ignorance is bliss and all that jazz.
It explained why he’d found himself in front of her office.
Cedar barked and licked Gavin’s face, which was enough confirmation for him. He grabbed her leash and let her out of the truck before locking it. Clipping the leash onto her collar, he made his way into the building. The staff at the lobby desk got excited at the sight of his happy dog and once they took down Gavin’s details, sent him up to the fifth floor for the Wildes Events + Weddings offices. Stepping out of the elevator, Gavin’s eyes widened as he took in the space. It was an open plan office with more private areas tucked into the sides. In front of him was an empty desk with the Wildes Events + Weddings logo stuck on the brick wall behind it.
“Oh hi,” a soft voice said and Gavin found a tiny blonde looking between him and Cedar. “You’re here to see Ms. Thomas, right?”
He arched an eyebrow. “What gave it away?”
“Your dog. Saw a picture of her on Ms. Thomas’ Instagram a few weeks ago.”
Looking at Cedar, who was sitting patiently and watching the interaction, Gavin nodded. “Is she free?”
“She’s in a meeting, but you can wait in her office. I’ll let her know you’re here.”
“Thanks…” he trailed off, because even though he’d worked with Ginny on the event, he didn’t know any of her staff members.
“Tiffany. Nice to meet you.”
“You too.” He pointed to the open space and smiled. “Which one is hers?”
Tiffany giggled and pointed at the office in the left corner. “That one. The other one belongs to Ms. Willows.” Gavin looked at the other corner office and saw Frankie’s name printed on the door. Nodding, he nudged Cedar forward and suddenly everyone in the office was watching them.
“Uh, hi.” Cedar’s tail was wagging so fast, he was sure it would propel her forward if he let her go. “This is Cedar. Easily excitable, but follows commands. I’m happy to take her off the leash if you’re all okay with it.”
A chorus ofyeses went up and Gavin chuckled, unclipping the leash. Cedar stayed by his side, head tipped back with the biggest smile on her face. “Go ahead,” he told his dog and then she was off. He smiled as she went from person to person and after a while, he lost track of her. Except for the sounds of people cooing and giggling, he didn’t know where Cedar might have gone. Gavin knew that when she’d had enough socializing, Cedar would come find him, so he made his way into Ginny’s office.
Large windows took up one entire wall, looking out onto a beautiful view of Downtown Wildes. Another wall was covered in shelves that were stuffed to the brim with books and overgrown plants. There were towers of drawers beside the shelf that were labeled clearly. A big desk filled the center of the room, covered in papers and post-its and files and an iMac. A couch that certainly looked better than the one in his office was against one wall and cushioned single-seaters sat in front of her desk. The room even smelled good and Gavin found himself closing his eyes to inhale all of it.
Grabbing a bottle of water from the cart beside the couch, Gavin stood in front of the large windows and stared out at the city. Hefelther before he heard her speak, his lips already curling into a smile when she said, “Should have known you’d be the reason for the disruption.”
Turning, Gavin looked at Ginny and his heart faltered.Is that what I think it is?His eyes snagged on her necklace as he forced air into his lungs. The heart shaped pendant he’d bought for her twelve years ago was now resting against her smooth brown skin.
CHAPTER18
With Frankieout of the office for an event—she’d made it her mission to work a lot while Milo was in LA so she wouldn’t be miserable and alone—Ginny was left in charge of following up with all the events that were happening over the next few weeks. She hated these meetings, though, because they went on for hours instead of being quick updates. They’d been in the conference room for two hours already when a gentle thump echoed through the space. Looking over her shoulder, Ginny found the back of a chocolate brown and white dog, her tail wagging so fast it was almost blurry.
Gavin’s here.
Waving away the excited tone of her inner voice, Ginny asked for her team to wrap up the meeting quickly and walked out with everyone else. Before Tiffany could even reach her, Cedar was there, smiling up at Ginny. Most of her life, she didn’t think animals could smile, but this beautiful girl had such a wide and obvious grin on her face that it was hard to ignore.
“He’s in your office, Ms. Thomas,” Tiffany said, slightly breathless as she smoothed down her dress. Ginny saw dog hair on the bottom and smiled, nodding at the office manager.
“Thanks Tiffany.” Ginny dropped to her haunches, running one hand up and down Cedar’s side as the dog nudged her snout into her face. Laughing softly, she pressed a kiss to the side of Cedar’s head and then straightened up. Having gotten enough love, the dog trotted off to find her next friend and Ginny smoothed down her clothes. The steady clomp of her heels helped her breathe as she walked to her office and then stood in the doorway to admire the man standing in front of the windows.
