Total pages in book: 76
Estimated words: 73174 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 366(@200wpm)___ 293(@250wpm)___ 244(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 73174 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 366(@200wpm)___ 293(@250wpm)___ 244(@300wpm)
I swallowed hard, shifting on my seat for what felt like the millionth time tonight. I’d never felt more like a fish out of water than I did in this place, and looking over at Emmett’s perfect, pretty face was only making it worse.
I wanted to be good enough for him.
As our dessert plates got taken away, I reached over under the table, squeezing his leg. The look I got in return told me everything I needed to know. That shine in his eye that had only increased since he broke ties with that awful boss of his.
This man deserved the world.
Fuck my petty insecurities. I’d always done whatever the hell I wanted, and what I wanted to do more than anything was treat him how he deserved.
We stepped out onto the chilly street after we’d finished dinner and I’d returned the dumb borrowed jacket. As we stood on the sidewalk, Emmett said goodbye to Camilla and Silas, and Hugo turned to me.
“Storm,” Hugo said, giving me a smile. “I didn’t want to put any pressure on you during dinner, but it means the world to me that you offered to post on social media about my company.”
“I would do it anytime,” I said. “I’m shocked. I was worried I’d overstepped a line, there.”
“Not at all,” Hugo said. “To be honest, I was a little intimidated to meet you, at first. You have no idea how many games I’ve rooted for you.”
He may as well have just given me the best compliment I’d gotten in my life.
“Well, fuck me sideways. I was intimidated by you,” I admitted. “You all are so business savvy. So… goddamn smart.”
“You’re going to make me blush,” Hugo said. “But thank you. I’ll be glued to the TV this Sunday for your game.”
I shook his hand and he gave me his Icy Tap business card before we parted ways.
Emmett turned to me, exhaling. His breath left a faint cloud in the cold evening air.
“That went so well,” he said.
That made it worth it. Even after I’d been so unsure of things at the dinner, if Emmett could come out of it that happy, it was what I wanted.
“How’d you do? Was tonight okay for you?” Emmett asked.
I sucked in a breath of air.
Just say it was good.
You don’t have to be brutally honest at all times.
What was I supposed to say? That for most of that dinner, I’d been feeling like I was an outcast, even among nice people?
I swallowed, crunching my shoe onto a leaf on the sidewalk.
“Can we take a walk?” I asked.
19
EMMETT
“You must be freezing,” I told Storm as we headed off down the bustling downtown Denver street.
“For once, I’m good,” he said. “I was overheating inside with that jacket. I need the cold air.”
“I love it, too,” I told him. “But I really want to know if that dinner was okay for you. I’m sensing that it kind of wasn’t.”
He winced. “I was hoping you couldn’t tell.”
My heart sank. “Shit. I’m sorry. I didn’t realize—”
“I’m glad you didn’t realize it, during the dinner,” Storm said. “Because you rocked it, and I watched you set yourself up for an incredible client.”
We walked under a cluster of trees on the sidewalk. “Forget about that for a second, though. What was going on for you?”
Storm glanced sideways at me. As we slowly walked, he thought for a while, not saying anything. When he finally spoke, he paused underneath a street lamp, his face illuminated in the glow.
“Am I a burden on your life?” he asked.
It felt like my heart cracked a little, just hearing him ask it.
His voice sounded smaller than I’d ever heard it before. The usual Storm Rosling bravado had been shelved, and I realized that he was probably being more vulnerable with me now than ever.
I turned to him, the breeze chilling the back of my neck as I held his gaze.
“I think you’re the best thing that’s happened to my life in a long time, actually,” I said.
I was meeting his candidness with my own.
And while that would have felt impossible with him just a couple of weeks ago, now it felt inevitable.
Storm was starting to know me better than almost anyone else. What did I have to lose by laying it all on the line with him?
He shifted on his feet, looking down before looking back up at me. “Do you think that I could reflect badly on you?”
“Storm, the Racks deal was my fault, not yours.”
“I know that,” he said, waving a hand.
“I was so worried that your reputation would affect it, but the fact is that the company just didn’t mesh with the project, and that happens, sometimes.”
Storm nodded, chewing on his lower lip for a moment. “But what about you and me?”
It was the first time I’d ever seen him struggle for words. He was almost acting awkward, which I didn’t know was possible.