He laughed, but it sounded a little strained. “Something like that.”
I leaned forward and kissed his cheek, then carefully wiped my lipstick off his face. “Well, I beat you to it. I’d say I’m sorry, but I’m totally not. Because…I love you.”
&nb
sp; “And I love you.” He pulled me closer and deepened the kiss, lipstick be damned.
I felt dizzy by the time he released me. Wes was good at many things, and kissing was at the top of the list. I fanned myself and hopped up. “Woo. Okay. I better go before we violate doctor’s orders.”
Wes groaned. “That doctor’s on my shit list.”
I straightened my dress and winked at him as I headed for the door. “When you’re better, we’ll make up for lost time.”
“I can’t wait,” he growled. “And honey? I love you.”
I grinned at him. “I love you too.”
Wes flashed the smile I loved. “I said it first this time!”
I laughed and blew him a kiss as I left, my heart feeling lighter than it had in weeks.
I texted the nurse on the way to Paragon, checking in on Wes. I texted her when I got to my desk. I texted her ten minutes later to remind her that Wes liked the special electrolyte-enriched bottled water in the fridge. Then I texted her again to make sure she’d received my text.
Finally, Wesley texted me to tell me to chill out and to please stop driving the nurse crazy. Fine, I texted back, but make sure she gets you the right water, and don’t forget your sandwich!
PS, I love you.
Love you more, he wrote back right away. Hmm. I was going to have to prove him wrong about that.
I ached with missing him, but it felt good to be back in my sunny, cheerful office. When I’d been held captive, another thing I’d wondered about was if I’d ever sit at my desk again… I pushed the thought from my mind and plowed through our most recent sales data, which continued to surpass all projections, and started drafting a much-overdue press release. My office phone buzzed. “Hannah? It’s Stephanie.”
Stephanie was Lauren’s assistant and a close friend of mine at work. She sounded frazzled.
“What’s the matter?”
“I have ten messages already this morning from Fiona Pace. She won’t stop calling—she said she needs an emergency meeting with your sister.”
“What’d Lauren say?”
“She said she’s too busy to take the call and that since her ‘people person’ is finally back, I should direct Ms. Pace to you.”
Typical Lauren—she could solve any insane biotech problem you threw at her, but she couldn’t handle talking to people. “When she calls again, put Fiona through to me. I’ll take care of it.”
“Thanks.” Stephanie sounded relieved.
“I know how she can be—don’t worry about it.” I pulled up Fiona Pace’s profile after I hung up the phone, wondering why she wanted to meet with Lauren. She was the hard-charging CEO of BioTherapeutics, a hot new startup that had the industry buzzing with speculation about its enormous valuation. Reportedly, BioTherapeutics was developing an antibody therapy to help combat certain cancers. I scrolled through the company’s pages, noticing that Fiona had assembled an all-female leadership team—no small feat in male-dominated Silicon Valley.
Previously, Fiona had been the CEO of several Silicon Valley companies. She’d also written a popular self-help book for professional women, which had made her a minor celebrity. BioTherapeutics was her most recent venture. I’d known her for years through SVWBA, the Silicon Valley Women’s Business Association. She was past president of the association, where I’d also volunteered, and I considered her a friend. Still, I had to be on my game with Fiona. When she wanted something, she wanted it now.
But I knew how to handle her, and I was ready when Stephanie patched her through a minute later. “Hey, Fiona. It’s been a long time. How are you?”
“Not good,” she said immediately, sounding unusually rattled. “And I have a bad feeling you’re going to understand why all too well.”
My stomach dropped. “What…what do you mean?”
“I’d rather not talk about it over the phone. Can I come up? Can I meet with you and Lauren right now?”
“You’re here?”