Noah inches closer. Leaning down, he places a kiss on my forehead, lingering while reality begins to sink in. A simple gesture, one filled with nothing but pure belief, gives me the confidence I need to realign my head and heart once again. There’s every reason why I should be okay and only one reason why I shouldn’t.
The good outweighs the bad.
Pulling away, my shoulders finally relax as a wave of calm steadies my anxious heart. With a weightless gaze, I reach up to graze my finger along his cheek in a friendly gesture.
“I better go. I’ll text you tomorrow to complain about my flight and remind me to ask you how exactly do you hook up with a stewardess.”
Noah dips his head, a smile creeping across before his eyes lift to meet mine once again. “A gentleman never tells.”
I touch his hand one more time before turning around to head back toward the car. He mentions he will Uber home, so I can return the rental to the airport first thing tomorrow morning.
As my steps away from him begin creating distance, he calls my name one more time. I turn around, and still, where he stands leaning with his back against the ocean, he folds his arms with his signature smirk.
“Don’t go falling in love on me. Remember the bro code? We don’t do love.”
I bow my head, unable to hide the smile gracing my face. “I’m kind of new to this bro code thing, but I promise not to fall head over heel
s for a guy.”
Noah shakes his head, letting out a laugh. “Bye, Kate… you crazy bird.”
“See,” I nod, grinning back. “You’re becoming a Brit already.”
NOAH
I think of a million ways to get out of meeting Morgan, none of which seem plausible.
I texted Kate a dozen times, each response back from her was to grow some man balls. The conversation then led to an uncomfortable discussion on man balls in which I warned her of my need to block her number if the conversation persists.
“You know, if you lived here, I wouldn’t have this problem,” I tell Kate after calling her, frustrated with her text responses.
“How on earth would that make a difference?”
“Well, for starters, Charlie wouldn’t push the whole relationship bullshit if she thought I’d stay out of trouble. If you were here, I’d be busy with you.”
Kate laughs through the receiver. “Gorgeous, if I were there, we’d get into too much trouble. We’re good that way. Listen, I have to go. Now be a man and show her who has the balls.” She hangs up the call abruptly, leaving me in a no better position than I was earlier.
Presley wants to get started with this project and has worked on some basic questions she wants to ask Morgan. Nothing too personal, just run-of-the-mill questions which will educate the reader on how Scarlett grew up to how she found herself in Hollywood. Presley makes mention of some of the more challenging questions she wants to ask Scarlett herself. Some of which are not public knowledge and will definitely be the focal point with the press. I’m not sure how she dug up the information, and I decide to let her handle the scandalous side.
The marketing interns are a great team. Haden is a strong recruiter and knows talent when he sees it. I spent the morning running through some less critical projects to clear the way for this more significant one, making sure everyone knows what their performance targets are and the deadlines for which they need to adhere.
A little after lunch, Haden walks into my office.
“Hey,” he says casually.
I look up from my laptop. “What’s up?”
“Bad news. Presley’s come down with a stomach bug.”
“Is she okay?” I ask with concern.
“She pretends to be.” He laughs sincerely. “Our son caught it off some kid he was playing with, so now it’s her turn. I’m probably next. Nothing worse than having to hold your wife’s hair back while she projectile vomits in the car.”
I cover my mouth in disgust. And the poor fella has a sweet ride too.
“So, listen, I know you have that meeting this afternoon with Morgan. Presley is adamant we still move forward despite her not being there.” He removes his cell from his pocket and taps away. A few seconds later, my email pings.
“These are the questions she wants to ask Morgan today. If you could ask them instead, that would ensure we don’t fall behind.”