And now as I stared at him, I was filled with so much more than basic lust.
I longed for him.
Longed for his voice, his laugh, his kiss. For his fingers to pluck the strings of his guitar and touch me in the places that lit up my body. For years, I hadn’t thought about Troy, and now time made up for it.
He was all I could think about.
He must have sensed my gaze on him, because as he took off the microphone headset, he glanced in my direction and did a double-take. I hadn’t texted him I was coming, so he wasn’t expecting to see me here, standing in the lobby beside his friend and coworker. But he looked thrilled with the surprise and had no shame as he grinned back flirtatiously. It flooded me with so much heat I had to look away.
Unfortunately, that meant my attention landed on Colin, who’d witnessed the whole thing, and wore a smug smile. “I guess I don’t need to get him for you.”
Because Troy was moving swiftly across the mat toward the glass door to the lobby. I swallowed thickly as he pulled it open and came over, close enough that he could touch me, only just stopping himself from doing so.
“Hey.” He was so pleased to see me. “What are you doing here?”
“Stella made her pick.” Anxiety twisted my stomach. “I asked Ardy if I could tell you before it’s announced.”
Troy turned to stone, and his bright smile died until it hung awkwardly on his face. “Oh.”
I’d been numb on the drive over to his gym, unable to process. My voice dropped to a whisper. “It’s you, Troy.”
He blinked. Like me when I’d been told, he went numb from shock. “What?”
“She picked you.”
His eyes widened and he opened his mouth to say something, but it was like he’d forgotten how to speak. Finally, the question tumbled out. “Are you shitting me?”
It was hard to catch my breath, like I was running too fast down a steep hill. It was exhilarating and scary. “Nope.” I gulped down air. “Congratulations.”
The excitement spread like wildfire inside us both, and maybe it was why I hadn’t been able to process the news until this moment. I’d wanted so badly for this to happen for him, the joy was shared. It became ours.
I’d needed to be with him as soon as I’d learned he’d gotten it.
Our smiles grew into stunned laughs, and abruptly I was crushed by his warm arms, pulled into a hug that made me want to melt. That was why I allowed it to go on so long, even as a warning alarm blared in my head about how unprofessional it looked.
“Okay,” I breathed, putting my hands on his chest to ease him back, although I was dying to stay right as we’d been.
“Sorry.” He dropped the embrace and straightened, but he didn’t sound sorry. His eyes were wild and dazzling. “What are you doing right now? Let’s go somewhere to celebrate.”
I knew exactly what he was insinuating. He wanted to go where we could talk and act freely, and I was desperate for it—but we couldn’t. My heart was racing, but I smoothed my hands down the sides of my slacks to try to even myself out. I needed to return to the manager I was supposed to be.
“I wish I could, but I’ve got a lunch meeting across town.” Could he see how much I longed to connect? I was a bomb of emotions, primed to explode, but I forced it down. “The announcement’s going out at five p.m. Eastern, so any time after four o’clock today, you can start talking about it, either online or in person. I’ll email you a copy of the press release when I have it.”
He nodded, but his focus wasn’t on my face. Instead, his gaze was pinned over my shoulder, looking at whatever was behind me.
“There are also a few old Facebook posts of yours,” I continued, “that Warbler’s marketing team flagged for removal, so I . . .”
Was he listening?
Abruptly, his gaze flew back to me and his voice was urgent. “Come with me, just for a second.”
“What?”
He put his hand on the small of my back and guided me toward the hallway branching off the lobby. The first open door he found was what he’d been looking for, and as soon as he had us inside the small room, he shut the door and locked it.
It wasn’t much bigger than a bathroom stall. There was a full-length mirror on the back wall, along with hooks, and a bench seat on one side. My gym had similar rooms for clients who came straight from the office and wanted to change into their workout clothes.
But I didn’t get much of a chance to look at anything because Troy spun me around and flattened my back against the cold mirror. His hands captured my face and tilted it up so he could deliver a deep, blistering kiss. Tingles burst across my skin as his mouth moved over mine. It was passionate and uninhibited. So powerful, I sagged against the glass, sinking under the weight of his kiss.