What do you have up your sleeve, Queen?
“Yo!” Parker says as I pass him in the hallway on my way to Harley’s office. “Slow down, Nate.” He’s at my side now, attempting to keep pace. “I’ve been calling you all morning. We have a problem with Ashborn. I need you to take a look at the regression testing.”
“Not now,” I shoot back. “I have something important to do.”
“And rolling out this game on time isn’t important?” He groans, shoving a hand through his dark hair. “Stefan said to talk to you. He’s been in and out of meetings all morning. Chase is stuck on the train. Apparently, someone jumped onto the platform.”
“Can this wait an hour? Now is not a good time for me.”
Parker rolls his broad shoulders and slides his hands into the pockets of his dark slacks. “Yeah, I guess. But we have our tux fittings later.”
“Fuck,” I groan. “I forgot about that. What time is it? Six?”
“Did you forget you were getting married, too?” Parker tilts his head back and laughs. When I ignore his question, he adds, “Yeah, Danika said to be there at six.”
“Thank fuck she’s the one organizing this shit because I can’t keep my days straight.”
Now that Harley is back in my life.
I stop outside of Harley’s office. “Move the files to my shared server. I’ll take a look after I’m done with Harley.”
Parker glances at Harley through the window. The blinds are partially open, providing us with a view of Harley with her head down, fingers moving at a rapid pace. From this distance, it looks like she’s sketching with charcoal, her favorite. She must be stressed if she’s drawing in the middle of the workday. It’s not like her to put her duties aside to focus on herself.
“You’re really doing this?” Parker asks with a concerned look on his face. “You and Harley. Getting married.”
“It’s no different than you marrying Jess.”
He gives me a sour look. “Nah, you know the deal with Jess. She’s my best friend. It’s not like that with us.” Parker shakes his head, his face unreadable. “If Jake were still alive, he would kick my ass for even thinking about Jess like that.”
But that doesn’t stop you.
Parker’s best friend died in a horrific accident years ago, leaving him responsible for Jake’s twin sister, Jess. She was with Jake when he died and almost lost her life in the process. Since the traumatic event, Jess hasn’t been the same. I know Parker likes her, even though he won’t admit it aloud because he hates himself for wanting Jake’s sister.
I tap Parker on the back. “Look, I have to talk to Harley. I’ll call you after I go through the testing.”
Parker squeezes my shoulder, a relieved smile stretching the corners of his mouth, and then he heads in the opposite direction down the hallway. I ball my hand into a fist and tap my knuckles against Harley’s door, pushing it open farther in the process. Standing in the entryway, I stare at Harley, in awe of how beautiful she looks without trying. Other men wouldn’t find her stunning, not the way I do. But they don’t know her like I do either.
“Is now a good time?”
Harley’s face brightens. “Come in.” With the charcoal pencil in hand, she waves me into her office. “Close the door. I need to talk to you.”
I shut the door behind me and consider closing the blinds, but that would only draw more attention. Harley extends her hand to the chairs in front of her desk, gesturing for me to sit.
“I take it you read my note,” she beams.
I lean back in my chair and nod. “What’s the adventure?”
“I’m free to work on Project X with you.” Harley glows as she says the words, her smile so wide her gums are showing. “My replacement has been shadowing me for years, so with little instruction, it was easy to hand over the reins.”
“But I thought that would take weeks.”
I was hoping she would forget about the game until after we were married. If I lose my muse again, it will remain an untitled project on my hard drive forever.
“I thought you would be more excited,” she groans.
“I am,” I admit. “It’s just…”
What do I even say?
“You wanted to stall for as long as possible,” she says, irritated. “Because you’re afraid to finish the game.”
She has me there.
I have never avoided a project the way I have this game. It scares me as much as losing Harley again. All of the pain and fear from the past comes creeping back whenever I try to work on the game. It’s never right, not the same without her.
“I’m ready,” I lie. “So, when do we start?”
She drops the charcoal pencil on her desk, lifts the sketchpad, and hands it to me. “How about now?”