5. Sterling

Sitting in my office,I glance out the window and notice the estate's lush green yard sprawled out through the floor-to-ceiling windows are a sharp contrast to the doom and gloom sketches spread out across my desk. I'm digging through all of Sullivan's ideas when my phone buzzes. I glance at the screen, and my heart skips a beat. It's a text from Ginni.

Fate

Sterling, I've been thinking and I need to tell you something. Can we talk after work?

The words send an uneasy churn through my stomach. Ginni's already tried to run out on me once, and I can't help but fear the worst. Did I do something wrong? Is she having second thoughts? A million questions race through my mind as I grab my phone to respond.

Me

Is something wrong?

No matter what it is, I'll fucking fix it—losing Ginni isn't an option. In one night, she's become essential to my survival.

Fate

I just need to explain something. Can you pick me up at five and we'll find somewhere to talk?

Oh, hell no. There's no way I'm waiting several more hours to find out what crazy reason to run out on me my little love has come up with now. My meeting with Sullivan will just have to fucking wait.

I send my younger brother a quick text to postpone the meeting.

Me

I had something come up. I'll be back in the office tomorrow morning and we can meet then.

Pain in the Ass #2

I'm on my way down. We can meet real fast. I have to order the materials if we have any hope of having the Countdown Clock ride ready for September.

Me

I can't meet today. Order the shit.

There's a several-moment pause. I see the three little dots moving across the message box but then they stop. After another short pause, the three dots flash again. It's been a while since I let him order anything without us going through the specs line by line after he lost his goddamn mind and bought seven thousand orange and black striped candy canes.

Pain in the Ass #2

Holy shit. You haven't given me free rein over ordering since the whole Halloween candy cane incident. It really must be love. Adam told me you were acting all goo-goo after the blind date, but I thought he was nuts.

Me

Stop goddamn gossiping with my assistant.

Pain in the Ass #2

I see you didn't deny my accusation.

I don't fucking have time to deal with him, so I send a middle finger emoji and slip my phone into my pocket. The anxious knot in my chest tightens as I turn off my computer. My mind replays every detail of the last time I saw Ginni, searching for any hint that something might have gone awry.

The door to my office swings open, jolting me from my spiraling thoughts. Adam saunters in with his trademark grin, oblivious to the internal chaos I'm dealing with.

"Hey, boss. Got a minute?" Adam says, plopping down in the chair across from my desk without waiting for a response. His casual demeanor is a stark contrast to my anxiety.

"I'm busy right now." My mind is miles away.

Adam leans forward, his grin widening. "So, I was thinking… Since I played matchmaker and set you up with Ginni, maybe I deserve a little something in return. You know, like a raise and maybe a tropical vacation."

I don't have time for this. "We'll discuss your raise in three months at your annual review," I tell him as I head for the door.

Adam sighs and shakes his head, mumbling to himself, "It was worth a try." Then he calls behind me, "I'll make sure to remind you of my stellar matchmaking before my review."

"I have no doubt you will."

As I rush through the front hall headed to the garage, Sullivan comes strolling down the stairs. His hair is still wet from his recent shower, and he's wearing his typical work-from-home grey sweats and black t-shirt. "I thought you didn't have time to meet." He glares at me.

"I don't. I'm on my way out now," I call over my shoulder. "If you started your workday before noon, we could've knocked this shit out earlier."

"If you didn't have a stick up your ass about me handling my own job, we wouldn't need to discuss every little thing I do." I don't have time to hash out his long-standing argument.

"Just order the shit." My frustration colors my voice. Whatever Ginni needs to talk about is taking precedence in my mind right now. The anxiety swirling in my stomach tells me this conversation could be crucial to my future happiness.

I hurry to my truck, my thoughts racing as unease settles in the pit of my stomach. The seventeen-minute drive to Silver Spoon Falls seems to take a goddamn eternity.

I push through the revolving doors of the newspaper office, my heart racing and my mind a swirl of plans to kidnap my little love if this doesn't work out the way I want it to. The lobby is pretty quiet, with only a few people chatting off to one side. It takes me a second to get my bearings, but then I spot the reception desk at the far end of the room.

A raven-haired receptionist looks up from her computer and gives me a polite smile as I approach. "Good evening, may I help you…" she starts, but then her eyes widen almost comically as recognition sets in. "Mr. Halloween?"

I give her a curt nod, needing to find my girl. "Yes, that"s right. I"m here to see Ginni."

Her mouth opens and closes silently before she quickly regains her composure. "Of course, just a moment," she says, picking up the phone on her desk.

Before she can complete the call, I see Ginni rounding the corner, talking animatedly with another woman who I recognize as the wife of a Silver Spoon Falcons' player. Sinclair, my other brother, fucking loves hockey and has season tickets. He subjects me to at least three or four games each season.

When Ginni"s eyes catch mine, she immediately freezes, her expression a mix of surprise and concern.

She quickly excuses herself and rushes over to me. "Sterling? What are you doing here?" she asks, her voice low but urgent.

"I got your message. I needed to see you, Fate. I couldn't wait," I reply, trying to keep my voice steady despite the anxiety gnawing at my insides.

Her colleague hangs back, looking between us with a mix of curiosity and confusion. Ginni glances back at her and then gestures for me to follow her to a quieter corner of the lobby.

Once we're out of earshot, she crosses her arms, looking slightly uneasy. "You didn"t have to come all the way down here. We could have talked after work," she says, nervousness flashing through her gorgeous sea moss eyes.

"I didn't want to give you time to come up with reasons to break up with me," I admit, searching her eyes for any hint of what might be wrong. "Your text sounded urgent, and after your attempt at escaping, I just didn"t want to waste any time."

She bites her lip, looking momentarily overwhelmed. "What if you hear what I have to say and decide to break up with me?" she wails, and my heart drops to my goddamn toes as the possibilities of what's causing her distress run through my mind. If it's another man, I'll kill the motherfucker and make sure they never find his goddamn body.

"There isn't anything that would make me let you go." She's goddamn necessary to my survival, more important than air.

"Wait until you hear what I have to say before you decide." My fucking heart nearly cracks in half at the look of guilt written across her face.

"Is there somewhere private we can talk?" We need to get whatever this shit is out of the way so I can get back to wooing my little love.

She nods, glancing around. "We can use one of the conference rooms. Follow me."

As we walk through the quiet office, I notice curious glances and whispered conversations trailing behind us. It's clear that my presence has caught more than a few people off guard.

Ginni leads me into a small, glass-walled conference room off the main corridor and closes the door behind us. The space is quieter, and there's no one around to overhear our conversation.

She takes a deep breath, appearing ready to bolt at any second. "Okay, where do I start..." she begins, looking up at me with those expressive green eyes that drew me in from the start.

"Just tell me what"s on your mind," I encourage, leaning against the table, trying to make this as easy as possible for her.

Ginni looks down at her hands for a moment before meeting my gaze again. "Sterling, there's something you need to know about why I went on the date with you."

The worry in her eyes is palpable, and all I can think about is reassuring her. "I don't give a fuck why you went on the date. All I care about is that the date brought you into my life."

"I was writing a story on the billionaires in Silver Spoon Falls. Nothing bad but I wanted to attempt to explain why there are more billionaires per capita here than in other big cities." I have a hard time keeping up as she rambles on. "And someone claiming to be my Fairy Godmother sent me an invite to go on the date with you. I planned to charm you and get my story. Then I met you and boom—all my plans changed. I don't care about the story anymore. All I want is you."

"A Fairy Godmother?" I ask, trying to process what she's saying as relief causes my mind to short-circuit.

"That's all you got out of my explanation?" She huffs adorably as a slight smile tugs at the corners of her mouth.

I walk over and wrap my arms around her. "Fate, I don't give a flying fig how you ended up on the blind date with me." I tug her close and feel her heart pounding against my chest. "If you want to write a story about billionaires, write it and I'll cheer you on. I'll pull strings if you need me to and make sure you have plenty of material to work with. I'll do whatever it takes to make you happy. I don't care about your job or my job or anything else as long as I have you."

She leans back to stare into my eyes. Hope replaces the guilt in her expression. "You aren't mad I was meeting you to investigate a story?"

"Not at all. I let my assistant set up the blind date because I lost a bet. It doesn't matter what brought the two of us to Palettes and Vino. All that matters is that we found each other and I'm never letting you go."

"Oh, okay." She bites her bottom lip as her entire body relaxes against me. "I have one more question."

"Ask away."

"Flying fig?" She scrunches up her nose.

"It was my grandfather's favorite expression. My grandmother would smack him if he even dared to utter the 'f' word, so he improvised." I chuckle to myself at the happy memory then cover her sweet lips with mine, not caring that the glass walls give us absolutely no privacy from the prying eyes of the newspaper staff. Fuck it. I want the entire world to know that Ginni Valentine belongs to me.

I slide my tongue into her mouth to tangle with hers and her sweet body melts against mine, waking up my goddamn cock. Things quickly go from PG to approaching R-rated, and I have to pull back before we give the entire newspaper staff a show that will have the tongues wagging on the Silver Spoon Falls grapevine for years to come.

I lay my forehead against hers and take several deep breaths, trying to resist the urge to fuck her in this glass box. Once I have my unruly cock under control, I smile down at her. "Now, why don't you tell me about your Fairy Godmother?"