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“Pretty much. I assume you’re ditching me to take your roommate home?” Preston responded, his eyes warm and supportive despite his teasing tone.
“Pretty much. Lunch sometime this week?”
“Sounds like a plan. Since you bought dinner tonight, it’ll be on me.”
Preston and I shook hands as I laughed, both of us knowing it would take twenty lunches to make up for what dinner cost tonight.
I turned away, heading toward the elevator to meet Charlotte. It was time to watch some fireworks and maybe see if she felt any potential fireworks between us as well.
Chapter
Sixteen
Charlotte
The ride home from the gala was silent, both Hayden and I looking out our windows, watching as monuments and government buildings zoomed by on the short ride back to the condo. As we got out of the car at the front door, Hayden said, “The fireworks are set to start in just a couple of minutes, but did you want to change first?”
I weighed my options. The air had turned crisp, but at the same time, I really did love fireworks and didn’t want to miss anything.
“I think I’ll be okay. Let’s go straight to the roof.”
Hayden and I moved to the elevator. Once on board, he took a key out of his pocket, slotted it into the control panel and hit the “R” for Roof.
“Why don’t I have one of those?” I asked as we ascended the levels of the building. “I didn’t even know we could access the roof.” The doors opened to an enclosed space with a stainless-steel door ahead of us that presumably led to the roof.
“Only shiny, important owners get a key to the roof and these keys can’t be copied. Duncan left it in his office for me to grab.”
We pushed the door and walked onto an open rooftop, the unique skyline of Washington DC on the right behind lanes of highway. Nationals Park stood directly in front of our vantage point, only a few blocks away. Hayden hadn’t oversold the view.
“I guess no one else wanted to catch the fireworks tonight?” I asked. Sweeping my head around, I took in that we were alone on the roof.
“Maybe it’s super shiny owners. I honestly don’t know how many people have access to the roof outside of the staff. I guess if anyone asks what we’re doing up here, we can blame it on Duncan. Let him take the fallout.”
I felt myself giggling as I approached the edge of the roof, buffeted in by a wall that came mid-chest. Hayden came to stand next to me, keeping a respectable distance, much further than he was when we danced a little while ago. I remembered how the warmth of his palm felt on my waist, knowing he wanted it there, out of necessity as he was walking me to my bedroom, so I didn’t pass out. I hadn’t known how to broadcast my emotions when I realized Hayden was behind the donation. A multimillion-dollar investing firm had charitable funds to spare, but how sincere Hayden had been when explaining why he donated stirred something in me. The dance only kept my insides twisting. A full-body shiver moved through me now.
“Cold?” Hayden asked, shrugging out of his tux jacket before I could answer. He wrapped it around my shoulders, and I grabbed the lapels, pulling it tight around my body. It was a little chilly up here, and now I was surrounded by the smell of Hayden. And I wasn’t going to complain and make it go away.
The fireworks started in the distance and we stood in silence for a few moments, taking in their colors.
“So, away from all your colleagues and the donors, how do you feel about tonight?” Hayden’s eyes were on me while I kept watching the fireworks in the distance.
“I’m a bit in denial that it’s over, I think. I’ve been working toward the gala the entire time I’ve been at the IBA. Now we’ll turn to the end-of-the-year fundraising push, but this could be it. My future at the IBA isn’t guaranteed, but I liked the work I did ahead of the gala. It’s so different from what I left behind in my day-to-day in Holly Ridge, and I think I’m good at it. I know I’m good at bookselling and could be good at running a store, but this is something that I’ve chosen, not something that chose me. And that really makes a difference to me, you know?”
Hayden kept his eyes on me momentarily before turning his head back toward the fireworks.
“I can relate to that feeling a bit. Though I’m the opposite. I’m here, working for Duncan, because I feel like I need to. After our mom died… Duncan stopped being a kid so the rest of us could continue our childhood. He’s the one who nudged me toward computers in the first place, and I’ve never really looked back. I put off taking the CIO position as long as I could, but eventually, the guilt took over. And now, I only touch a computer to answer emails or read reports. Everyone else takes care of security or programming or anything that actually drew me to computers in the first place. Plus, all this concrete, all the buildings and high-rises…” He sighs. “I’ve lived in a city for the past twelve years and I’m realizing I hate it.”
I looked up at his handsome profile, his windswept hair, and took in the fireworks reflecting in his eyes.
“If you could be anywhere, where would you be?”
Hayden turned, taking a step toward me and tucking a piece of my hair behind my ear that the wind had worked free.
“Right now? I want to be right where I am.”
Hayden’s hand stayed in my hair, running his fingers through the locks until he reached my shoulder, curling his fingers behind my neck, his pointer finger circling gently at my nape. His eyes searched my face, straying to my mouth, broadcasting his intentions. I felt myself swallow, and his eyes followed the motion down between the lapels of his suit jacket. Not wanting him to feel alone in this moment, I took a small step closer to his body, tangling the fingers of his free hand with mine.
The grand finale illuminated the sight of Hayden’s face growing closer to mine before my eyes closed, his lips gently meeting mine—once, twice—before drawing back. The loss of his lips caused my eyes to reopen slowly, reading the question in his. I closed the distance between us this time. My arms circled his neck, and his hand came to rest around my waist as the booms and bursts of the fireworks on the horizon ended and migrated behind my eyes, to this kiss. Hayden’s tongue traced the seam of my lips, asking for entry, and I opened gladly, tangling my tongue with his as my grip on his collar tightened.
