Page 146 of Cross Ice

I crossed the room, handed him his creamer-laced coffee, and leaned down to kiss him. “How’s your day?”

“Busy.” He took a sip and sighed happily. “You make better coffee than I do.”

“You make better everything else.”

He smiled and gestured at his monitors. “Just wrapped a strategy call for a new client. Wesley referred them.”

I settled against the edge of his desk. “Wesley’s keeping you busy.”

“He’s been good about sending clients my way.” He stretched and rolled his shoulders. “This one’s interesting—they’re a small agency that works with public figures going through reputation issues. Want someone who understands brand rebuilding from the client’s side, not just the PR side.”

“That’s you.”

“Yeah. It is.”

There was confidence in his voice that hadn’t been there six months ago. Not arrogance, just certainty about what he was good at. What he’d built.

“How was lunch with the guys?” he asked.

“Good. Thompson’s girlfriend got another cat.”

“I heard about the cat. You texted me three cat memes during lunch.”

I grinned. “They were funny.”

“They were.” He set down his mug and stood up, stretching again. “I have another call in an hour, but I need a break.”

“Did you eat lunch?”

“No, I got pulled into back-to-back calls.”

“Come on. I’ll make you something.”

“You don’t have to⁠—”

“I want to.”

We went downstairs together, and I made Evan a sandwich while he sat at the kitchen bar telling me about his morning. Three client calls, two proposals sent, one new inquiry through LinkedIn.

“Turned down a project yesterday,” he said, accepting the plate I handed him.

“Yeah?”

“E-commerce company. Good client, decent budget. But I’m at capacity. Referred them to another consultant I know.”

I nodded. He’d mentioned the referral network he’d been building, of consultants he trusted, people he could send overflow work to. This was that working. “That’s good. You like their work?”

“She’s excellent. Good fit for them.”

“Amazing. You rebuilt everything.”

“We both did.” He met my eyes. “I couldn’t have done it without you. Without us figuring out how to make this work.”

I leaned across the counter and kissed him. “Yeah. We figured it out.”

After lunch, I pulled him to the couch. I had to review game film on my tablet. He brought his laptop to finish an email, and I just wanted him close.

We settled in, his shoulder against mine, my arm around him, both of us doing our own thing but together. Comfortable silence. The kind we’d almost lost. The kind we’d fought to get back.