Zero Forks - Cat Johnson Page 0,66

Here. At the Autumn Fest tomorrow. At the family party tomorrow night.

I drew in a breath. I should have guessed that being loved by Boone would be a non-stop, over-the-top adventure. And, for once, I wasn’t going to shy away from it.

Standing on tiptoe, I pressed a kiss to his lips and said, “I can’t wait.”

“Sarah? Is that you?”

At the sound of Kim’s voice, I took a step back from Boone and accepted her hug.

“I didn’t recognize you behind that big hunk of man,” she said softly enough only I would hear.

I ignored the comment and said, “Kim, this is Boone. Boone, this is my direct supervisor Kim and her husband Dan.”

While the men shook hands and discussed which open bar had the shortest line for them to get us drinks, Kim pulled me aside.

“Oh. My. God,” she mouthed soundlessly.

I smiled and agreed. “Yeah. He’s pretty special.”

“So you finally let yourself give in and have a little fun?”

“Actually, it’s more than that.” I couldn’t keep the smile off my face.

She smirked. “How much more?”

“The L-word might have been said, by both parties.”

Her mouth opened on a gasp. “Good for you. You deserve all the happiness in the world.” Her gaze cut past me to the company table. “And you deserve a medal for working with you know who on this current project.”

I restrained myself from turning around. I didn’t need to. I knew she was talking about Jerry. “True. But you know, in spite of it all, I think the campaign has turned out pretty good.”

It might be Jerry’s commercial that would air during the Super Bowl in February, but it was my social media campaign that was currently killing it online. The client was happy. And that made the boss very happy.

Kim let out a snort. “You always do understate things. Your campaign isn’t pretty good. It’s freaking amazing. You missed the cutoff for this year’s awards but there’s no doubt in my mind that this time next year, your name is going to be on that nominee list for best new product campaign.”

“I don’t know about that . . .”

“You wait and see.”

“Maybe,” I shrugged. “We’ll see.”

My gaze hit on Boone, walking toward me with Dan, a wine for me and a beer for him in his hands as he laughed at something Dan had said.

Maybe Kim was right about the award. Lord knows, stranger things had happened. Strange, but good. Oh so good.

EPILOGUE

Boone

Sarah's company's table at this year’s award ceremony wasn’t buried near the back of the ballroom like it had been last year.

Oh no. This time we were right up front along with the rest of the nominees.

I was so excited for Sarah, you’d think I was up for an award instead of her. Even the presence of the douchebag from her company couldn’t ruin this night.

Reaching out, I squeezed her hand. “Nervous?”

“No . . .” She cut her gaze to me and added, “Maybe.”

“When we win this thing, I’m asking for a raise,” Jerry, aka dick wad, declared.

I noticed he’d waited until the boss wasn’t at the table to announce that, in true cowardly fashion, so I decided his new name would be the Ball-less Wonder.

Amused with myself, I leaned over and pressed my lips to Sarah’s cheek before I whispered, “You going to ask for a raise too?”

She glanced sideways. “You know what I’m going to ask for.”

I couldn’t help my grin. I did know. And my heart sped every time I thought of it.

Sarah’s phone buzzed on the table and I saw her sister Liza’s face show on the display. Sarah hit to connect the video call. “Hey, sis.”

“Hey, did you win yet?” she asked.

“We’re still waiting for them to start the awards.”

“Okay, well call or at least text me the minute you know.”

“I will. Give Stewie a good night kiss from his auntie.”

“And from me,” I leaned in and said.

Sarah repeated, “And from Boone too.”

Liza laughed. “I will, but you do know that means he won’t stop talking about Boone for the rest of the night.”

I grinned, happy I’d made an impression on the kid so he wouldn’t forget about me before he visited again.

Sarah smiled. “Lucky for you his bedtime is soon.”

Sarah’s sister Liza had been home for six months. And, consequently, after her return Stewie had gone back to living with his mom. That also meant Sarah had moved out of the Van de Berg house and back to her own apartment.

It was only about an hour and twenty minutes