Page 182 of The Reason I Married Him
“Are you sure? Because there’s so much more I can dive into, like the smell?—”
“Oh my God, Wyatt, no.” His boisterous laugh actually makes me chuckle.
“Your loss.” He shrugs and then caresses my cheek again. “Do you forgive me now?”
“I guess so.” I playfully sigh.
“Good,” he says. “Now, where are we on those good night kisses? I can’t remember where we left off.”
“We left off with not doing any of that.”
“Right . . . right,” he says while nodding and looking away. “You know, I actually think we should revisit that?—”
“Good night, Wyatt,” I say as I turn away from him.
He chuckles and wraps his arm around me like every other night. “Good night, Aubree.”
“I’m goingto shove my foot so far up your . . . ughhhh,” I growl as I realize my computer doesn’t have an ass I can shove my foot up.
I push away from my desk and drag my hands over my face.
“Why?” I say out loud to no one. “Why is this so hard? Why am I freaking failing at this?” I stand from my chair and start pacing the office floor. “This should be easy. You look at the numbers, you figure it out, and then you fix the issue. But I can’t figure it out. I can’t figure out why there is a problem with our numbers.”
The door opens to the office, and Wyatt sticks his head in. “Uh, everything okay in here?”
“No,” I say as I shove at my chair, feeling really irritated.
“Yeah, didn’t seem like it.” He glances around the room. “But you’re in here alone, which is slightly concerning, given I could hear you talking.”
“I was talking to the numbers,” I say out of pure frustration as I toss my hand toward the computer.
Wyatt fully steps into the office, wearing a pair of gray Chino shorts and an untucked button-up shirt with the sleeves rolled up and the top few buttons undone. His hair is styled, he’s left the scruff on his jaw from the night before, and he’s looking all kinds of handsome as he moves farther into the office.
And here I am, in a pair of cotton shorts, a ratty old shirt, and my hair tied up into a bun because I thought that if I was at my epitome of comfort, I could figure this whole thing out with the books.
I was so, so wrong.
“The numbers, ahh, I see,” Wyatt says, approaching me as if I’m a stray, ready to run away.
“I feel like you’re patronizing me.”
“Aubree, why the hell would I want to do that? I know better at this point. Why don’t you tell me what’s going on, and maybe I can help you.”
“No,” I say, shaking my head. “This is my problem, not yours. I can figure this out on my own.”
“Mm, yeah, seems like it.” My eyes shoot to him, not appreciating his sarcasm. And he notices right away. “Uh, yeah, excuse the tone of that last comment. It’s just frustrating to see you frustrated but you won’t let me help. And I understand that you are a woman running her business, and the last thing you want is for some man to come in and tell you what you’re missing, but sometimes it’s good to have another pair of eyes on things, you know?”
“I don’t need your help, Wyatt.”
“Yup, completely get that, and I don’t need to help you. But maybe I can help calm you down. Why don’t I take you for lunch? Hank told me they’re serving mac and cheese at The Cliffs today. I told him to reserve me a seat on the deck. Come join me.”
I shake my head. “I need to figure out this problem.”
“I get that,” he says calmly. He’s silent for a second and then says, “Did you know when I’m writing, I get stuck at times, and even if I plotted out a whole book, I sometimes have a hard time moving from one scene to the next. I wonder if it will be whiplash to the reader, if the connection makes sense, if the scene I’m writing is even worth it. I start questioning every little thing, and I can’t get out of that mindset until I take a break. Fresh air, a run, or sometimes just sitting at a coffee house, staring at nothing, will get me thinking about the story in a different light. Maybe you need to just take a breather for a second.”
“Or I can power through,” I say as I take a seat at my desk.
Wyatt closes the space between us and perches on my desk. “Aubree, I’m telling you right now, powering through will only frustrate you. If you’re so worried, bring your computer with you. If you want, you can look at it on the way into town and even while we’re waiting for our meals. But at least change up your location and get some fresh air.”
