Page 133 of Derivation

“You love me?” she asked, her heart now thundering in her chest.

“Is it too soon?”

“No,” she replied. “I’ve pretty much been in love with you since you met me at that train station.”

“Yeah?”

“I love you, Sarai,” she said before she cupped Sarai’s cheek with her hand and kissed her.

“I love you, too,” Sarai replied after they let their kiss end naturally. “So? Want to keep going on this crazy journey with us here? We have an office waiting for you, or you can share this one with me. No pressure either way, and I’d understand if you want to stay where you are. It’s a lot more stable over there, and–”

“I want to come here.”

“You do?” Sarai asked, and her eyebrows nearly hit her hairline, which made Gabi laugh.

“Yeah, I do. I love working with you guys. Outside of spending time with you, it’s my favorite thing. I love helping Arlowe on the code and working on the hardware. I want to be a part of this, and I still would even if you and I weren’t dating, but that somehow makes it better, doesn’t it?”

“I think so, yeah,” Sarai replied.

Gabi pulled Sarai in for a long hug then and kissed her neck.

“Hey, none of that. This is a place of business,” Arlowe teased from wherever she was behind Gabi.

“Not until Monday, it’s not,” Sarai retorted. “Besides, so is the garage, but we do this in there, too.”

“Please, which one of us hasn’t made out with a girl in that garage,” Arlowe said.

Gabi snickered against Sarai’s neck because they’d done a whole lot more than make out there.

“So, she said yes, I take it?” Arlowe asked.

“She did,” Sarai confirmed. “Now, you’re ruining the moment, so go.”

“What moment? It’s just a job.”

Gabi pulled out of the hug, turned to her, and replied, “Not to me.”

Sarai wrapped her arms around Gabi’s waist from behind and rested her chin on her shoulder.

“Good answer,” Arlowe noted. “Meet me in the server room when you’re ready.”

“I will. And, Arlowe?”

“Huh?”

“Thank you.”

“For what?”

“You probably had the most say in me getting this job, so thank you.”

“You’re great at what we need right now, and you were a massive help on the new features, too, so it was really a no-brainer, but you’re welcome.”

“I’ll be in there soon,” Gabi said.

Arlowe walked off then, leaving them alone, and Gabi turned back around in Sarai’s arms.

“How about I take the office, and you have more space in here for all of your great ideas? That team you’re going to end up building out can sit in here with you for meetings and stuff, and there could be a round table that can go over there or something.”