18
Earl turned down his music, looking at Callum through the rear-view window. "Enjoy your weekend?"
Callum raised a brow. "I did, thanks. How'd you know?"
A grin made its way on his chauffer's face. "Just a feeling."
Callum laughed. "That obvious?"
Earl shrugged. "A little."
Callum's phone lit up with a notable ping, an email notification. Normally, Callum would've ignored it, but he knew exactly who it was from. He and Logan had been emailing each other ever since Callum dropped him off after their beach date—Logan had insisted it was one.
Dear Mr. Dawson,
I look forward to your advice at the project meeting later today. I hope my input for the next phases of the project meets your expectations. See you then.
Yours truly,
Logan Corbett
Marketing Lead
P.S. :)
Callum wanted to hide his face in his hands, knowing the pink in his cheeks was not from being out in the sun on Saturday with Logan. He breathed out through his nose to refrain from smiling like an idiot. That still didn't stop Earl's teasing as he raised a brow through the rear-view mirror. "Was that him?"
"Earl, you did sign that NDA, yes?"
"Yes, sir," he replied sharply. "When have you ever seen me say anything?"
"Never," Callum agreed. "Guess I really need to work on being subtle."
Earl smiled before turning his music up a little as he circled the parking garage. Callum fumbled for his phone as it buzzed, the caller ID displaying Charlotte's name. He frowned before answering.
"This better be good," he responded. "I was in the middle of something."
"Oh." Charlotte didn't try to sound apologetic. "My bad."
"What is it?"
She laughed. "You ready for the meeting? I don't have to postpone it like last time, right?"
"I'll be up there in a few. Why, is everyone there already?"
She hummed. "Almost. How was your weekend?"
"Did Earl talk to you?"
Earl perked up but turned back to the parking lot, turning up the ramp to find the designated stall. "No, he didn't," Charlotte said. "I'm aware you took Logan home Friday night. You sent a text that night."
Callum bit back a smile. "Ah, did I?"
"Yes." She clucked her tongue. "Did you spend the entire weekend with him?"
"No," Callum said quickly. "Just Saturday."
"And?" She said. "Anything exciting I—your assistant—should be aware of?"
Callum hummed, wondering if this was a good idea to share with her. Charlotte lived off of his drama for years, and subsequently, he'd face the receiving end of taunts and jokes from her.
"Well, it went well," he started. "That probably pleases you."
She scoffed. "As I guessed it would."
"You know how much I hate you're right," Callum said. "I don't know how you figured it out, but you were right about him."
Callum could picture the smirk on Charlotte's face as she made a triumphant sound. "I definitely deserve a raise."
"Yeah, yeah." Earl pulled into the parking stall beside the elevators. "And why didn't you tell me you were seeing Camille Suarez from the admin office?"
She gasped. "How did you put that together?"
"You don't think I—your boss—should know about these things?" he mocked. "Make sure you tell me all about the lady you entertained. You promised."
"I did no such thing," she said. "But, fine. You have to tell me about your date with Logan in exchange."
Earl had walked around the front of the car to open the door for Callum. He grabbed his belongings and stepped out, holding the phone between his cheek and shoulder. "Yes, I'll be sure to inform you of all the juicy details of our brunch and beach date."
"You better," Charlotte chided.
"Two dates?" Callum heard Earl say, raising a brow as he closed the passenger side door. "Lovely weekend, indeed."
Callum sighed. "Geez, have you been hanging out with Charlotte, Earl?"
Charlotte, who was still on the line, replied, "obviously. See you in the meeting room, Mr. Dawson."
"Yes, Ms. Ching," he mocked before hanging up and stuffing his phone in his back pocket. He turned to Earl. "Thanks, Earl."
"My pleasure," he said, bowing slightly before gesturing to the elevators dramatically. "Hope your shift is as lovely as your weekend."
Callum rolled his eyes. "Definitely checking my files for your NDA, Earl. See you later."
As Callum approached the elevators, he heard one of the doors open, the chime echoing in the hallway. He didn't think much of it until he rounded the corner.
In his usual business casual attire, Logan stood holding the elevator doors open. "We meet again."
"These damned elevators, I swear." Callum chuckled, following Logan in before the doors shut closed.
Logan gave Callum a smug look. "Juicy details?"
Callum's jaw fell. "You heard that?"
"All of it, really. Kind of echoes in the parking garage, doesn't it?" He shook his head slightly. "Plus, your stall is right there."
"Right." A wave of embarrassment washed over Callum as he leaned against the back of the elevator.
Logan pressed the button to his floor before leaning against the back wall. This time, he didn't take the back corner like he had done before, settling next to Callum. He was more relaxed and at ease, which surprised Callum. "Presentation is today. You get my email? You'll be there, right?"
"Obviously. I do wonder if Spencer and his team got their shit together."
Logan scoffed, rolling his eyes. "I doubt that. I finally got my team to contribute last night, so we'll see how that goes."
"You did most of the work still, I'm assuming."
"Obviously," Logan said in the same tone as Callum. "Though, I may have forgotten to put all their names on the slides. Whoops."
Callum rolled his eyes. "As you should."
"So, I was thinking," Logan said, turning toward Callum. "Our lunch break is right after the meeting. Meet me in the cafeteria for lunch?"
Callum gave him a skeptical look. "We'll be seen. The rumors and stuff."
"It's kind of the point," Logan said. "Let them stare and talk."
"I didn't think you'd be comfortable with the rumors."
Logan shrugged. "People will talk regardless. That shouldn't hold you back from the things you want. It's lunch; it's not like I said, let's make out in the cafeteria."
Callum couldn't contain the smile as he looked at Logan. Every time he thought he had figured Logan out, he always surprised him with something else. "You know, this isn't what I expected when I'd meet the new marketing lead."
"Oh." Logan raised a brow. "Am I that bad?"
Callum shook his head. "No, better. Way better."
It was Logan's turn to smile then, his face blushing as he glanced at the space between them. "I hadn't expected this either."
"Oh, I'm sure you've heard some nasty things about me."
Logan rolled his eyes. "A few. But from our first elevator ride, I suspected that wasn't you at all."
"Really?"
Logan nodded before looking up at Callum's eyes. "They really don't know you at all."
Callum's lip upturned. "And you've got me all figured out?"
Logan shrugged. "Something like that, right?"
"Definitely."
"So," Logan drawled. "Cafeteria?"
Callum nodded. "Sure. Or, we could hit up that expensive wagyu cheeseburger. Send Charlotte a photo to make her jealous."
"Good, sounds like a plan." A playful smirk made its way onto Logan's face as he looked at Callum expectantly. Callum wasn't sure what he was expecting; he wasn't exactly good with banter like Logan was, and hugging or kissing him didn't seem like the right option either. Or was it?
Logan's smirk turned into a smile as his hands reached up, closing the gap between them as he took Callum's tie in his hands gently. He couldn't look at Callum as his hands trailed halfway up the tie. He tugged on it slightly, pulling it to the right. "There; it was crooked."
"Oh," Callum mouthed. "Better?"
Logan hummed before looking back up at him then, his eyes saying something that Callum couldn't quite pinpoint. At that moment, he wished he could read Logan's mind, silently wondering if being this close was even allowed. Was what Callum assumed Logan thought exactly what it meant?
Callum stepped closer—not even a half step closer, his hand reaching up to trail over the sleeve of Logan's jacket as he stared down at Logan's lips. Despite being the only two people in the elevator, Callum felt like the mirrored walls were watching them, caving in. He was in limbo, fighting the idea of leaning in to kiss him or pulling back.
Logan remained still as Callum debated his options. Logan had kissed his cheek; it couldn't be that wrong to kiss his cheek back, right? It was only two days ago that they held hands.
Upon seeing the numbers rise to Logan's floor, Callum knew he didn't have much time if he was going to do something. Callum swallowed the hesitation down, but before his lips made contact with Logan's cheek, Logan turned his head, kissing Callum on his lips instead. Logan smiled into it before, clearly amused at Callum's surprise. Callum returned the gesture, his other hand cradling the back of Logan's head with the same tenderness he showed that champagne bottle they had indulged in the other night.
Callum's head was spinning, his thoughts as jumbled as if drunk, but instead of the expensive champagne, it was the taste and smell of Logan in front of him.
As they parted, Callum couldn't find it in himself to stray too far from his face, his eyes staring down at his cheek, gauging Logan's reaction. It felt like a minute had gone by until Logan's mouth lifted into that endearing smile.
"That felt nice," Logan said, his eyes slowly meeting Callum's.
Callum was speechless, his lips parting to say something, but he was still lost in the moment. It was a good haze, a high that Callum had seldom felt before with his previous relationships. Something he could see himself living in forever.
Just as he tried to say a coherent response, though, a sound rang out around them, the elevators coming to a halting screech. It was more sudden than the last time the elevators had stopped, causing Logan, who had been on the tip of his toes to reach Callum's lips, to collide into him. Callum stumbled too, his arms bringing Logan further into his chest as he found his balance.
"Not again," Logan cried, still in Callum's arms, throwing his head back with a groan. They glanced up at the floor indicator, flashing the number twenty-eight. "Of course, it's on my floor too, right before the meeting."
"At least we know what to do now." Callum couldn't help but laugh.
"We'll be experts at escaping broken elevators at this rate," Logan mused, taking a step back from Callum, only his hand wrapped around Callum's wrist.
"Someone's really got to put an out-of-order sign up next time." Callum frowned. "They just did the inspection too."
Logan laughed as his hand lowered until he intertwined his hand with Callum's. "Maybe we should have Charlotte pencil in a vacation to Vegas. Getting stuck in these elevators twice has got to be a sign."
They shared a laugh. "That'll be the first thing I do once we get out of this damn thing."
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