The Light in Us

33. Fallon

33

Fallon

“ Y ou came back!”

Teddy’s words are muffled as he buries me beneath a hug that threatens to suffocate me. At my choking noise, he draws back, his cheeks tinting red. “Sorry. I’m just happy you’re here. God, you’re cold.”

I’m back in my blue dress. I notice Teddy sweeping his eyes over it. His lips tighten, but he doesn’t mention it. “So, we’re going to actually show you some of the ropes today. Rowan will be down later to help with tech, but for now we’ve got some meetings to do.”

“That sounds great.” His happiness is infectious. I can feel my smile stretching my cheeks, unfamiliar but welcome as I follow him into the elevator.

Teddy leans against the wall. “I completely get it if you say no to this, but I couldn’t stop thinking about it last night. Would you – would you share your address with me? I promise it won’t go any further. I just…,”

He stops. Swallows. “I couldn’t stop thinking about… if you didn’t come back. Or if something happened, we wouldn’t be able to find you.”

My heart clenches at his worry. A warmth sweeps over me. But I’m not sure. “Teddy…,”

“I know .” He wrings his hands. “But it really would help me sleep at night. And I’m a real grump when I don’t get enough sleep. So think of it as a favor to everyone else in the building.”

He’s so smooth, I barely realize I’m nodding until he smiles widely. “Great.”

My eyes narrow slightly. “Do you always get what you want?”

He winks at me. “Stick around and find out.”

The shrapnel from the alphas yesterday has disappeared. A new desk sits in its place, and I run my fingers over the aged walnut. “This is beautiful.”

“Zeke picked it for you.” Teddy ducks into his office as I take in the huge, comfortable-looking chocolate brown leather seat. I could curl up inside it and still have space left over.

I can hear Teddy rummaging around, his voice carrying. “You’ll see him later. Fox booked us a lunch meeting. And you can actually meet Wilder instead of just listening to him snarl from the other side of the door. He’s a sweetheart, I swear.”

Teddy looks worried as he reappears, his laptop under his arm and a pair of glasses pushed up into his hair. In his fitted pale green suit, he looks ridiculously handsome. “I swear, you’ve got nothing to worry about.”

My brows crease. “I’m not worried. Wilder is part of your pack, right?”

I can’t imagine any member of this pack not being… perfect.

He examines me, but then he grins. “Great. Coffee first, then meetings. Brace yourself. I can be a bit of a whirlwind.”

He really isn’t kidding.

My head starts to spin after two hours. We dart from meeting to meeting, Teddy somehow charming everybody he meets as he covers everything from the company accounts to a new strategy campaign.

I keep looking around for members of the Quill pack, but I don’t see any of them.

“I bow down to your skills,” I murmur after we leave. My head hurts, but in a good way. I feel as if I’m stretching muscles that have never had a chance to be used, the notebook Teddy gave me already filling up with notes I’ll need to go back through.

He’s a machine. An intelligent, charming, witty machine in a beautiful package designed to make people think he’s defenseless. But Teddy has a spine of steel. I’m actually a little awed. “How do you get so much done ?”

No wonder you never stood a chance, Fallon.

He only winks at me before he returns to the e-mails on his phone, his fingers flying across the screen. “By the skin of my teeth and a little magic, really. This floor is my favorite, though. I might need you to drag me out.”

The door opens to a dark wooden floor. Across from me, the walls are rammed with bookshelves. There must be thousands, all of them romance. It looks like a rainbow, the titles arranged in a cascade of beautiful color that takes my breath away.

Teddy spreads out his arms. “Welcome to Editorial, Fallon.”

I step out in a daze. Laughter and the scent of coffee fills the air, people waving to Teddy as they stroll past. Spread out down the hall are small spaces designed for reading, comfortable chairs and huge cushions. Some people are curled up in them, flicking through manuscripts and making notes on tablets.

“What do you think?” Teddy is watching me closely. I turn, trying to get it all in and failing.

“This is amazing,” I whisper. Emotion threatens to choke up my throat.

Because for years, all I ever wanted was to work in a place like this. It looks exactly how I imagined it.

Better.

“Fallon!”

At the sound of my name, I turn. Fox is strolling up the hall. He smiles crookedly at me, his hands buried in the pockets of his suit. He’s not wearing a jacket, and my eyes drag over the way his violet shirt clings to his chest before I tear them away to stare at the books again. “Welcome to my kingdom.”

Teddy sniffs, but there’s amusement in his voice. “Fox oversees Editorial, amongst other things. But he’s very protective over it.”

Of course he does. Even his scent fits here, and I quietly take a breath as he comes closer. It settles into my chest, and I relax as his grin widens. “Has Teddy overwhelmed you yet?”

My tongue is glued to the roof of my mouth as I stutter a response, and Fox’s smile warms his eyes. He extends a hand. “Come on. We’re doing the quarterly Acquisitions briefing. Teddy likes to pretend he’s still an editor and join in.”

I turn to Teddy. “You were an editor?”

He blushes, tugging on his sleeve. “I was an editor. I did a joint degree in business and worked my way up in another publishing company. It’s how we all met.”

Fox’s whisper brushes my ear, making me shiver. “He keeps a stack of unread manuscripts in his office that he never has time to read.”

On his other side, Teddy sighs. “One day. Although they’re currently spread out across the floor. I’m too scared to touch them.”

“I can do that.” The offer slips from my mouth. “I’ll go through them later and reorganize them for you. If… if you like?”

“Thank you.” Teddy blows me a kiss. “You would be my hero.”

We slip into the meeting, and Fox settles me into the chair at his right. Teddy takes the one on his left, exchanging good-natured banter with the others around the table. There’s six of them, and I shrink back in my seat at the curious looks.

“This is Fallon,” Fox introduces me. His hand settles on my shoulder, gently squeezing. “She’s new, and we really like her, so try to find the manners I know some of you have somewhere, please .”

An older male, tall and lanky with a short beard and kind eyes laughs. “I lost mine when I walked through the doors of this place.”

Leaning forward, he holds out his hand. “Ed Burrows. Nice to meet you, Fallon.”

He shoots a sly look at Fox, wiggling his eyebrows. “Look at me, setting a good example.”

Smiling, I reach forward and shake his hand. “Fallon Matthews.”

Ed’s head tilts, curiosity lining his face. “Fallon Matthews, you say? You wouldn’t be related to Rick Matthews? He was a damn phenomenal author.”

Teddy waves a hand. “Don’t hound her, you animals—,”

“He was my dad,” I say quietly. Beneath the table, my fingers twist and clench.

Silence falls over the table. Even Fox stills, although Teddy only glances at me, his eyes heavy. As if he already suspected.

“Well, shit.” Ed leans back in his chair, his smile softening into something sadder. “You’ve got greatness in your blood, kid. I was truly sorry to hear he’d passed. You’re joining our team?”

My throat tightens at that. Fox settles next to me. “For now, she’s just observing and helping us out. So let’s get started – we have a lot to cover and not enough time.”

I start when his fingers cover mine under the table, where nobody else can see. He squeezes, gently, stopping the twisting motion before he pulls away. “Maggie, you can go first.”

***

“How did you know?” I ask Teddy on our way back up to his office.

My mind is buzzing from the editorial meeting, the talent in the room insane as they debated the merits of new authors and pushed for budget allocations.

I caught Ed Burrows watching me several times, but nothing that made me feel uncomfortable. It was… sadder, somehow.

Teddy shifts. “That day we met in the café… you had that copy of The Light in Us . It was a first edition cover. And I’ve read it so many times that I could reel the dedication off by heart. I didn’t know for sure, but it made sense.”

“I love that copy,” I say quietly. “It was the first one he got, and he gave it to me.”

“You know,” Teddy says gently. “Ed Burrows worked on The Light in Us . He was part of the editing team.”

My breath catches. Oh.

Teddy studies the mirrored reflection opposite us. “You wanted to be an editor, didn’t you? That’s why you started studying English.”

“Yeah.” I wrap my arms around myself. “Things don’t always work out the way we plan them, though.”

“They rarely do. But maybe different paths show up at different times. Sliding door moments,” he says thoughtfully. But he doesn’t say anything else as we step out. “I’ll grab a coat. I have a rack of them here, so you can borrow one of mine, okay? No arguments.”

“Okay.” I stare down at the floor. Thinking.

About Ed Burrows. About my dad. And about sliding door moments. Small, inconsequential decisions that change the path of our lives for better or for worse.

“Don’t be nervous.” Teddy drapes a coat around me, the same one he lent me at the café. “Looks better on you. If it makes you feel any better, Wilder is probably far more nervous than you are right now anyway.”

“Why?”

He offers me a smile. “Because we’re all a little bit in love with you, Fallon Matthews. Come on. Fox will come with us, but the others have been out of the office this morning.”

He’s joking. I know he’s joking, but my stomach still flips over at his words, a heavy weight settling inside my chest.

We’re all a little bit in love with you, Fallon Matthews.

And for a moment, I allow myself to wish that he wasn’t joking at all.