As she takes a seat across the table from me, she looks around, her eyebrows lifting as she takes in the sleek interior of the conference room. But then her gaze lands on me, and her eyes soften with an all-too-familiar tenderness that makes my heart skip a beat.

I take a deep breath and lean forward, facing her. “Hi,” I say. “First things first… how did you even know that I work here? Are you actually interested in this job?”

Celeste blinks. “Oh, I definitely am. It sounds cool, and I’m not saying that for the hell of it. But I’m also here for you, Gem.”

Gem. The familiarity of the nickname almost makes me tear up. “How so?”

She nervously bites her lip before continuing, “I saw that you moved back to Irvine last year. And I was worried that something happened, with you or your family. Going back to your hometown after twelve years? That’s a pretty big change. It reminded me of what I had to do in college, and I wanted to check in to see if everything was okay.”

“Oh.” I sit back in my chair. I was expecting a lot of different things, but Celeste popping back into my life because she was worried about me wasn’t one of them. My heart flutters again, and I feel like I’m about to cry again. Not because I’m sad, but quite the opposite.

Tears escape from my eyes, and almost immediately, Celeste comes over to give me a hug.

“Oh, no, Gemma baby,” she says. “Is everyone okay? I’m so sorry—”

I wave my hands in front of me before she can continue. “No, sorry.” I’m freely crying now, but I’m smiling, too. “Everyone’s fine. I’m sorry I made you worry. Thank you, really. But no. I just needed to get out of San Francisco. And I got this new, higher-paying position close to home, so.”

“Wait,” Celeste says, cocking her head to the side. “But then why are you crying?”

My cheeks heat up in embarrassment. “Oh, I’m… happy. Life’s been so good since I moved back to SoCal. And now you’re here in front of me, saying you applied for a job because you’re worried about me? I feel so blessed.”

Celeste’s face softens, her shoulders finally relaxing as she smiles. “I’m glad to hear that. You deserve nothing but the best.”

My heart’s beating loudly in my chest now, irrepressible and undeniable. “Thank you, Celeste. Really.”

She peers at me from under those damn long lashes of hers. We stay there like that for one long moment, inches away from one another.

She clears her throat. “Okay, well, since everything is okay, I also wanted to talk to you about something else.”

I frown. “About what?”