I follow Sawyer into his office and pause, unsure what to do, when he drops into the chair behind his desk, the view of downtown Philadelphia to his left. He drops his forehead into his hands, elbows bent on the desk in front of him. He sighs, rubbing his face with his hands, and I stand, hesitant. I’ve never seen him this stressed out.

“Sawyer?” I ask, tentatively, and his head snaps up. He drags his hands though his hair then smiles, some of the tension leaving his body.

“We have dinner plans,” he states, motioning with his hand for me to come closer.

“For your birthday,” I remind him, closing the distance between us. I slide between him and the desk and hop up to sit on the surface, resting my hands on his shoulders. “Everything okay?”

“Yeah, yeah.” He rests his hands on my thighs, but it feels like an expression of comfort as opposed to copping a feel.

“You still want to go?” I ask, massaging his shoulders. “I was gonna spend the night after. Give you your birthday present.”

“Were you?” He grins, that dimple I love so much flashing on his left cheek.

“Yes.” I nod, face serious. “It’s too dirty to give to you at the restaurant. So it’ll have to wait until after dinner,” I whisper in his ear.

“I like the sound of that.”

“Good.”

I’m glad he’s perking up. I got waxed today, I’d hate to waste it.

And my nails. I’ve painted them Porn-A-Thon peach. Toes too. You think I’m kidding? I spent an hour looking at nail polish names online before finding this one. Then I had to make a special trip to a department store to buy it.

But it’s worth it to make Sawyer’s birthday perfect.

“We should go,” he comments, glancing at his watch.

I slide off his desk and stand. I’m wearing a navy jersey dress and it hugs my figure in all the right places. Sawyer finally takes notice of that when I’m on my feet and my chest is in his face.

“Or we could skip dinner,” he throws out, placing his hands on my hips, his palms warm through the fabric.

“You know I’d normally take you up on that offer, but I’m guessing you skipped lunch today by the way it looks like your day went.”

Something flashes in his eyes and I want to kick myself for bringing it up, but it’s replaced by an easy smile a second later.

“You’re right,” he says, standing. I trail behind him to the coat closet in his office.

“Besides, you’ll need your strength for later, tiger.” I slap his ass as he’s reaching into the closet to grab our coats, his back to me.

He’s still for a moment, my view of his face blocked by the closet door. The door slowly closes, the hinge creaking in the otherwise silent office.

“Are you serious with that behavior?” he asks, head cocked to the side, expression neutral.

“Yup.” I nod immediately and shrug my shoulders. I was serious, what else can I say?

He holds the impassive facial expression for another few seconds, his lips trembling by the end. Then he laughs and pulls me in for a kiss.

“What would I do without you, Everly?” His eyes search mine, all the tension from before gone.

“You’d be crazy bored.”

“Crazy,” he agrees, sliding my coat over my arms.

We pass Sandra on the way to the elevators, returning to her desk from escorting Marlene out. I’m tempted to ask Sawyer about his day, curious about what had him so stressed out, but I feel like the mood broke back in his office and I don’t want to get him stressed again, so I let it go. I’m sure he doesn’t want to think about boring business stuff tonight anyway.