Cherished (Masters and Mercenaries #7.5)(32)

“Hey, I didn’t expect you for a couple of hours.”

He strode in and it was obvious he’d already stopped by his place. He was without his ever-present briefcase. Instead, he was carrying a bottle of champagne and two glasses. When he grinned at her, she was pretty sure her heart was going to explode. “I finished up early. Skaterboy is on the road to recovery and I am off work for two whole weeks. Do you have any idea how long it’s been since I took two weeks off?”

The way he worked, maybe never. She gave him a smile, but she kind of wished he’d waited another hour or so to come by. The day had left her restless and she hadn’t worked herself up to company mode. She’d been writing a sad passage of the book and then there was the fact that she knew their time together was coming to an end. She forced herself to try. “It sounds like you’re looking forward to it.”

His smile was steady. “You have no idea. We spend one in Hawaii and then…hell, why don’t we spend two weeks in Hawaii? I’ve never been. I’ve heard it’s beautiful and I want to spend the next fourteen days lying on a beach, drinking alcohol and f*cking you. What do you say?”

“Our contract ends before then.” It had been bugging her. Another thing that had her on edge. They had an end date. She’d read through that contract three times, telling herself she was doing it for research, but her heart always clenched when she saw the date written in.

“It doesn’t have to.” He set the bottle on the counter. “It’s just a contract. We can amend it. I think we’re working quite nicely.”

Too nicely. They’d settled into a happy routine that she was worried she already needed to be content. He’d figured out how disorganized she was and spent four hours redoing her desk and making sure all her notes and series bibles were easy to find on her computer. They spent the evenings watching some movie or the news while he rubbed her feet or her scalp as she lay with her head in his lap. He didn’t seem to be able to sit without having a hand on her, and she’d gotten used to being petted for hours every night.

How could she go back to being alone?

She knew she should let it be, knew she should do what she’d been planning on in the beginning and live in the moment. Unfortunately, she couldn’t stop thinking about the future and when he was going to leave her. “So we amend the contract once a week?”

He popped the cork with an expert hand, but then he did everything with exquisite control. He poured her a half a glass. “I think that would be obnoxious. Let’s go for a month this time. Here you go. Are you packed?”

He seemed so settled, so satisfied, when she was restless. She forced her irritation down. It wasn’t his fault. She was worried about seeing her parents. It had been over two years since she’d had to do it. She’d only seen them then because her grandmother had died. Her father had made sure to let her know what he thought of her books. He’d found her pen name and without reading a single word, decided she was a purveyor of porn and wouldn’t her grandmother be ashamed. She’d pointed out that Nana had been her first and best beta reader and that set off an awful fight.

Thinking about being in the same room with her self-righteous prick of a father unsettled her, and Will was acting like it was going to be a fun vacation.

“They won’t like you. They don’t like anyone. I think we should talk about how to handle them. Maybe we should go over some worst-case scenarios.”

His lips curled up. “Maybe you should let me handle them. I’ll take care of you, sweetheart.”

She felt her fists clench at her sides and tried to force herself to relax. “You don’t understand how nasty they can be.”

And once he did, would he lump her in with the rest of them? She got even bitchier when she got around her family. He thought he’d seen Bratty Bridget? What would he think of Bitchy Bridget?

He stood in front of her, staring down with a calm affection that should have made her feel better. “I’ve dealt with meth dealers coming after my mother for money. I think I can handle one rich *. So calm down and say yes to staying with me and taking some real time off.”

She shook her head. It seemed awfully dangerous to spend more time falling in love with the man. “I have a deadline.”

“You have a deadline that’s months off. You’re ahead of schedule. I’ve already talked to your agent. She agrees with me. She loves me by the way. I told you, parents love a doctor.”

“You called Maureen?” He was right about her agent. She kind of had been a mom to her for the last year. Since her first agent had died, Maureen had tried to take care of her, even bugging her to date again. She bet Maureen adored Will.

“She called and you were in the shower. I answered. We had a very nice chat about the fact that you need to take more time for yourself. You also need a PA. I talked to Chris about sharing one with you. Between the two of you, you could keep an assistant working full time. Maureen sent a list of qualified applicants. She’s going to interview them while we’re all in Hawaii.”

“That was presumptuous.” He was invading every part of her life, making her dependent on him when he was going to walk away at some point. He was like the rest of them, except worse because she needed him.

He stopped and set his glass down. “You know you need help.”