NICE GIRL TO LOVE (THE COMPLETE THREE-BOOK COLLECTION)(16)

Two weeks? She was negotiating? He didn’t like it. Not one bit. “Half? You’re only willing to give me half?” Geez, he was doing a remarkable impression of a screech-fest he’d heard in the firm’s conference room the other day.

“What’s the big deal?” Now she looked genuinely mystified. “The one month is your maximum time period, isn’t it? What’s wrong with two weeks?”

Technically, nothing. In reality, everything. Though he wasn’t quite sure why. As he mulled it over, he contemplated temporarily agreeing to the two weeks and then appealing midway for an extension…

Why the hell was he strategizing this like it was a court case?

“Will there be a possibility for extension?”

She frowned. “Wouldn’t that defeat the purpose of these relationship parameters of yours?”

It would, yes. “I’ll make an exception…unless you tell me you have a history of flipping out on the guys you date.”

She winged an eyebrow up. “What if I did?”

Hell, he’d probably date her anyway. What was it about her? “I’ll worry about that if it happens.” He smiled when she did, and then proceeded to renegotiate—an occupational reflex. “How about we do a month, and lessen it to two weeks if you feel you really want to?”

He could tell she was trying not to grin.

“Even if I wanted to agree to those terms, I couldn’t. I’m heading out of town the day after tomorrow for two weeks.”

Something unsettling pricked inside of him. Unease? No, it stung deeper than that. Burned, actually. Whatever it was, he wanted to be rid of it. “You’re going on a trip? I thought you said you were busy.”

“It’s not a trip so much as me going home to stay with my parents for two weeks. My landlords are enclosing that huge patio off the kitchen to make an extra bedroom. They’re slowly making this guest house bigger since I’ll only be living here until next May, and their son is moving in with his wife and two kids after I’m gone.”

“So they’re kicking you out for two weeks? They should be providing you with an alternative place to live. It’s standard for a landlord—”

She threw her palms in the air. “Whoa. Don’t turn into Mr. Bigshot Lawyer. I offered to go home to California. Plus, they went out of their way to get a crew that could do the work really quick, specifically in these two weeks to fit my schedule. They even had the builders work out a plan where all the interior reno work would be completed before a lot of the less-pressing exterior projects, contrary to their normal construction routine, so all the more invasive parts would be taken care of before I got back. They really are being great about this.”

“But everything you need for your research is here.” He was well aware that he was pulling at threads now.

“True. But, the UC schools have an outstanding library system so I don’t think I’ll have too much difficulty accessing things. And at this portion of my write-up, a lot of what I need is online so I can easily take care of it in Santa Clara.”

“But you’ll lose half a day flying each way.” Okay, now he was reaching rock bottom. He was actually embarrassed for his law school diploma; it was probably getting ready to jump off his office wall in protest.

“I’m not flying, I’m driving. It’s peak travel season and flying over would cost more than I’d care to spend.”

“You can’t be serious.” Now he was more concerned than argumentative. “You’re planning on driving all the way to Santa Clara in that hunk of junk out in your driveway?”

“Hey!”

“Sorry, that very lovely POS ‘SUV’ out there.”

She kept right on glaring at him. Okay, so maybe it wasn’t entirely necessary for him to have included the air quotes, but really, the vehicle was more like a very tall, beat up clown car than an SUV, circa never-bothered-to-be-recorded.

“Face it, that thing is a nine-car pileup waiting to happen. You shouldn’t take it on that long of a road trip and you know it.”

“Well, it’s my only option right now.”

Something occurred to him then. “Wait, if you knew you were going to be gone, why did you counter with two weeks?” He detested false bids.

Her bottom lip disappeared between her teeth. “Actually, I meant the two weeks after I get back, before my schedule starts getting busy.”

Wow, now he knew exactly how his previous one-monthers felt when he used to schedule them in.

“Sorry, that sounds terrible.”

“No, it’s fine. I’ve actually done the very same thing before.” And he wouldn’t ever be doing it again. This feeling was flat-out wretched. “Why don’t you just find another place to stay here in town the next two weeks? It’d be simpler than traveling, and we’d still get to have the full month.” Good lord, why was he chasing the woman?

Though she did look supremely tempted, after a moment of thought, she still shook her head. “I can’t impose on any of my friends for that long. And while I could just book a room somewhere for two weeks and end up spending about as much as I would on gas, I’d hate to try writing for that long in a hotel.”

He studied her for a second before coming to a decision.

“Well...then stay with me.”