by Isabel North
“Uh, yes there’s a point. It’s called happily-ever-after.”
Was this kid for real? “There’s no point because I’m moving to Seattle as soon as I get a job.”
“You’ve got a job here already.”
“I quit it.”
“You could un-quit, and stay.”
“Not how I roll, kid. I make a plan, and I execute.”
CHAPTER NINETEEN
“Lila! In here, please.”
Lila wheeled her chair back from her desk and strolled over to Allison’s office. “You bellowed?”
Allison was leaning back, her hands clasped behind her head, contemplating the ceiling. “Close the door.” She waited for Lila to comply. “Now sit.”
Lila perched on the edge of the chair on the other side of Allison’s desk. Holding her boss’s gaze, she leaned to the side and pumped the lever to raise the seat until they were equal.
Allison’s eyes crinkled at the corners, then she realized what she was doing and tutted at herself, patting at the tiny wrinkles with her fingertips. “It’s been three weeks since your interview with Stephanie.”
“That it has,” Lila confirmed when Allison seemed to be waiting for a response.
“How long were you going to wait before you told me?”
Lila opened her eyes innocently wide. “Told you what?”
“Told me you declined the job.”
“Ah.”
Allison thumped a fist on the desktop and pointed at Lila on the rebound. “Lila. It was a great job. And a great package, I made sure of it. What were you thinking?”
Lila shifted uncomfortably.
Allison plowed on, “Best I can figure it, you’re deliberately trying to piss me off, and embarrass me in front of my friends.” She hissed the last word.
“Stephanie is a friend?”
“Frenemy. Whatever. I don’t enjoy being embarrassed, Lila, and embarrassment is what happens when I call someone up to give them a delicate shove into doing what I want and, guess what? They inform me that they called not forty-eight hours after the interview, and you turned them down! A heads-up would have been nice.”
“Sorry. Have you been fretting about this?”
“Yes! Every day for three weeks I have been quivering with joyous anticipation, expecting you to knock on my door at any moment and tell me to suck it, you’re outta here. And yet, no. Here you remain. Because you turned down the offer of a lifetime.”
“I should have told you.”
“Indeed you should. Although, in retrospect, I can’t blame you for saying no. Unlike me, Stephanie is a demanding bitch. You would have had no life outside of work. I don’t think that’s what you’re after. Is it?”
“No. I would like a life.” It was the whole point. Options, opportunities, choices.
“Stephanie was the wrong direction. I overshot for you. Not to worry.” Allison dragged her keyboard toward her and started typing. She clicked the mouse and sat back with a satisfied smile.
“What are you doing?” Lila asked with suspicion.
“You’re gonna like this one.”
“What is it? A cat video?”
“No. I went ahead and prepared a special something in advance.”
“Prepared what?”
Allison held up a finger, and Lila heard the dialing beeps of Skype.
“What are you doing?” Lila jumped to her feet.
“Getting rid of you once and for all,” Allison said to her with an evil grin. “Also, payback. Susan! Hello.”
“Hi, Allison. Listen, is she there? I’ve got another call booked in twenty, so—”
“Yeah, yeah. She’s here. One second…”
Allison got to her feet, stepped out of camera range, and gestured Lila around the desk.
“This better not be what I think it is,” Lila gritted out in a whisper as she stalked to Allison’s side.
“Save the drama for after the interview,” Allison muttered.
“I hate you.” Interview. Right now. Lila’s stomach plunged. Goddammit. “How’s my hair?”
Allison reached out and smoothed the top down with a critical hand. “Shiny. Wait. Lipstick check.”
Lila bared her teeth.
“You’re good. Go get ‘em.”
Lila waved Allison out of the office, took a deep breath, and sat in Allison’s chair, facing the computer screen. “Hello,” she said.
* * * *
Ten minutes later, Lila slammed Allison’s office door open and stood in the doorway, fuming.
“How’d it go?” Allison reclined on the couch, sipping her coffee, eyes on Lila.
“My god, you suck,” Lila told her. “And it went great.” She threw herself down beside her boss. “Don’t ever do that to me again.”
“Did she make an offer?”
“Yes.”
“Why do you sound surprised?”
“Because it was a ten-minute Skype interview. And she did most of the talking.”
“She knows quality when she sees it.” Allison poked Lila in the arm. “That would be you.”
Lila rubbed her arm absently.
Allison tossed back the rest of her coffee and got to her feet. “Susan needs a good agent. Your resume is top-notch, as is your sales history. Match made in heaven.”
“It’s a very nice offer.”
“Did you say yes?” Allison loomed over Lila.
“Not yet.”
“Why? Lila, I’m starting to think you don’t want this. Screw it. I’m going to send her Beatrice. You stay here with me.”
“Um,” Beatrice said.
Allison and Lila swiveled to face her.
Beatrice gazed back at them wide-eyed. “Um, I don’t want to move to Seattle?” she said. “I’m sort of settled here? With my boyfriend?”
“Take the job,” Allison said to Lila.
“Do I get to at least look over the contract first?”
Allison thought about it. “You may.”
“Great. She’s sending it over later today.”
“All right, then.”
Lila smiled up at Allison. “Thanks, boss.”
Allison grimaced. “Stop fawning over me and get to work. Time is running out. I want Beatrice molded into a perfect Lila clone before you leave.” She stomped off to her office.
“Um,” Beatrice said when Lila had settled at her desk. “No offense, but I don’t want to be a Lila clone?”
“You be you, Beatrice. You’ll do great.”
“But I would like it if you stopped hiding from me, and took me with you on all of your appointments. Including the ones with Mr. Burke? I’m supposed to be learning.”
“This is awkward. I didn’t think you’d noticed.”
“Yeah, you’re not that subtle about it.”
“Fair enough. My bad. I’m used to doing my own thing. From now on, stick as close as you like.”
Beatrice nodded with enthusiasm. “So, you missed a call when you were interviewing. It was Monique Martinez.”
Lila took in Beatrice’s expression. “Ugh. She didn’t.”
“Yep.”
“The sale fell through?”
“It did.”
Lila folded at the waist and banged her head lightly on her desk. Burke and David were no longer her record-breaking impossible-to-please clients. Monique Martinez had retaken the lead. Wait. She rolled her head and looked at the giggling Beatrice through her hair.
“What?” Beatrice said.
Lila blew a lock of hair out of her face. “This is fabulous,” she said.
“It is?”
“Watch and learn, kid.” She straightened, snatching up her phone. “I’m going to turn this one around.”
“You have somewhere else she’ll like?”
“Who, Monique?” Lila snorted. “I’ll deal with that tomorrow. No, I have another buyer for the house. I’m feeling good about this, Beatrice. By the end of the day, I will have an offer.”
“Another one.”
&
nbsp; “Huh?”
“A job offer and a house sale, all in one day. I do want to be a Lila clone. You are crushing it.”
“I suppose I am.”
The phone rang twice at the other end, and a gruff voice answered. “Lila.”
“Hey, Burke. I’ve found it! Are you free today?”
“Kinda busy.”
“One hour. I need one hour of your time, that’s all. I have the perfect house for you.”
“I didn’t think there was anything available left in Emerson. It’s not the murder house, is it? That was a hard no.”
“It’s not the murder house, you’ll love it, David will love it. I love it. Not that that matters.” She angled her chair away from the watching Beatrice and cleared her throat. “So, yes? This afternoon?”
“I’ll check with Derek, see if he can spare me. Call you back?”
“Okay. See you later.”
CHAPTER TWENTY
Burke pulled up at the curb and jumped out of his truck. Lila’s car was in the driveway and he was halfway to it before he noticed that David wasn’t with him.
He went back to the truck and rapped on the passenger side window. David buzzed it down. “You coming?” Burke asked.
David dragged his attention from his phone, glanced at Burke, glanced at the house, and shrugged. “Looks good. Let’s get it.”
“Looks good?”
“Looks good.”
“Not ‘it’ll do’?”
“Lila said it was perfect for you, right?”
“She did.”
“Then I’m good with it. This is the one, Dad.” He pounded his chest. “Feel it in my soul.”
Burke opened the door. “Out.”
“But—”
“You are going to come inside and look around with me. Then you can tell me how your soul feels.”
David heaved a sigh. “If you insist. But I’m just saying, it’ll be a formality.”
Whatever Lila had said to him, it had worked. Too well, if David was willing to agree without even seeing inside the house.
Burke couldn’t find it in him to be sorry. He was thoroughly over the house search. He was over it about fifteen properties ago.
It wasn’t even that he found it boring as hell—although he did. He didn’t know how much more time he could stand to spend with Lila. He was nearing his breaking point.
And Lila?
She didn’t seem to be having any trouble at all.
Burke trailed around after her through house after house, soaking in her bright chatter as she painted visions of the cozy future for him and David and their new home, and Burke didn’t want any of them. He didn’t want any future without her in it.
And that was the only future he was ever going to have.
He’d stood beside her in bedrooms, bathrooms, kitchens. Some places were still furnished. Those were the worst.
It was a special kind of torture, watching her move around talking about light and space and walk-in closets and master suites, while all Burke could do was focus on not laying her down on the bed or lifting her onto the kitchen table or the vanity unit in the bathroom and sinking inside her.
With any luck, this was going to be the last house they had to view, and he’d be released from the constant temptation.
As Lila wasn’t waiting in her car, he assumed she’d gone on into the house. Burke knocked on the door and it was opened by a slender young woman in enormous black-framed glasses, an extremely short corduroy skirt, and a blouse identical to the kind Lila wore.
“Hello,” she said with a smile for David, who grinned back, then her gaze tracked up to Burke. She swallowed visibly. “Um, h-hi.”
Burke moved back a couple of feet until he wasn’t towering over her. “Hi. Looking for Lila Baxter. She here?”
“Yes, of course. Mr. Burke?”
“That’s right.”
She stuck out a hand. “I’m Beatrice Lam, Lila’s associate. Nice to meet you.”
Burke shook her hand, careful not to squeeze too hard. “Same.”
“Why don’t you gentlemen come on in, and we can get started?”
“All right.” David sauntered in as Beatrice stood back, inviting them into the hall. “I’m David, by the way.”
“Hi, David.”
“Hi there.” He smiled again.
Burke followed David in and pinned him with a glare. “Do not,” he said in a low voice.
“What?” David said, pure innocence.
“Do not flirt with her.”
“I’m being charming.”
“You’re flirting, and I don’t want to see you attempting it with a woman who is too old for you and, more importantly, is a professional we treat with respect.”
“I am always respectful when I’m being charming. But okay. I’ll try to be less adorable.”
“You do that.” Burke looked around for Lila. Where was she? He caught movement from the top of the stairs, and smiled when she paused and waved.
“You’re here!” she said. She came down the stairs and stopped alongside Burke. She tugged his sleeve. “Come on. I want to start with the kitchen.”
Lila always wanted to start with the kitchen.
“Aren’t you going to let me know how much this place is going to cost me?” he said as she sashayed ahead of him.
“No. I want you to fall in love with it first. We’ll talk about whether you can afford it later.”
Burke stopped abruptly. David and Beatrice bumped into him from behind.
Lila glanced back in surprise. “Why are we stopping?”
“That means I can’t afford it. Lila. I don’t want to fall in love with someone I can’t have.”
She gave him a funny look.
“Something,” David supplied. “He doesn’t want to fall in love with something he can’t have.”
“I said that,” Burke said. Didn’t he say that?
“You can afford it.” Lila started them moving again with a tip of her head. “Mostly.”
Damn, he hoped he could. Burke stood and gazed around the kitchen.
A modern stainless-steel range with gorgeous granite countertops stretching wide either side like wings took up one full side of the room. Instead of a central island there was a large table. Burke brushed his fingertips over the satin-smooth wood. He tapped it. Solid oak.
“Is the table included in the sale, or staging?” he asked.
“Staging,” Beatrice said behind him, making him start, as he was looking across the expanse of wood at Lila and thinking…yeah, thinking all sorts of things he shouldn’t be. “But we can negotiate,” she added.
“If you want the table,” Lila said, “I will get you the table.”
“Hmm.” Burke cocked a brow at David.
“I don’t care about the table,” he said.
Burke sighed. “How about the kitchen? You care about the kitchen?”
“Right.” David pursed his lips and stared around. “Lots of cabinets,” he said. “It’ll be easier to keep tidy than Kurt’s. I love it. Let’s buy it.”
Burke didn’t think David could blame Kurt’s storage for his appalling lack of tidiness, but the kitchen was without doubt well-outfitted.
“How much?” David was asking Lila.
“Are you the one signing the check?” she said with amusement.
“No.”
“Then that’s a topic for me and your father to discuss.”
“I could write the check, though. Hey, Dad. If it’s too much, I can get Mom to do some financey stuff and advance me some of my trust—”
“No,” Burke said. “Goddammit, David.” He felt his cheeks heat. “I can buy a damn house. All you have to do is pick one.”
David’s face fell. “I didn’t—
“Hey, David,” Beatrice piped up. “How about we let the grown-ups talk money, and go check out the rooms upstairs?”
David got that he’d humiliated Burke in front of their realtors. Burke could tell by the way he didn’t p
rotest being shoved into the child category by the faux-cheerful Beatrice, who’d pitched her voice somewhere between patronizing older sibling and children’s television presenter.
“Awkward,” Lila said when they were alone.
Burke propped himself against the table, and met her eyes. “What, having your rich son offer to raid his trust-fund piggy bank and spot you the money to buy a house? Nah.”
She tried to bite back a smile, and gave up when air snorted out of her nose in a helpless laugh. “S-so c-cute.”
“He doesn’t think.”
“He’s impulsive. But that was sweet.”
And yet Burke still felt embarrassment churning in his gut. “Am I going to have to get another loan to afford this place, Lila? Hit me. How much is it?”
Lila named a figure. Burke winced.
“It’s high,” she said. “It’s the high end of what we said you were looking for—”
“It’s higher than that—”
“—but it’s good to go. The whole place was refurbished a couple of months ago. You can move in as soon as the paperwork’s done. There’s nothing to fix, nothing needs updating. You won’t even have to redecorate. It was repainted in neutrals throughout.”
“I don’t know.”
“Because you’ve only seen the kitchen. I keep trying to seduce you with stoves and ranges and pretty cabinetry.”
“I worked that out for myself.”
“Clearly, they’re not getting it done.” She stepped closer. “Do I need to show you the fireplace?” Holding his gaze, she bit her lip in an exaggerated move, drawing it out through her teeth, and added in a sexy whisper. “There’s room for a fur rug in front and everything.”
Fuck.
Fuck it.
Burke straightened, reached across the scant inches between them, and slid a hand around the back of her neck.
Lila squeaked with shock and stumbled against him.
He dipped his head and groaned against her mouth, shuddering at the feel of her lips against his. “Stop me.”
“Dream on,” she breathed.
Fine.
Burke kissed her with desperate, bruising force. Lila made a soft noise and stroked her fingers along his jaw. With effort, he gentled the kiss, changing it from hard and challenging to deep and claiming.
