The Boyfriend Contract

by Victoria James

She tilted up her chin, clutching the door tightly. “Hi. What are you doing here?”

  He straightened the lapels of his suit. “You need to face your responsibilities and come back home.”

  She stepped out onto the porch, shutting the door behind her because she didn’t want Morgan hearing what she knew would soon be an argument. “I am home. This is my home. I’ve made it very clear I’m not coming back. Also, I think the last time we talked you were pretty insulting. Maybe you should be starting this conversation with an apology.”

  He smirked and held up his hands in a patronizing motion. “Easy there. Don’t go getting all angry. Calm down.”

  She clenched her teeth and forced herself to play the game and not lose her composure. “I’m speaking in a calm voice. All I said was that you owe me an apology.”

  “I heard you didn’t get zoning approval for your stupid inn. What, did you actually think you were going to be able to compete with our inns?”

  She focused on the trees in the distance, on the sounds of the rushing river, the rolling thunder in the distance, and not on the past. She needed to stay confident, to remember she was here for a reason. Everything that had happened in the last year was for a greater purpose. She knew who she was now, she knew the kind of woman she was supposed to be, with or without Cooper. “I’m starting something else, and I’m actually late for a meeting, so I’ve got to go.”

  “You can’t just leave. I’m here to talk about the business.”

  “It’s not my business. If you wanted to have a serious discussion about this you should have called or texted first. I have a life. I can’t cancel my plans just because you decided you need to speak with me right this very second.”

  “Oh, right, the big important CEO whom I need to schedule an appointment with. I don’t know who you think you are, but you’re just my little sister. Show some respect,” he said, his lips twisting into an ugly snarl.

  “Why do you even want me around? I would think this is a dream come true for you. You have the business and you can do whatever you want with it.”

  “It’s not about that. It’s about family legacy and loyalty.”

  She fought the urge to scream. “No, it’s about control. You want control over me. You want to lord it over me that it’s your company and I’m just an employee like everyone else. You have no one in your life. Mom is gone and she was the only person who did whatever you wanted her to do. So now you’re here, not because you think I’m particularly great in the hotel business, not because you even like me. You’re here because you need a minion. Well, it’s not me.”

  He ignored what she said completely. “I think you’ve had enough playing house out here, and it’s time to come back home and start over. You sure packed on the pounds. Your face has gotten fat.”

  Five years ago, insecurity would have held her prisoner, wondering if he was right, rushing to a mirror when she was in private. Ten years ago, she would have crumpled like a paper bag, unable to deal with wounds inflicted by a person of authority. But she wasn’t that same girl. She didn’t fall for these games anymore. “I’m not five, you can’t just tell me to come back home, and if I want to pack on pounds, that’s my choice,” she snapped, starting to lose her cool.

  His face twisted, and she knew he was close to losing his temper, too. She couldn’t ever say no to him. “I’m your brother, and I’m in charge of the company. You’re a very selfish person, going so far from home and abandoning the family business.”

  “There is no family anymore. If you wanted me as part of your family, then you should have treated me better. And this display isn’t exactly endearing you to me.”

  “You’re just jealous Dad didn’t leave you the company. Stop your whining.”

  “I’m not. But I have a right to build my own life, and I’m doing it here. I can make that choice because I’m an adult and don’t need to follow orders.”

  He rolled his eyes. “You were always into this feminist crap.”

  She closed her eyes for a second because there was too much to process too fast. She counted backward from ten and then opened her eyes. Unfortunately he was still there. “So, let me explain something to you about how the real world works—there are women who own businesses. It’s not part of some secret underground feminist agenda. It’s that women, like men, can also enjoy running corporations and having careers.”

  He must not have liked her carefully enunciated words or primary-school tone, because he moved closer to her. The old Emily would have shrunk back, would have backed down. But she’d left that girl in Toronto. This Emily took a step forward. She took a step forward for all those girls and women who would one day fill her house.

  He grabbed her wrist and got way too close to her for comfort. Her heart beat painfully against her chest, but she refused to cower or break eye contact with him, even when she saw the rage spewing from his eyes.

  “I’m not going with you. I think you need me because you don’t know how to run that business, and no one likes you because you treat people like crap.”

  He twisted her wrist, and she writhed trying to free herself. “Bitch,” he snarled.

  He shoved her hand away, and she fell. She landed with a painful thud on the lawn and cried out as her elbow hit the ground with a painful snap. Searing pain stole her breath, and she was only vaguely aware of her brother leaving, the sound of his car pulling out of the driveway. Closing her eyes, she lay back on the ground, trying to catch her breath and find a way to make the pain in her elbow stop. She was not going to overthink this. She was fine. Everything was going to be fine.

  “Who the hell was that douche?”

  Emily opened her eyes to see Morgan running down the steps and crouch beside her.

  “My brother,” she managed to rasp, cradling her elbow with her other hand and then shooting Morgan a smile, as if none of this was a big deal.

  “I should have come out here when I saw him grab you,” Morgan said, her voice suddenly changing and her eyes filling with tears. It was a rare display of emotion.

  Emily tried to smile for her sake, despite her pain. “What are you talking about? I’m fine. You didn’t need to come out here, Morgan. I’m an adult, and I can take care of myself.”

  Morgan gave her a pointed stare, and she forced herself to sit up, ignoring the blinding pain that ran through her back and arm as she moved.

  “I kept telling myself to just open the door and tell him I was going to call the cops, but I was so scared,” Morgan said, tears spilling from her eyes. “I had my phone, though. If he did something bad, I was going to call the cops.”

  Emily squeezed her hand. “You did the right thing. He… It’s over. He left. I’m okay.”

  Morgan brushed aside her tears angrily. “You didn’t tell me you had a loser in your family, too.”

  Emily forced a smile. “Everyone’s got one, right? I never thought he’d show up here. But, um, listen, I’m going to have to go get this checked out,” she said casually, like she was planning on picking up a pizza. She didn’t want Morgan to freak out or be worried for her, but she knew there was something wrong. She was pretty sure she’d broken her wrist or elbow. Or both.

  Her eyes grew wide. “Like at the hospital? Do you want me to come with you?”

  Emily stood slowly, holding her arm in place. “I’m okay. You’ve got homework. I’ll be fine. It’s really not a big deal. I’m probably being overly cautious, but I might as well get it checked out.”

  “I think you should call Cooper,” Morgan said, following her up the steps as she went to get her purse. Cooper. Poor Morgan had no idea, and she wasn’t about to ruin her perception of Cooper, who had treated Morgan so kindly. She needed to know there were good men out there. She wouldn’t say anything about him. So much for the council meeting and getting her life under control. Maybe she could call Noel, and she could stand in for her.

  She grabbed her purse with her good arm and started walking toward the driveway, Morgan following
her step by step. “Uh, that’s okay. I don’t want to bother him.”

  “Why not? He bothers us all the time,” she said.

  Emily forced a laugh, even though she wanted to cry. “He’s busy.”

  “He’s always around here; he can’t be that busy. Call him. How are you even going to drive to the hospital? That’s, like, over half an hour away.”

  She waved her good hand as casually as possible and not like she felt her entire arm might fall off. “I’ll be fine. I don’t need Cooper. Are you afraid of mice?”

  Morgan shook her head. “No.”

  She patted the girl on her shoulder. “Good, then we really don’t need Cooper. I’m fine. We’ll be fine. It’s my left elbow anyway, and there’s, like, no one on those back roads. I’ll be lucky if I spot a deer.”

  Morgan was eyeing her suspiciously as she opened her car door for her. “Did you guys break up?”

  “Morgan, I have to go. Remember the rules—lock the door, and don’t answer it to strangers.”

  “You mean strangers or my dad or your brother.”

  Emily forced a smile. “We’re going to be okay, kid. I’ll text you later.”

  “I still think you should let someone drive you,” Morgan called out as Emily sat in the driver’s seat. The pain stole her breath away, and she tried not to scream. She shut her eyes as a wave of nausea hit her. She slowly adjusted her arm into a position that wouldn’t hurt if she kept it perfectly still.

  “I’ll be fine! See?” she said again, attempting a flippant and light tone. Really, what was there to be sad about? The one man in the world she wanted and loved desperately couldn’t let go of his past or his deceased wife, her monster brother had returned and manhandled her, breaking her arm or something, she was missing the town council meeting and would probably not get her zoning amendment because everyone in this town hated change—and her—and now she had to drive with one arm while the other throbbed painfully. It was all fine.

  Or she was going to cry all the way to the damn hospital.

  …

  Cooper peeled out of the town hall parking lot and drove to Emily’s house as fast as he could. When he pulled into her driveway, his instincts told him something was very wrong. Her car wasn’t there, and he knew there was no way in hell she’d deliberately miss the meeting tonight. It meant too much to her—the women she was going to help, Morgan. There was no way she’d blow this off just because of him or how much she hated him.

  He parked and exited his truck, running up the front walkway, only to find Morgan sitting on one of the wicker chairs. “Well, it’s about time. Some boyfriend you are.”

  He stilled, and panic—which was very rare for him—took over. “What happened?”

  She crossed her arms and glared at him. “Em’s loser brother came here, and they got in a fight, and he was really mean,” she said, her voice going from anger to vulnerability.

  He walked over to her slowly, trying to keep his cool, trying not to scare her. “What happened?” he asked again, crouching in front of her.

  Her face crumpled up, and she started crying. Holy shit. “Morgan, what happened?” he repeated, keeping his voice calm and soothing when he wanted to yell.

  “He grabbed her and pushed her, and she fell off the porch. He just left, but she was lying there funny. When I came out she pretended like it was no big deal and that she was fine, but she couldn’t move her arm.”

  He stood abruptly and shoved his hands in his pockets, and rage and self-loathing washed over him. He wanted to find her brother and hurt him and tell him to stay the hell away from Emily. But the self-loathing…because if he hadn’t been such an ass, none of this would have happened. He would have been here today, picking her up to go to the meeting. He would have been here when her brother showed up. He could have kept her safe. He wouldn’t have let him close to her, let alone lay a hand on her. “Where is she now?” he asked, still trying to appear calm.

  “She insisted on driving herself to the hospital.”

  Shit. He started walking away.

  “I told her to call you, and she said we didn’t need you,” Morgan said, the accusation in her voice making him cringe. He paused and looked over his shoulder at her, at this girl that had entered their lives. Emily had taken her in without question, had given her the best of everything without blinking an eye. She deserved so much more than this.

  “I’ll fix this,” he said, hoping to hell he could.

  He was halfway down the walkway when she called out to him. He turned around.

  Morgan stood at the end of the porch, her arms tightly wrapped around her waist, looking young and afraid. “She asked if I was scared of mice. Of course, I’m not, but I didn’t want to make fun of her, you know, because she’s been so nice to me.”

  He clenched his teeth and managed a nod. He didn’t think he’d ever felt like such an asshole before in his life.

  “Then she said that was fine, because we didn’t need you.”

  He paused, hating himself a little more before turning to leave.

  “Cooper?”

  It dawned on him that this was the first time Morgan had called him by name. She stood there, small and thin, that chip on her shoulder fading and the vulnerability shining through. He hated that he was contributing to her anxiety in any way or to her perception of what men were really like. He had to make it right. “She said she didn’t need you, but I think she does. Even though the guys I’ve known haven’t been the best…you seem okay.”

  He cleared his throat past the lump of emotion. “Thanks. The real truth is that I need Emily just as much. Maybe more.”

  “You’re going to find her, right?”

  “Yeah. Of course. She’ll be fine. This will all be okay. Why don’t you go inside and lock the doors? Noel and my sister, Callie, will come over and keep you company, okay?”

  He waited for her to argue that she wasn’t a baby, but instead she nodded, walking into the house. She paused at the door. “Emily is the nicest person I ever met. She’s the only adult who ever cared about me. Make sure she’s okay.”

  He nodded and started running toward his truck.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Emily squeezed her eyes shut as a wave of pain swept over her when she pulled her SUV into a parking space outside the emergency room of the hospital. She’d driven for half an hour with her arm lying limp in front of her, each jostle and bump making her cry out or curse.

  She’d had bad days, she’d been hurt in life, but nothing had prepared her for the onslaught of bad luck and misery over the last few days. First Cooper and his admission that he couldn’t ever give her what she needed, and what she suspected was his love for Catherine that he couldn’t let go of. Then the chat with his former mother-in-law, followed by her demented, misogynistic brother’s sudden appearance and assault. Oh, and of course, the fact that she missed the meeting and the town was probably busy turning down the outsider’s plans.

  It was laughable. A part of her wondered if she could just sell the house and leave. She’d take Morgan with her if she wanted to come, because what was left for her here? The only problem was all the money she’d invested in the house—she’d never get that much back even if she sold.

  Emily parked her car and slowly got out, somewhat distracted from her pain as she walked toward the hospital. It was tiny. Like a cute shoebox. She’d never seen such a small hospital. She walked toward the red emergency sign, noting how old but well-maintained the building was. If she hadn’t been in so much pain and if the reason for being here weren’t so pathetic, she would have lingered to admire how adorable this was.

  The automatic glass doors whooshed open, and she walked into a lobby that was even smaller than her house’s foyer.

  A nurse behind a desk enclosed by a plastic barrier smiled at her. “Hi there, honey. Come on forward.”

  Emily looked around and saw no one else. This would be fantastic. Maybe the wait time would even be under an hour. Emily pulled out
her wallet, wincing with pain as her wrist moved.

  “Oh, honey, can I help you with that?”

  “I’ve got it,” Emily managed, pulling out her card and handing it to the nurse.

  She asked her address and phone number and a few other things before pointing her to a triage room across the small hallway. Emily thanked her and made her way over, sitting down with a tired sigh. A moment later, the same nurse came in. “Okay, so tell me what happened.”

  Emily stared into the woman’s eyes and contemplated telling her the truth, that she’d been on the receiving end of a violent outburst and had moved away to protect herself and had fallen. But who cared? Really, none of it mattered anymore. She had brushed herself off and driven herself here. This woman didn’t care about her problems, and Lord knew she’d seen much worse. “Uh, well, I fell off a porch step and landed on my elbow. I think I heard a snap.”

  The nurse winced and made a tsking noise, and she touched Emily’s arm and elbow in a few different places. Emily tried not to make a sound as she pressed on the sensitive area. After asking a few more questions and taking her vitals, she gave her a kind smile, her weathered features calming and soothing to Emily. “Well, you’ll need X-rays, and then the doctor will see you. I’m going to get you ice and ibuprofen while you wait. I’ll be right back.”

  Emily sat in the small bland room and blinked a few times as tiredness set in. This was a different kind of exhaustion, though. This was the exhaustion of defeat, of finally waving the white flag of surrender. She didn’t want to think about everything that had happened, but she couldn’t stop. She hated a pity party, but this was a new low, the kind that Cheetos and wine couldn’t cure. Her notes for the council meeting were poking out of her bag, a cruel reminder of everything she lost tonight.

  She closed her eyes and tried not to relive the week’s events, but they played across her mind like a dramatic movie trailer.

  What was she doing here? Was this really her life?

  She was so incredibly alone. She belonged nowhere. She didn’t belong in Toronto anymore, but she didn’t belong here, either. These people didn’t want her; they didn’t think she’d ever be part of their world. Maybe they were right. Maybe she didn’t understand how things worked here. Maybe there was no way she’d have received her shelter approval tonight at the council meeting, anyway.