Page 10 of Have To Be Mine

“That’s my girl.”

I kept rummaging through the collection, holding up items I couldn’t even identify. Some kind of serum. A jade roller that I’d initially thought was a tiny rolling pin. Sheet masks that made me look like a serial killer when I tried one last night.

Then I spotted something tucked behind the others. A simple white and blue tube. I picked it up and my chest tightened.

I knew the lotion.

I stared at it before holding it up to the camera.

Dad went still. I watched the joyful smile turn sad.

“Your mother’s favorite,” he said quietly.

“Yeah.” My voice was gravelly. I quickly cleared my throat.

“I bought her that every Christmas. Put it in her stocking. She went through a tube a month, always had dry hands.” He smiled, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes. “She’d put it on before bed and the whole room would smell like it. I can still smell it sometimes, when I close my eyes.”

I turned the tube over in my hands.

“Maybe it’s a sign,” Dad said.

“A sign of what?”

“That you’re exactly where you’re supposed to be.” He leaned closer to the camera. “Your mother would’ve loved seeing you like this. All grown up, successful, getting flown to Greece for some fancy job. She would’ve been so damn proud.”

The lump in my throat made it hard to swallow. “I wish she could see it.”

“She can, kid. I believe that.” He cleared his throat, straightening up. “Now stop getting all emotional on me. We’re Hedleys. We don’t cry over hand lotion.”

“You’re right. We cry over sports and bagpipes like normal people.”

“Exactly.” He grinned. “So, when do you meet this playboy you’re babysitting?”

I checked my watch. “Fifty-three minutes.”

“You nervous?”

“Please. I’ve run operations in hostile territory. I think I can handle one spoiled rich boy.”

“That’s what worries me. You get bored easily. Bored Krista is dangerous Krista.”

“I’m not going to hurt him.”

“I didn’t say hurt. I said dangerous.” He gave me a look that said he knew me better than I knew myself. “Just remember, you’re there to do a job. Not to prove anything.”

“I know.”

“Do you?” He raised an eyebrow. “Because I know you. And I know that look in your eye. The one that says you’re already planning how to put this guy through his paces.”

I tried to look innocent. Failed. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Sure, you don’t.” He shook his head, still smiling. “Just try not to break him too badly. His family’s paying you a lot of money.”

“I’ll be gentle.”

“You’ve never been gentle in your life.”

“First time for everything.”