Page 25

“You hired an attorney?” My pulse races. Wrong. This is a terrible idea. I know better.

“Don’t worry, Monty. He’s a friend of Maggie’s. He did it for free and mostly for fun,” Kendall says.

I take a deep breath to try and slow my racing heart. “Are you sure about this?” I ask her.

“Yes.”

I study her face, framed by blonde curls. There’s no hesitation in her green eyes, only determination.

Kendall’s been there for me for years now. My work wife is what she calls herself. She’s the one person in my life, other than my mother, who I can always count on.

She knows me better than anyone, and I…well, I told myself it wasn’t my business who she dated. That didn’t make it easier to watch.

Kendall deserves someone who actually sees her. I try not to think about why that bothers me so much.

“Fine. I’ll read the contract and give you a signed copy tomorrow at the airport,” I promise her.

“Great. Text me the flight details and I’ll meet you there,” she says when she turns to leave.

“Wait. While you’re here, I should probably go ahead and give you this.”

I flip open the lid and turn the box around to show her.

Kendall’s eyes go wide. She gasps dramatically and then she’s reaching toward the diamond with grabby hands. “My precious. Me wants. Me needs.”

Rolling my eyes at her awful and inaccurate Gollum impression, I tell her, “Go ahead. Take it. Get used to wearing it.”

She squeals and then grabs it out of the velvet to shove it on her finger. “My answer is yes! A thousand times yes! I’ll be your worst fake fiancée ever!”

A chuckle almost escapes me, and Kendall’s eyes cut to me as if she noticed.

“If you’re done, then I should get to reading. Don’t you have some shopping to do? Do you have the company card?”

“Yes, sir,” Kendall says then whips out the credit card…from the front of her pink blouse.

Jesus.

I did not need another reason to look at or think about her breasts. It’s a full-time job to keep my eyes off them as it is. She’s my employee and nearly a decade younger than me.

There was a time I wanted her to be more. When I thought it might be possible.

But Kendall wanted to stay here, to keep working for me. She thinks of the coworkers as family. I couldn’t ask her to leave just so I could take her out on a date.

We’re too different anyway. It’s just a little bit of lust. A little longing. Wanting someone I can’t have because it would cost me everything.

“See you tomorrow at the airport, fiancé.”

“Be there by seven at the latest,” I tell her.

“Of course,” Kendall says. She waves with her palm facing herself to show off the sparkling ring then holds it out in front of her to admire it. “Unless I go pawn this bad boy tonight and live life as a criminal on the run.”

“I’m sure you’ll make the right decision,” I mutter. Then add, “You would go stir-crazy in a tiny cell.”

“That is sadly true,” she says with a sigh as she turns to leaves my office while still looking down at her hand.

And runs smack into the doorjamb.

I’m out of my chair before she even says, “Ow,” and reaches up to rub her forehead.