A Win-Win Proposition (Case Brothers 2)

In truth, he’d gotten used to having her around all the time. Except for a half-dozen business trips that had lasted a week, he realized that he hadn’t gone without seeing her for more than three days.

“You feel funny?” she echoed, a grin ghosting through her eyes.

And that was all it took. He leaned down and kissed her, not caring one single bit who saw.

Sebastian registered her utter shock before the compelling warmth of her soft lips made him forget everything but the way she made him feel. He wrapped his arms around her. With her fingers threaded through his hair, he savored the texture of her lips and the sweetness of her soft body.

A throat cleared behind him. “We should probably get going,” David said.

Releasing her took longer than it should have. How long until he held her again? He knew she needed to be here for her dad and family. But he’d been a selfish bastard for so long and couldn’t resist hoping that she was back in Houston within a couple weeks.

With her cheeks a bright pink she peered at him from beneath her lashes. “If it’s okay with you, I’m going to stick around for a while.”

His instincts screamed that leaving her here was a bad idea, but what could he do? Her family needed her. His company needed him.

“Take as much time as you need.”

Just come back to me.

“I’m doing fine,” Malcolm Ward said, pushing away Missy’s attempt at dinner. “Don’t you think it’s time you went back to Houston? It’s been three weeks.”

Missy stopped dragging her fork through the lumpy mashed potatoes and met her father’s gaze. She hadn’t told him she’d quit her job. He needed to focus on his recovery. If he had any idea she had no pressing reason to return to Houston, he’d start worrying about her instead of getting better. Not that her dad was any good at thinking about himself. Always, his congregation came first. Then his family. Then the rest of the world. Then himself.

Having a saint for a father had never been easy.

“I have over a month of vacation saved up. Sebastian doesn’t have any problem with me using it to take care of you.”

“How much time do you have left?”

Three days.

“Plenty.”

She carried her plate to the sink and dumped the burnt meatloaf and overcooked green beans into the garbage disposal. Normally her father protested any waste, but not even he would wish that dinner on anyone.

“Who’s filling in for you while you’re gone?”

“They hired a temp. It’s done all the time. Don’t worry. There’ll be a job for me when I go back.” Someone would hire her. Or she could stay at Case Consolidated Holdings as the director of communications. If the position was still available.

“Your brothers like him.”

“Who?” She transferred a large slice of chocolate cake to a plate and set it before her father. Chocolate was one thing he let himself indulge in.

“Your boss.”

“Sebastian is terrific.” Thinking about him sent a sweet pain shooting through her body. During the three days her father had spent in the hospital, struggling to heal and overcome the infection that had kept him delirious, Missy hadn’t had time to dwell on what had happened in Las Vegas or fuss over what the future might bring.

“Cares about you, does he?”

Missy sat down with her own wedge of triple chocolate delight. She couldn’t cook, but she knew how to bake.

“I’ve worked for him a long time.”

“From what I hear, there’s more to it than that.”

Her cheeks burned beneath her father’s all-knowing stare. Who’d told him? David? She’d sworn him to secrecy. He wouldn’t spill the beans for fear that she would tell his wife how much he paid for that new revolver.

“I have no idea what you mean.”