The Bride (The Boss 3)

“Not at all. I’ll wait in the hall.”

Once he excused himself, Neil followed me up the stairs. It was too cold to go out on the wide porch that wrapped around the tower, but from here, I could make out a few stars.

“I’ve gotten so used to not seeing stars. They startled me when we were back in Michigan.” I didn’t realize how homesick I’d been for them.

Neil stood behind me, his hands on my waist. He leaned down and whispered, “What do you think?”

I think it’s home. That was what I wanted to say. But sensible Sophie reared her ugly head. “I think it’s a lot of house. Maybe too much house for two people.”

“We could get a dog,” he suggested, a little too eagerly. I wondered how long that had been a part of the domestic scene in his head.

“What size dog are you planning to get that it needs thirty-five-thousand square feet?” I turned and gazed up into those eyes that could completely undo me. “Baby, I love this house. We’ve barely seen a quarter of it, and I want to live in it. But how long will we be living here? Do you want to have to commute by helicopter every day? I’m not sure if I’m actually okay with that. I mean, what if you crashed or like, auto-rotated to your death or something?”

“Auto-rotated—” He pinched the bridge of his nose. He winced, then raised his head, eyes directed at the ceiling, like he couldn’t bear to watch my face. “I’m retiring.”

“Right, when you’re sixty-five, and you want to go live at Langhurst Court.” That was ages from now.

“You called Langhurst Court Deadton Abbey. You also described it as being a thousand times creepier than the Haunted Mansion. And it would take you too far from your family and friends. Besides, Emma is living here now. What happens when she has a baby? I don’t want to be an ocean away from my grandchild.”

I forced my expression to remain neutral. He still didn’t know about Emma and Michael’s dire outlook on reproducing.

One issue at a time, Scaife. “Okay, but still we’re talking about fifteen years of commuting via aircraft. That’s risky, isn’t it?”

“Sophie, you’re not understanding. I’ll be stepping down as CEO of Elwood and Stern. This year.”

My head went light, and I put a hand against the wall to steady myself. “What?”

“I thought about it quite a lot while I was in London. Seeing Emir was lovely, but I hated being away from you. Even when I’m just away at work.” He frowned. “I don’t think I’ve ever enjoyed running the company less.

“Money, I have. Time with you…that, I don’t have as much of as I’d like. We’ve both been so busy lately, but I don’t need to be.” He took my hands. “Almost losing my life has made me appreciate it more. I want to slow down now, and enjoy it.”

“Oh, Neil…” My heart spasmed. But as much as I loved the idea of Neil taking it easier than he was now, I wasn’t sure what he was going to expect from me in this new arrangement. “The thing is…India has worked really hard to get me this opportunity. I have to come up with a follow-up book, and there’s the launch party coming up. I can’t slow down right now.”

“Nor would I expect you to.” He walked slowly around the perimeter of the tower, brushing his fingers along the window frames every now and then, as though he were inspecting them. He stopped and put his hands in the pockets of his trousers. “I’m not imagining a scenario in which we spend every waking moment together. But as it is, we’re trying to steal little bits of time together when they happen to line up. If I’m not working, we don’t have to do that anymore.”

Wow. I didn’t know what to say to that. It was a total one-eighty from the Neil I was used to. The Neil who’d tried to surreptitiously run a multi-media corporation from his sickbed. The Neil who’d fired his own girlfriend for fraternizing with the wrong people.

Who was this guy?

“This is not effective immediately. It will take months to finalize everything,” he began to clarify, probably because he could see the shock I was feeling. “But I do want to settle down. If not in this house, then…wherever you are.”

I looked down at my fingers braiding themselves together, feeling suddenly very foolish. Neil was trying to clear a path to our future. It was something I’d never expected anyone to do for me, with me. I’d sort-of expected to look out for myself. Maybe it was because of the example I’d been raised with; my mother never missed an opportunity to point out how much her self-reliance provided independence. I was grateful to her for the lesson, but now, for the first time, I was beginning to see where my thinking needed to change, if I were going to enter into a legally binding domestic partnership.

“And you know,” Neil continued, forcing a laugh. “I think I’ll make a very good house husband.”

If he was making a joke because he was nervous, he didn’t have to. “I think you’re the most amazing man I’ve ever met.”

When I looked up, he appeared genuinely startled by my praise.

“I r

eally mean that,” I continued. “You’re willing to give up this huge part of your life for me. You’re willing to change your plans for the future, just to include me.”

He turned and came back to me, taking my hands in his and gently prying my twisted fingers apart. “And you haven’t?”

Okay, he had me there.

He went on. “You passed on a job you worked hard to earn, just to be with me. After I fired you, no less. For the sake of our relationship, you moved to a different country. You spent a year with me, when I was vomiting and crying and feeling sorry for myself. What sacrifices have I made for you? Why shouldn’t I make one now?”