When You Were Mine (Second Chances 2)

&n

bsp; “They’re sending me a copy of the beta so I can get a feel for the game. It’s apparently some sort of space cowboy adventure type thing. But a multinational launch, television, online, the whole nine.”

“Wow,” Cora said. “That’s great for your business!”

“I’ve gotta go through a bidding process and all of that, but I’ve already got a couple of good ideas. Apparently, they liked the fact that I liked their games so much and that’s why they thought of me. I’m just thrilled to even have the opportunity. I was completely addicted to their last game,” he said.

Cora’s facial expression turned solemn as she asked him, “So, how does that make you feel, Jamie?”

Grinning, he rolled his eyes and said, “C’mon. You know what I mean.”

“I do,” she agreed. “That’s so exciting for you.”

He nodded enthusiastically and said, “I should be able to download the file later today. Tim’s emailing me some of the specifics about when they’re looking to launch. I’m really looking forward to playing.”

“Does this mean I’m being abandoned tonight?” Cora asked, her pout mostly for show.

With a wince, Jamie said, “Not abandoned.”

Cora waved him off and said, “I’m just teasing. I’m buried in paperwork anyway. I’ve been putting it off for way too long.”

“Bring it with you,” he said. “We can have dinner then work on what we have to work on. It’s not the most romantic night...”

When he trailed off, Cora agreed, “Definitely not, but I like falling asleep next to you.”

Jamie set his food down on the table, then leaned across the couch. His lips brushed against hers and then clung for a moment. They were interrupted by the growl of his stomach.

She laughed against his lips and said, “Eat. Eat. There’s time for this later.”

They sat there on the couch, finishing their meals and talking until finally Cora said, “I’ve got a patient in ten minutes.”

“That’s my cue, then,” Jamie said. “Enjoy the rest of your day.”

“Thanks again for lunch,” Cora said. “Do you think my next patient would notice if I took a small nap?”

Jamie laughed and said, “175 an hour? I’d notice, sweetheart.”

“You make a fair and valid point,” she said, smiling as she picked a stray piece of rice off of her pencil skirt.

Once the trash had been gathered and disposed of, she walked him to the door, gave him one last kiss, and then mentally prepared herself for the next hour. This particular patient always reminded her of her sister. That made it especially difficult to be objective.

By the time Jamie stopped by her office to let her know he was leaving for the day, she was emotionally exhausted. The session with Rhiane had been just as difficult as it always was, and then the session that followed had been a whole different type of frustrating.

She’d been working with a little boy who had anxiety and bed-wetting issues for a few sessions now. She had been unable to convince his mother to leave the room to allow her to talk with the child freely. When the boy was scared to speak, it made it really difficult to pinpoint any sort of causes for the anxiety.

At the end of the session, she’d been forced to give the mother an ultimatum. Of course, like always, that hadn’t gone well. She had ended up storming out of Cora’s office, her shrill voice screaming echoing down the hall that no one was going to tell her how to raise her son.

Cora suspected that was the problem. If she was unable to pick up on verbal and physical cues from others, then perhaps she wasn’t hearing what her son was trying to tell her. Hell, if she wanted to go down that road with her, though…

She really hoped that the boy would be back in her office, preferably without his mother, but she sincerely doubted it.

Cora shifted her briefcase to the other hand as she locked up the door. Thomas, the security guard, stood waiting. She hadn’t interacted with him much before the incident with the man in her office, but it turned out he was a nice guy.

As he walked her out to her vehicle, he chatted about his wife who was almost ready to give birth to their first child. He had shown her ultrasound pictures, and talked with her about some of the names they were considering before, too. It was difficult to remain in a bad mood when he was just so damned happy.

By the time she stopped home, changed, grabbed some clothes for tomorrow, and made her way to Jamie’s, lunch was a distant memory. She was glad to see that he’d put together a quick meal already. Once her belly was full and she had a glass of wine in hand, she settled into his sofa with her case files.

She had managed to make her way through most of the stack before she said, “Oh, holy shit. Jamie. I know who the guy in my office was now. I didn’t see it before because he was such a mess.”