"Jordan," she panted, her palms flat on my bare chest.
"I know, honey," I said. "I know."
Dropping my forehead to hers to give us a minute to breathe before separating, I drank in the feel of this. I wasn't sure whether this memory would stay true to life over the coming days, but I sure as hell wanted to try.
Will was standing at the end of the driveway when I opened the door, back turned and hands in his pockets. He was intently studying an old tree that had curved with the wind over time, or so it seemed. He played the game well, and pretended not to notice April until she was a few feet away from him. She waved and he nodded, touching the brim of his baseball cap as she passed.
"Good morning," she said.
"Morning," he called. His gaze swung back to me when she reached the road. "And what a fine morning it must be, Kaisall."
"Shut the fuck up," I replied. Turning, I stepped inside but left the door open behind me. "What do you want? Have you finally discovered that you can't knock your wife up any more than she already is?"
"Doesn't hurt to try," Will murmured.
He was close behind, following as I moved through the cottage one last time. I grabbed my luggage and briefcase, and tugged on a new shirt. I'd change into a suit when I got to Texas. There was no sense wearing a tie all day if I didn't have to.
"What do you want?" I asked as I searched for my phone.
"You're leaving?" he asked.
Stopping, I stood in the middle of the kitchen, my arms spread wide. "What the fuck does it look like I'm doing?"
"How the hell should I know?" he asked. "Maybe you're moving in with Cupcake vonRebound."
"I have a meeting. Today. In Texas," I said. "She's not a rebound."
Will opened the refrigerator and helped himself to a bottle of water. "Right, so you're flying to Texas," he said. "Are you flying back here tonight? Or tomorrow?"
"No, I'm flying into Dulles," I said. I spied my phone between the couch cushions, and quickly toggled through the messages and notifications waiting for me. My mother wanted to hear about my weekend and hoped I'd been able to enjoy myself—if she only knew—and Marco said hello. I couldn't deal with a hello from Marco at this hour.
"You have access to a private jet, dude," he said. "You could fly into East Hampton and get your ass back here tonight if you wanted to."
If I do it once, I'll never stop.
I held up my phone, pointing to the endless stream of alerts that required attention. "Because I have a business to run and leaks to plug, and this isn't an opportune time to be away from the office," I said.
"You realize that we employ hundreds of people, right?" he asked, pointing the bottle at me. "And several of them are extremely capable individuals who would be thrilled to have a bit more work on their plates, right? And you're not only allowed but encouraged to delegate any of the fifty-seven thousand issues burning up your inbox, right?"
"This ismycompany, Will," I said, and then thought better of it. "Our company. Somehow I fell asleep at the wheel long enough to be compromised by Renner, see some of our best guys walk out, and watch a flawlessly planned mission go bad. Even if I want to give it up for a week with April, I can't do that right now. Doyougetthat?"
He nodded. "Of course," he said. "But it isourcompany, and I can spend a week in the D.C. office to get the house in order if you need a break."
"I was the one compromised. I'm going to deal with it," I said. "Now, unless you have any further sage advice, I've gotta hit the road."
"Take this from a guy who knows exactly how much a weekend in Montauk can change: don't take too long to get back here. Back toher," he clarified. "If she's one of the good ones, she'll slip through your fingers. Or start dating a douchelord just to grind your gears."
I pressed my fingertips to my temples. "Since when are you Team Cupcake?"
Will shot awhat the fuck is wrong with you?scowl in my direction. "Of course I'm Team Cupcake." He rolled his eyes. "I was Team Titsy O'Silicone, too. I'm on your side, dude."
"I'm not sure which I find more troubling," I said, hefting my luggage and heading for the driveway. "That you let me date a woman who cheated on me with our primary competitor, or that you're capable of pulling these nicknames out of your ass."
Will opened the tailgate of my SUV and I loaded in my bags. "Probably the nicknames," he said, scratching the back of his neck. "It's proof that my brother-in-law is rubbing off on me."
