We can’t kiss.
He’s my boss, and if I kiss him… I’ll never want to stop.
I want to be his friend.
His friend who verysecretlywants him, has dirty dreams about him, and hates every woman he dates. Forever.
“Thanks, Everett,” I say softly.
“Anything for you, Ginger.”
“I…”
“Good job with Eduardo,” he says, almost as if afraid of what I was about to say. “Goodnight, Ginny.”
Yeah, there’s nothing else to say. Because what elsecanI say? Other than ‘I quit, meet me in Sapphire Falls tomorrow night’.
“Goodnight, Everett.”
CHAPTER 13
GINNY
“Her appendix almostburst!That’s the word they used, Harry.Burst!”
“I know. But it didn’t. She’s in the hospital, and she’s going to be fine,” I say in a calm, even tone.
Graham is understandably worked up, and it’s sweet on one hand. But on the other hand, he needs to calm down, or someone is going to need to go bail him out when hospital security is called about the guy harassing the nurses in the OR waiting room.
He took Margot to the emergency room even though she told him she was fine, and it was just an upset stomach. He did the right thing. Hesavedher from this being much worse. As I told him the second time he called me. This is the fourth phone call.
“That would have made herseptic,” he says, his tone full of horror. “That’slife-threatening.”
I suppose it’s good for him to process all of this now that she’s out of surgery and completely fine, but…wow.
“But instead, her amazing boyfriend took her to the hospital in time to avoid all of that and now she’s going to be fine,” I say trying to focus my brother on the important things. “Appendectomy is averyroutine surgery. They do thousandsof them every year in the US.” I’ve also told him this on prior calls, having looked up the actual statistics for him, but it bears repeating. “It’s one of the most frequent emergency surgeries.”
“I know,” Graham says. “But I can’t believe I haven’t proposed to her yet. That I haven’tmarriedthis girl yet. I’m going to correct that immediately.”
I step off the elevator and pause on the eighteenth floor of the hotel. “What do you mean immediately? You’re going to elope?”
“Maybe. All of this made me realize how much I fucking love her. I can’t live without her.”
Graham’s very rattled, so I decide not to point out that being married wouldn’t have kept this from happening. I want them to get married, so why say anything to dissuade him from that idea? They haven’t been dating long, but they’ve known each other their whole lives. I see nothing wrong with them walking down the aisle as soon as possible.
“You can get married right away,” I tell him, starting toward my room. “But donotelope! We all want to be there, and Mom will kill you.”
He huffs out a breath. “I know. I wouldn’t do that. Margot’s dad would kill me, too.”
“It’s Valentine’s Day,” I remind him. “Just because you couldn’t make this trip to New York, doesn’t mean you can’t tell her you want to plan a wedding. You guys could get married this summer. That’s only a couple of months away, but Sapphire Falls and our families could definitely put a wedding together in that short amount of time.”
“Seriously, thank you for stepping in on this trip,” he says.
“Don’t be silly. This is my job now. I’m happy to help.”
Margot had not been feeling well yesterday, but her symptoms had gotten significantly worse overnight and early this morning. They had been planning to come to New York Cityfor a meeting with potential investors for IES and to then make a romantic weekend of it, since today is, in fact, Valentine’s Day.
Graham is lucky that Margot doesn’t mind him combining business with their romantic getaway. He definitely made up for the fact that the first thing he had to do once he got to the city was meet with Gage and Connor Albright, the brothers who will hopefully be investing a large sum in IES after this meeting.
