David tried to walk tall and not collapse into one of the guest chairs in front of Chance’s desk, but he wasn’t fooling anyone, based on how Kieran immediately poured him coffee from the sideboard.
David took his time detailing everything that had happened while Chance took notes and asked questions, and Kieran patted his arm in sympathy and refilled his mug.
When he finished, Chance studied him from across the desk. “I’m sorry you ended up having to deal with all that. Why don’t you take a couple weeks off?”
David couldn’t for the life of him figure out what he’d done to warrantpunishment. “What? No! I’m fine.”
Chance’s cell phone buzzed and he glanced at it but didn’t answer it, returning his focus to David. “I’m sure you are, but you’ve been with the company for a year and you haven’t taken any time off. You’re a consultant, so I can’t force vacation time on you, but I can elect not to assign anything new for a while. I think it’s important that you take a break. Recharge a little.”
David didn’t panic until he saw Kieran nodding in agreement.A united front.
He couldn’t take time off. It wasn’t the money—he’d earned more in the last year working for Chance than in the previous five at the BPD. It was thatidlewasn’t a speed he could do. Not if he wanted to sleep. God, without the distraction of work, he’d have to spend whole days in the gym just to burn enough energy to shut his fucking brain off at night.
“Really,” he said with admirable calm under the circumstances, “I don’t need any time off. I’ve had a few days here and there between gigs, haven’t I? I’ll be fine.”
Chance sighed. “Look, you’re the best I have,” he said, and David smiled because that was nice to hear, “but your first year here has easily captured the record for the unluckiest on the books.”
His smile faded into a grimace.
“In the ten years I’ve run this company, my people have had guns pulled on them only a handful of times. And they’ve had to pull their own even fewer. You’ve managed to double that in the last eight months.”
David hunched his shoulders. “I didn’t do it on purpose.”
“I know. You didn’t do anything wrong. In fact, I’mgratefulyou were on those jobs when the shit hit the fan. But I know the last couple years with the department weren’t easy, and then you jumped right in with us. You’ve earned a break. You deserve a break. And as much as you don’t want to admit it, youneeda break.”
“But I don’t.”
Kieran put his hand on David’s shoulder. “It’s not that we don’t love you, honey. It’s that we don’t believe you.”
In the silence that followed, Chance’s phone buzzed again, his eyebrows arching when he saw whoever’s name was on the screen. He glanced at Kieran, then back at David.
“I’m sorry. Can you give me a minute? I need to take this.”
Kieran stood. “Do you need me to leave, too?”
“No. It’s your brother. He’s called me three times in the past half hour. You better stay.”
David popped out of his chair and went for the door. “I’ll be out here, sleeping on your guest couch until you need me.”
Chance nodded vaguely as he swiped a finger across his phone. “Callum? What’s up?”
David closed the door behind him, cutting off the sound of their voices. He collapsed in the corner of the sofa, sinking into the cushions. He was about to nod off when a couple came around the corner.
They looked lost.
Somehow, Mati had managed to stay alert and focused for the entire drive. Even the woods of Northern Maine, which were, frankly,boring as hell, hadn’t been able to defeat her. But now, having finally arrived in Boston and crawled out from behind the wheel, she staggered into McCormick Associates almost delirious with exhaustion.
That had to be why she was hallucinating the most handsome, enormous, sleepy-eyed sex god she’d ever laid eyes on.
She took off her glasses and rubbed her eyes, but when she put them back on, he was still sprawled out across the couch, studying them like his chocolate-brown eyes could see right through to their souls.
“Good morning,” he said, his deep voice rough with what she assumed was a relatively short nap in what was otherwise a very professional waiting area.
Or, maybe he’d spent the night there. What did she know? She was unfamiliar with the daily practices of sex gods.
Reese also appeared stunned. “Good morning.”
“Can I help you with something?” the strange, beautiful man asked as he sat up.
