Carter shook his head. “I’m going.” He grabbed the knob to close the door behind him and turned one last time. He glanced around my bare house. “You deserve more, Gwen. There isn’t a mission they can assign you that will turn these empty walls into a place you can really call home. Max…Max can do that.” Carter winked as he shut the door.
I peeked out the window and watched as the Town Car pulled down my drive. Martha and Carter tag teaming me had been a stroke of genius. I could have dismissed one, but with the two of them together, they’d sunk in their claws and hadn’t let up.
The blinds snapped back into place, and I opened the envelope to look at what I’d need to do on the island. Between the documents were two pictures. Both of me and Max. Stills from the security in Carter’s house. Close-ups of the two of us and the love and desire in our eyes. That was something that couldn’t be faked.
Carter was good, but Martha, with this final touch, had driven the nail in my coffin. I slipped the pictures out and dropped the rest of the packet on the counter. My heart clenched tight. I could live forever if he stared at me like that, and I’d been about to flush this potential down the drain. What the hell had I been thinking?
I glanced at my watch and sighed. I was going to be late to Ms. Delany’s assignment meeting again. I grabbed my keys and left the house, driving back to the office. Jumping out of my car, I headed into the building, taking the stairs two at a time until I reached the floor.
I’d expected the cubicles to be empty. We’d taken a significant hit on the Pierce case with drugged operatives. Luckily, none had been fatal. People sat in front of their computers as if they hadn’t been asked to attend the meeting.
“Was the meeting canceled?” I asked as Rose appeared by my side.
“Nope. Only one assignment, and she’s giving him to you,” Rose said and patted my arm. “Good luck.”
I shoved open the door to find Ms. Delany talking to Max. My heartbeat quickened and a lump formed in my throat.
“You’re late,” she said, glancing at her watch.
“Is he your only client?” I asked.
Ms. Delany clasped her hands together. “Yes.”
“Great. Give him to someone else, I don’t mix personal with professional,” I said, spinning on my heels and heading back toward my office, not stopping until I hit the elevator. It opened, and I stepped on.
It had almost closed when Max threw out his hand and stopped it from closing. He stepped inside. “Wow, now I know how Carter felt.”
“I’m sure Ms. Delany has other people that can help you, Max. We both know it’s not going to be me.”
He hit the stop button on the elevator, and it jerked to a stop. “You aren’t returning my phone calls.”
“I was hurt, Counselor.”
“And the flowers?” he asked.
“I’m never home long enough to take care of them.” I glanced in his direction. “You already knew that. The old ladies in the retirement home are very appreciative though.”
“Amelia called off the wedding.”
I swallowed around the forming lump in my throat. “It was probably wise. Be sure to tell her I burned the incriminating pictures.”
“You did?”
“Of course,” I answered. “So, is there anything else?”
Max pulled the locket out of his pocket and dangled it. “Petunia asks about you. She knows you saved her.”
“She’s a good kid,” I answered, reaching around Max and pushing the button to get it moving again. “Listen, Max, I get it. If that had been my family, I would have yelled, too, and fired me. In the end, our friends and family are all that we’ve got. They’re all that matter. So”—I sighed—“we’re good.”
“So, you’ll take my case?” he asked.
“No.” I rolled my eyes and stepped out of the elevator when it dinged.
“Why not? I haven’t even told you what the case consists of.”
“It doesn’t matter,” I said, leaving the elevator and the building. Stepping into the sunlight, I lowered my sunglasses over my eyes. “I don’t mix personal with business anymore, and I plan for us to get very personal. Besides I’ve already got an assignment.”
“You do plan for us to get personal? I’ve missed you, Gwen. I hope you aren’t telling me that just to get me to go away?”
