Page 14 of When You Were Mine

She watched the three dots dance as he composed another message.

Chris: What’s the one thing you need for your resort’s success that you don’t have at this exact moment?

Jessica: Guests

Chris: Hahaha! I like you already. We’re going to get on swimmingly. What’s the deficit you’re looking at right now?

Even though she couldn’t possibly take this job, she was intrigued. So, she threw out a number he’d never be able to pay. Just because she wasn’t ready to end the conversation.

Jessica: Two million dollars.

Chris: You thought that would throw me off, didn’t you?! You underestimate my determination to make quitting my job and moving to Iceland mean something. I’ll pay you two hundred thousand for the week, and if you decide to take the job, I’ll pay you two million. How’s that? Did I win you over?

It was a wild offer. Still, she couldn’t take it. Not when she had so much to do here.

Jessica: Christmas is in six days. I can’t come for a week.

Chris: Fair. How many days can I get?

She glanced at the calendar she kept on her wall. The next three days had red slashes marking them. She took travel into consideration.

And just like that, she wasn’t playing with him anymore.

Jessica: Four. I have to be back for Christmas Eve. My niece is getting married.

Chris: Sold! But I’m carving your fee back to $199,999. So, when can you get here?

Would he seriously pay her two million dollars for this job? She kept her rates extremely high, not only because her time was valuable but to screen out people who weren’t serious.

This man was serious.

And in that moment, the niggling stepped out of the shadows and took solid form.

I’m never anyone’s first choice.

Trevor chose his career.

Her sisters loved her, but she wasn’t an actual mother to them. She’d just stepped into the role. They had their own husbands and children, and as much as they loved her, she wasn’t in the center of that.

And Joel, who was supposed to put her first, had locked her out when a crisis hit his family.

Were you ever really inside though?

You never even met his daughter.

She needed to think. And she couldn’t do that here.

Jessica: Sir, it’s Christmas. Don’t you have presents to wrap?

Chris: Sadly, no.

Her heart pinched. She might be the fifth wheel in her family dynamic, but at least she had them. She had her sisters, her brothers-in-law, and her nieces and nephews.

Chris: My assistant does that for me. LOL! But seriously, I’ll get you home in time for Christmas Eve. All I want is for you to look around, get a sense of the scope of the project, and get your brilliant mind working on ideas. Then, we’ll talk after New Year’s. Sound good?

She shouldn’t do this. Once she got into a project, she became obsessed. Her mind would start spitting out ideas, and she’d get lost for hours researching colors, styles, and drawer pulls.

God, she loved her job.

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