Page 117 of Pressure

“The tenth floor is yours too. This floor just has the better executive suite, so I had your name stenciled here first. We can change it if you want.”

Her gaze fell to the folder and she flipped it open.

“I don’t understand,” she murmured. “I thought I was coming to work for you.”

“You can. Or you can rent these two floors from me and run your own company. We’ll still work together so we’re not in direct competition with each other, but it will be completely yours.

Marissa blinked and looked around again.

“I feel like you’re trying to do things for me. I appreciate the gesture, but it’s like you don’t trust me to start my own company.”

Lance felt his gut twist. This was supposed to be a pleasant surprise.

But he kept his gaze steady and leaned against the sleek reception desk.

“I just want to make you happy, Riss. Give you what you want most in life. Is that so wrong?”

She sighed. “No. It’s not wrong. Just… I need to be able to do some things on my own.”

“And you will all decision making is up to you. I had some generic construction done so you could get to work right away, but there’s still plenty of work to be done. I just cleared a path for you to be able to do it.”

He watched as she stepped further into the space and eyed the long corridor of offices.

“I always pictured a more open space.”

He smiled. “You can make that happen.”

“I don’t have a budget for construction.”

He sighed. She was going to be stubborn.

Finally, she set the folder on the desk next to him and put a hand on his arm. “I still need time, OK. This is all wonderful and I promise to think about it.”

Her touch caused his eyes to drift closed. He missed her so fucking bad.

“I think I should leave, and we’ll try this again next week. I’m sorry.”

Lance sighed and lifted a hand to brush it through her short tendrils.

“I like the hair,” he murmured.

“Don’t lie,” she said tightly.

His gaze narrowed and before he could stop himself, he gripped the short waves and tugged. “I have no reason to lie.”

When he dropped his hand, she took a step back. “I’ll call Kimberly and set up a new time to handle paperwork. I need to leave.”

He hated watching her leave but he “OK. I’m going to Colorado to take care of some things since we shut Solitaire down for a few weeks. We’ll talk next week when I get back.”

Marissa frowned. “What do you have to take care of in Colorado?”

“Just shutting down the property for an extended period.”

He shoved a hand in his pocket. In all reality, he was going to work with Russell Adler and Jax Fischer to hunt down Sebastian Forcythe and Jodie King. They’d both fallen off the grid.

Hopefully, she believed him.

“I’ll come see you on Monday then.”

She backed out with a little wave, and Lance couldn’t stop the overwhelming sense of disappointment as she walked out.

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