Page 17 of Past and Present

“Thank you, Kitten. I love you.”

“I love you too.”

He sat back in his chair as he tossed the phone on the desk. She’d nearly died just weeks after she came back into his life. It had gutted him when he felt helpless to rescue her.

To say he was overprotective was an understatement.

He pushed his sleeves back up over his elbows and dragged a hand through his hair. He wanted to finish the project he’d started before he headed home.

As he was working, he heard someone moving about in the outer office. He stood to investigate since he’d sent Jill home two hours ago.

When he opened his door, he found Kimberly sitting at her desk typing frantically.

“Kimberly? I thought you weren’t coming back until tomorrow morning. What’s up?”

Her head jerked up. “Sorry. I didn’t know you were still at work. I was coming in to check up on Jill’s work for the day.

He gave a mirthless laugh. “I was planning to talk to you about her tomorrow. I don’t mind saying she pissed me off twice today.”

He gave her details of the day as he perched on the corner of her desk.

“Sorry, Lance. I should just find someone else to take over for me while I’m away.”

Lance shrugged. “It will probably come to that. Is there a reason you wanted her to have this position so bad?”

Kimberly smiled. “She’s a friend. I know better than to stick my neck out for friends like that. I just wanted to help her out. She came to me a few months ago asking about a job and I knew you weren’t looking for anything but I also knew I was thinking about taking an extended leave so I promised I would keep her in mind.”

“That makes sense. But don’t worry about it. We’ll let her flounder until she either gets her feet under her or fails miserably.”

Kimberly winced. “I just feel bad leaving you this way.”

He reached over and picked up the woman’s hand. “You have a family to look after. I’m going to be just fine.”

“Will you, though? I know how bad you are with your calendar when I’m not around.”

He laughed. “Give me a little credit and get out of here. We’ll figure out what to do about Jill if it comes to it. I actually already had a talk with Cameron downstairs about helping me out if I need it.”

Kimberly blew out a breath. “OK. If you’re sure. I’ll go back home and just come in tomorrow. I’m going to continue letting her take the lead on things unless I need to step in.”

“Sounds good. Get out of here. I’m almost finished for the day and then I’m going home to Riss.”

Kimberly grinned. “I’m really glad you two found each other again.”

Lance stood and gave her a wink. “Me too. More than you know. And just a heads up, I might just be a married man by the time you come back from your leave of absence.”

She clapped her hands together and stood to grab her purse. “That makes me so happy.”

“Where did you park?” he asked.

“I took public transport.”

He frowned and glanced at his watch. “Let me take you home. I can leave now.”

Kimberly held up her hand. “That’s unnecessary. I’ve been riding the train for years, Lance.”

“I insist. Just let me grab my phone and keys.”

Back in his office, he called a driver and asked him to be waiting in the garage as he tucked his keys into his pocket.

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