Page 86 of Inheriting Miss Fortune

I lifted my hands to cup his face. “Okay,” I said softly.

“It’snotokay,” Tully insisted. “You’re…”

“A jealous ass,” I finished for him. “And I’m sorry.” I grabbed him around the waist and pulled him down to sit on my lap.

I was sure we made a strange sight if anyone were there to see us. Tully was too tall to fit comfortably in that position, especially given the small chair, and I knew his suit was getting wrinkled to hell, but I wrapped my arms around him anyway. The urge to hold him was more powerful than any discomfort.

Clearly, he felt the same because he wrapped his arms around my neck and clung on.

“I hate leaving you here with a bunch of other hot city boys. I’m going to miss you every minute,” I confessed.

He exhaled a shuddering breath against my neck. “Yeah, well, meanwhile, I’m sending you home toFoster.”

I snickered. “Tully, I’ve told you?—”

He pulled back to shoot me a dirty look. “Don’t you dare remind me you’re just friends,” he said. “If you get to be irrationally jealous of my freaking client, I get to be irrationally jealous, too.”

I pulled a frown and pretended to think about it for a second, then nodded. “Okay. Deal.”

Tully nestled against me again. “I was trying to be calm because I didn’t want to upset Lellie, but…” He shook his head. “I’m going to miss you both,” he said quietly. “What if she forgets how to say Tuh-weein the next two weeks?”

I ran a comforting hand over his shoulder. “How could she, when we’ll call you every night?”

He sighed. “Yeah. And I guess… it’s only actually a week and a half or something until the concert, not a full two weeks. I’ll see you both then.”

“You’d better.” I smoothed his tie. “Because you owe me.”

“Owe you?” He frowned. “For what?”

“I was promised a 3:00 a.m. date last night,” I reminded him. “And it never materialized. What’s my legal recourse here, counselor? Surely there’s some kind of breach of contract when one man says he’ll rail another into the bed and doesn’t follow through.”

Tully laughed out loud, exactly as I’d hoped, and this time when he sat up to look at me, his bright, beautiful smile was firmly in place.

“No need to engage an attorney yet, Mr. McKay,” he teased softly. He pressed a too-brief kiss against my lips. “It may take longer than I hoped… but I always pay my debts.”

TWENTY-THREE

TULLY

Even though I knew I’d see them again in ten days, saying goodbye to Dev and Lellie was awful.

It was the end of our time as a little trio. From here on out, we would only ever see each other in quick visits, snatched here and there in moments cobbled together from two very busy lives. I wasn’t sure how long Dev would be content with that before he decided it wasn’t worth the trouble. I wasn’t sure what I’d do if he did.

Over the next week, I threw myself into work. Learning the client Orris had given me was none other than Miles Dumas had been a shocking revelation. He represented a staggering sum of money, which meant if I could earn his loyalty, I could pretty much guarantee my shot at making partner when the time came.

It was exciting, and if I had to be separated from the people I cared for—okay, fine, from the people Iloved—then I was happy to have challenging work to lose myself in. And if Dev’s words about moving to Majestic and practicing law there not only fed my dreams at night but also popped up with increasing frequency during my waking hours, too… well, I would just have to get over it.

I couldn’t possibly give up everything I’d worked so hard for in my career to hang my shingle in a tiny town in the middle of nowhere just because I fancied myself in love with a man I barely knew.

That would be ridiculous.

How would I pay for Nolan’s tuition if I were scraping by in Majestic? How would I pad my emergency fund and make sure I had plenty of retirement savings so I’d never wind up like my father?

And for all that Dev had floated the idea of my moving, he hadn’t saidwhyhe wanted me to move. Was it for Lellie’s sake or for his?

I’d learned enough about Dev to realize he wasn’t the happy-go-lucky drifter I’d let myself believe he was two years ago, but the reality was far more complicated. It seemed Dev had been keeping the whole world at arm’s length for years. The chances he’d want to leap right into something long-term with me were vanishingly low.

And if there was one thing I knew for a fact, it was that the more time I spent with Devon McKay, the more I wanted him. One small taste had ruined me for two years. I didn’t think I could do “casual” with him.

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