Page 3 of The Roommates

“Thank God I caught you before your flight.” Bernie didn’t sound panicked the way his words implied. He’d known I would still be here.

I swallowed my groan. “Only barely. What can I do for you?”

He was one of the partners who owned the angel investment firm I worked for. He was damn good at his job—investing and making a huge return—but he wasn’t a people person. “Zedophap is having a series of post go-live vendor issues. I need you to give them a call.”

“I’m literally walking out the door to catch a plane.” When I took this job right as Joe and I were divorcing, the thought of telling any of the partnersnowould’ve made me wither and die. I’d had to learn better.

“I need you to take this. If this wasn’t a hundred-million-dollar crisis, I wouldn’t ask.”

Bullshit. “Non-refundable vacation package.”

“I’ll cover the cost myself. And if you pull this off—which you will—there’s a big bonus in it for you.”

Damn it. That kind of money would pay for a better vacation. One I could actually enjoy with my daughters. “Fine. Give me ten minutes to set up my laptop and I’ll call them.”

“Thank you.” Bernie’s gratitude caught me off-guard.

I held my growl until I disconnected, then let it roll out in a long wave of frustration.

“Everything all right?” Colin’s question caught me off guard.

I spun to find him in the doorway, those dark puppy dog eyes watching me with concern.

Right. The other part of this equation was the sexy young studs I’d promised my house to for the next week. How best to phrase this?

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I was doingmy best not to eavesdrop on Daria’s call, despite the growing stress in her voice. But when Colin asked if she was okay, I had to know the answer.

Instead of answering, she was twisting a strand of hair tightly around one finger. It was a rare moment of her looking vulnerable, and that was as sexy as the take-no-shit confidence she normally wore.

A lot of mothers flirted with me, but she was the only one I wished would. I shouldn’t be thinking about a student’s mom that way, but she was gorgeous, intelligent, had the best dry sense of humor, and I bet she knew exactly what she liked in the bedroom.

“Daria?” I prompted.

She sighed. “My vacation is canceled. I need to use my office for a few hours today, but then I’ll grab a hotel and be out of your hair.”

Very little of that sentence made sense, but I focused on the least logical part of it. “Why would you get a hotel?”

“Because I promised you two the house for a week.”

Was this her version of propriety, or…? I didn’t understand. “This isyourhome and it’s more than big enough for the three of us.:”

“I don’t—”

“He’s right.” Colin stopped her. “You let us stay here so we wouldn’t have to pay for a place to stay. It’s a little ridiculous for you to do so instead if you’re not leaving town.”

Daria twisted her mouth, tempting me with full, luscious lips. “My officeishere. It’s easier for me to keep working from it.”

“Issue resolved.” In a best-of-all-worlds kind of way, in my opinion. “Go. Work. We promise to be quiet.”

One corner of her mouth tugged up. “This means you’ll have to cancel whatever wild parties you had planned.” A hint of teasing slid into her voice.

Which meant she was already feeling a little better. Good. I gave an exaggerated sigh. “Damn. I guess I’d better start making calls. Telling everyone the fun is over.”

She let out a short laugh. “Seriously. This’ll sound weird, but thank you.”

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