Page 30 of The Boss's Forbidden Assistant

‘For thirty minutes?’

Harper swallowed. ‘I read to her. Scripts, books she used to love...anything. I just want to offer her some comfort, Salvador. Some hint of the woman she used to be.’

‘What’s her prognosis?’

She appreciated the question, because it was practical and it gave her a chance to blink away her tears and focus on the black-and-white medical situation. ‘No one knows. She could live for decades like this, with the right care.’

His eyes honed in on hers. ‘But that care is expensive.’

‘Yes.’ Her smile was wistful. ‘Very.’

‘You pay for it? There’s no husband—insurance?’

‘No and no.’

‘Your father?’

She shook her head. ‘Long gone. And, while mum was pretty successful, she was diagnosed with diabetes a little while after I was born, and it cost a fortune to buy her insulin and other meds, so her savings are pretty non-existent.’ Harper grimaced. ‘She managed to put a little away for me, over the years. For college.’

Salvador watched without speaking.

‘Then she had her stroke and the hospital bills mounted up...’

‘You used your tuition savings for hospital fees?’

She nodded. ‘Of course.’ There was determined pride in that answer, and she tilted her chin at him with a hint of defiance. ‘What else could I have done?’

‘Nothing,’ he agreed after a pause, but the admiration was difficult to miss. ‘What did you intend to study?’

‘Pre-law.’ Another pause, as she took a moment to wonder why she was being so forthcoming. But, much like their physical connection, it was difficult for Harper to control this. There was magic weaving around them, making her want to confide in Salvador, almost to bare her soul to him.

‘Had you applied anywhere?’

Heat flushed her cheeks as she nodded.

‘And been accepted?’

She nodded again.

‘Where?’

‘Georgetown. I got a scholarship place, but I couldn’t leave mum.’

Sympathy softened Salvador’s eyes and he flipped his hand to capture hers, the hand she hadn’t realised she was still holding, his eyes locked on Harper’s, a challenge in their depths.

‘Have you thought about applying for a position through the company?’

She shook her head. ‘I missed my opportunity, Salvador. I dealt with that a long time ago. This is what I do now, and I’m very, very good at it.’

He linked their fingers, and her pulse went haywire. What was he doing? Did he know how this was making her feel? Her stomach was in knots, looping like crazy.

‘Anyway,’ she said awkwardly. ‘I don’t know why I told you all that. I guess I suppose I just wanted you to know that... I understand...grief and loss and life not turning out how you wanted it to.’

‘Thank you.’

It was a funny thing to say and she smiled softly, then went to pull her hand away, but he didn’t release his grip and Harper didn’t fight. She surrendered to the contact, sighing a little, inching forward in her seat so their knees brushed beneath the table. Neither moved away.

The waiter came to take their orders. Harper’s heart was in her throat. Everything felt strange and uncertain, but the same hand at her back that seemed like that of fate or something more was pushing her now, so she heard herself say in a voice that was croaky and uneven, ‘I...would be happy to eat in the room.’

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