Page 64 of Dr. CEO (The Doctors)

He looks me straight in the eye and all of a sudden, I feel his mouth on my neck, his thigh between my legs, his hands everywhere.

I pull in a breath and look away.

He chuckles, and I’m more than certain he knows exactly what’s going on in my brain.

“Speak to Michael and get him to put you in touch with my CFO in New York. I want to see if there’s a way of creating a charity we can donate that piece of land to. That will make the financials look healthier.”

“You’d donate that land?”

He grins. “Don’t think I’m going soft on you—it might be good for me. Planning approval will probably come easier if there’s an additional nod toward historical preservation of a sort. It also might mean more write-offs for the hotel. Speak to him and come back to me.”

“I will.”

“I’m not promising anything,” he warns.

I gather up my laptop and stand. “I know. But thank you for hearing me out.” He didn’t have to sit through this and take me seriously. He could have been irritated I refused to drop it. He has other things to focus on. But Vincent Cove is a good man. And I’m finally starting to understand how lucky I am to know him.

TWENTY-FIVE

Kate

I’d agreed to meet Vincent for an evening walk, and I know he’s going to ask me about Norfolk. I wish I had an answer for him—or rather, I wish I had the answer he wants.

I knock on Granny’s door and walk in. She’s sitting at her kitchen table, knitting.

“Hi, how was work?” she asks, smiling up at me.

“Shall I put the kettle on?”

“Sounds great.”

“How was dinner last night?” she asks as I turn on the cold tap.

“We had five courses,” I reply.

“Not quite what I was getting at.”

I pull in a breath, turn off the tap and then place the kettle in its holder and switch it on. “It was nice. I like him, but…”

Granny doesn’t ask me to elaborate. I pull two mugs from the cupboard and the green tea from the counter and set about making our drinks.

“He wants me to go with him to visit his family in Norfolk.”

She nods. She knows she can’t say, “How lovely, darling. When do you leave?”

“It’s nice of him to ask me,” I say.

“Very nice,” she agrees.

“But…it’s been a long time since I’ve gone that far away.”

“It has,” Granny says.

I know I’m a twenty-seven-year-old woman and traveling a couple of hours in a car is no big deal to most people my age, but it is to me.

“Part of me wants to go.” I like Vincent and I think it would be fun to spend more time with him. It would be nice to see him with his family again. “I just don’t think I can.”

“How long is he suggesting you go for?” Granny asks.

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