Page 19 of Overnight Inheritance

I want you to touch me.

He’d almost combusted on the spot when she’d said that. And now none of the figures on the spreadsheet made sense.

Instead of the working lunch he’d planned, they’d ordered sandwiches from a place that delivered and eaten at their desks. To keep her occupied, he’d told her to ask Rosario for any company files she wanted. The two women had carried some boxes of old files in, and Mae was also going through files on the company server. He’d had a meeting in the boardroom, but Mae had been absorbed in something she’d found, so she’d waved him away and kept reading.

It was annoying that she could concentrate on work so well when he was still consumed by their kiss.

Rosario came through and picked up a couple of packages off his desk that needed sending. “I’m heading out—I’ll see you both in the morning.”

Surprised, he glanced at the clock. Six o’clock. “I lost track of time in the spreadsheet.” Although he was lying about what had consumed his thoughts so much, he wondered if it was obvious to anyone else. “Thanks, Rosario. I’ll see you in the morning.”

After she left, he stretched his arms over his head in an effort to look casual. “I’m thinking of working late to make up for the time I lost this morning.” Another lie. Alfie was with his grandparents. The house would be empty, nothing to rush home for. And worst of all, the kitchen would be full of memories of Mae sitting on the counter, kissing him as though she would die if she didn’t. No one had ever kissed him with so much desperation.

Mae put the lid back on an open box and stood. “Have fun. I have somewhere I need to be.”

“Well, that sounds mysterious.” And, again, here he was, drowning in memories of their kiss while she seemed to be going about her day and evening, even going out to socialize.

She flashed him a smile, her dimples peeking out. “I’m dropping over to see my mother’s family.”

He frowned. For some reason, he only ever thought of her as a product of the Rutherford side of her family. “Did you know them growing up?”

“No,” she said, grabbing her satchel. “When my mother ran, she cut all ties. She never saw them again.”

Well, now he felt like a louse. Of course she wasn’t thinking of their kiss when she had this on her mind. He turned his computer screen away and leaned back in his chair. “Are you going for dinner?”

“Just a visit.” She picked up her coat and draped it over her arm. “Joseph Rutherford really screwed them over on a number of levels. The O’Donohue family lost their daughter and sister, but he also systematically harassed them after she left, just in case they knew something. Or maybe it was petty revenge—who knows?”

“As previously mentioned, I can attest to the fact that he was an asshole.”

She tipped her head in acknowledgment and leaned a hip on the corner of her desk. “So now Heath and I have inherited all this money, and we want to share it with them.”

He could imagine how well that had gone down. “Let me guess, they don’t want a cent of anything that Joseph owned?”

“That’s a big part of it, but they think of it as our money and say we should keep it.”

Large amounts of money affected people in different ways. Some were keen to share it, while others would throw their best friend under the bus to get their hands on it. Still others didn’t like to touch it. For them, small amounts were fine, but once large sums were mentioned, they took a big step back. And given their front-row view of Joseph Rutherford’s use of money, it probably wasn’t surprising that her mother’s family wanted nothing to do with it. Mae seemed confused by their reaction, though. “You see it differently?”

“It’s more than we can use, and the O’Donohues have suffered terribly because of Joseph. At the very least, we should be able to make some reparations with his money.” She lifted a hand, palm out.

It was a good justification. “You know, if he was still alive, they’d have the chance to sue him for stalking and harassment, so giving them a settlement seems very reasonable.”

“Easier said than done,” she said, rolling her eyes.

He rested his elbows on the chair’s armrests and steepled his fingers under his chin as he thought the problem through. “Do you have ideas about how to get them to accept it?”

“Not really. I was going to try logic again, but Heath has tried a few times already and it hasn’t worked so far. I said I’d take over trying.” She tucked some long, dark hair behind her ear. “One of the underhanded things Joseph did was buy the company that my grandparents and three of my uncles worked for. He did it so he could get reports on them from their managers—looking for suspicious vacations, etcetera. But that now means that Heath and I own that company. I’d be very happy to hand it over—”

“You can’t,” he said, interrupting her. “That would insult their pride. They don’t want a handout from their newly discovered grandchildren. They’ll want to give, not take.”

“That’s the same conclusion we came to, so we haven’t even offered it.” She looked so downcast that he felt compelled to fix this for her. Offer her something uncomplicated that she could accept.

“What if you took them on as consultants?” he said, sitting up straight. “Pay them for their expertise about the business.”

She fiddled with the strap of her bag. “Would that be enough money?”

“Some consultants get paid an exorbitant fee. The price can be the amount you want to give them, and then they have earned it, not been handed it.”

She turned to the window for a long moment before turning back to him again. “That could work. I don’t suppose...?”

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