Billionaire Bosses Collection. Кэрол Мортимер

can’t just jet off whenever I feel like it. I have obligations.’ She jerked a thumb over her shoulder. ‘I can’t leave Mum and you know that.’

      His face fell. ‘I thought... Well, I hoped you might want to explore...a...relationship—’

      ‘On your terms?’

      Pain lanced her resolve, making her waver. Was she being too harsh? Was she annihilating any chance of a possible future of happiness?

      She shook her head. ‘If you’re so keen to explore what we have, why don’t you stick around? Stop running? Commit to something for once in your life?’

      A flash of anger sparked his eyes. ‘I’ve committed my life to being the best in the water—’

      ‘Yeah, but what about out of it? What about your family? You can’t bear to spend longer than a few days with them once a year. How the hell do you expect to maintain a relationship?’

      She knew what she was doing: deliberately sabotaging his attempt at a relationship. Fear clogged her throat at the thought of continuing what they had, growing closer, only to discover he hadn’t really changed after all and she’d end up pining and waiting for someone she couldn’t rely on. Been there, done that, still waiting for her dad to bring her the T-shirt as a present.

      She might have foolishly wished for a happily-ever-after with Archer this past week, but at the time she’d recognised her pie-in-the-sky dream for being just that. That was why she’d indulged in another week-long fling, confident of the end date.

      She’d never take the risk of a full-blown relationship knowing she was opening herself up to further heartbreak.

      ‘Just go.’

      She expected him to run as he always did. The fact that he was still standing there, a vein pulsing in his neck, shoulders rigid, only served to rile her further.

      What was he waiting for?

      ‘I’m not the one running scared this time, Callie. You are.’

      Sadness seeped through her, making her want to curl up in a corner and sleep for a century. ‘Shows how well you know me. I’m not running anywhere. I can’t.’ She jerked her head towards Nora. ‘And the fact you’d give me an air ticket expecting I’d follow you on a whim proves it.’

      Tears prickled at the backs of her eyes. She had to drive him away before she collapsed in a wailing heap in his arms.

      ‘You don’t know me and you never will.’

      When he didn’t flinch, didn’t move, her mum called out, ‘You should go, dear.’

      Callie did the only thing possible.

      She fled.

       CHAPTER TWELVE

      FOR the second time today Archer wanted to punch something.

      Frustration made his head ache as he watched Callie run away from him.

      Again.

      He should follow her, try to make her understand... His gaze landed on the crumpled plane ticket at his feet and his resolve hardened.

      He’d wanted to explore the spark they shared. She’d rejected him.

      Best to walk away and not look back.

      ‘Archer? Could you please come in here a minute?’

      Great, just what he needed. For her mum to berate him for messing up her daughter’s life.

      He snatched the ticket off the floor, jammed it into his pocket and entered the room.

      ‘I have a plane to catch—’

      ‘“Later” is what you said.’

      The woman before him might have a terminal disease which left her stoop-shouldered and shaky and fragile, but the determination in her intelligent eyes was pure Callie.

      He sat on the footstool opposite her wheelchair. ‘I’m not comfortable discussing my relationship with Callie.’

      ‘From what I overheard, seems like you’re not comfortable with a relationship period.’

      ‘Harsh.’

      Nora’s eyebrow rose. ‘But true?’

      When he opened his mouth to protest, she held up a trembling hand.

      ‘This is none of my business, but if you want a chance with my daughter I recommend you listen.’

      He remained mute.

      ‘Good. You want to know why Calista refused your offer?’

      He nodded.

      ‘She’s scared.’

      ‘Of?’

      ‘It’s not my place to tell you, but I think you need to ask her if you want a future together.’

      He let out a breath he’d been unaware he was holding, his fingers relaxing from where they’d dug into the footstool’s leather.

      Damn right he’d ask her. If Callie’s mum thought he still had a chance, no way would he waste it.

      ‘You might be interested to know that when Calista returned from Europe she was glowing. She had a bounce in her step, she smiled constantly, and she hummed Spanish tunes under her breath. Then I was diagnosed and her exuberance faded.’ Tears glittered in her eyes. ‘I hate this disease for doing that to my beautiful Callie.’

      Archer didn’t handle emotion well, tears least of all, and he sat there like an idiot, searching for the right thing to say and coming up empty.

      ‘Interestingly, when Calista came to see me last week, before her trip away with you, she had some of that old spark back. Which leads me to believe you were more responsible for her post-Europe glow than geography.’

      If acknowledging emotions wasn’t his forte, discussing them sent him into full-blown panic.

      ‘We shared something special.’

      The simple truth, and the right thing to say by Nora’s nod of approval.

      ‘My advice? If you want to share that same spark again, don’t give up. Go after her. Convince her how you feel. Make her trust you. Trust is everything to my little girl.’

      He knew the feeling.

      To his surprise, a lump wedged in his throat, and no matter how many times he swallowed he couldn’t dislodge it.

      ‘As for her fear of leaving me in case I die—don’t worry. I’ll fix that.’ Nora’s smile turned wicked. ‘If she doesn’t spend some of her time on the road with you I’ll threaten to live out my time in the smelly nursing home up the road—the one with roaches the size of rodents—and donate the exorbitant fees she pays for me to stay here to the lost dogs’ home.’

      The lump of emotion in his throat eased, and his admiration for this feisty woman skyrocketed. ‘I’m glad you’re on my side.’

      She pointed a bony finger at him. ‘I’m only on your side because I can see you’re head over heels in love with my daughter. Hurt her—you die.’

      He laughed. ‘Got the message, loud and clear.’ He stood and ducked down to kiss her cheek. ‘Thanks.’

      A faint pink stained her cheeks. ‘I may not be around much longer, but while I’m here I’m going to be the best damned mother-in-law you could ever wish for.’

      It took him a good sixty seconds to process what she’d said, and by then he’d reached his car.

      Him? Head over heels in love? What were the chances?

      As for a mother-in-law...that involved marriage...

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