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“Are you all right, Jameson?”
“Sure, why wouldn’t I be?” he asked.
“You look tired. Are you getting enough sleep?”
He blinked at her. He wasn’t used to people asking him if he was all right.
“Pretty sure those are the questions I’m supposed to ask you, young lady.”
“I’m just worried about you. Who looks after you while you’re looking after everyone else?”
Hell. She was so sweet that he wanted to gather her into his lap and hug her tight. He wanted to kiss her. To claim her.
But she’s not yours.
Perhaps she could be, though. If you just took a chance. If you asked Ian and Jack if they’d take you back.
Fuck. Was that what he wanted?
“That’s really kind, sweetheart. But you shouldn’t worry about me. I see you got some new boots.”
Yeah, he was trying to deflect the conversation away from him.
“Huh? Oh yeah. Ian and Jack got them for me.”
“They did?” They’d been buying her a lot of things lately.
“I tried to tell them that they should take them back. That they shouldn’t be spending their money on me.”
“You tried to give them back?” he asked, surprised. Elizabeth had always expected him to pay for everything. And she’d never try to give a gift back unless she didn’t like it. “You don’t like them?”
“What? No! I love them. They’re wonderful. But I know they were expensive. Still, they said either I accepted them or they would give them to you for your birthday.” She giggled.
He shook his head. “Of course they did.”
“They’re very stubborn,” she said.
He cleared his throat. He needed to talk to her about her uncle while he had her alone.
“How long have you worked for your uncle?”
“A few years.” She was nibbling at her pizza and he felt the urge to pick it up and feed it to her. Hadn’t she said she was hungry? She’d taken a bite so quickly that she’d burned herself. So why was she only nibbling now?
“You’ve always been interested in photography?” he asked.
“No, not at all. Uncle Willy gave me this job because he felt sorry for me.”
Jameson frowned. “What? Why would he feel sorry for you?”
“I was jobless and living with my parents. I cut a pretty pathetic figure. But Uncle Willy has always taken care of me.”
Why couldn’t she get a job?
“I think I should be getting home. Uncle Willy will be worried about me.” She frowned slightly.
“Maggie, we need to talk some more about your uncle. Have you been thinking about his future care? When I asked if you had family help before you didn’t reply. This is a lot to take on alone.”
And he was worried about her.
