Page 69 of Line Change

A knock on my doorframe a little while later has me pausing what I’m working on and smiling when I see Bash leaning against it.

“Hey,” he greets me, straightening and walking into my office.

“Hi.” I take him in—he’s dressed casually today in a pair of black shorts, a navy-blue shirt, and black tennis shoes.

“Ready for lunch?” he asks, dropping into the chair across from me.

“Give me two minutes to finish this,” I tell him, turning back to my monitor and skimming the email I’d all but finished to the social media team about an upcoming event. How this fell into my lap to deal with, I don’t know, but here we are. Finally, I hit Send. “All set.”

He rises to his feet as I lock my laptop, grab my purse and phone, and round the desk to where he’s standing. He reaches for me, and I step into his embrace.

“I missed you.”

I relax into him, kissing him. He runs his tongue along the seam of my mouth, and I open for him.

A throat clearing has us jumping apart, and my face heats up with being caught. Becca and Hadley stand in the doorway, both wearing shit-eating grins.

“We came to see if you wanted to grab lunch, but it appears you already have plans,” Hadley says.

“Hi, ladies. She does,” Bash says, wrapping his arm around me.

Becca’s smile widens as she clocks the move. I know I’ll be getting all the questions from them later.

“Well, we’ll leave you to it,” Becca says, stepping back. “Want me to close the door?”

“No, we were just leaving,” I tell her.

“Okay.” She winks.

I shake my head at her, although she’s already turned to leave. Bash’s body shakes with suppressed laughter, and I glare up at him.

“Sorry. Come on, let’s go eat.” He takes my hand and leads me out of my office.

Chapter twenty-five

Sebastian

“Hi, Mum,” I greet my mum when I pick up her video call the following Thursday afternoon.

“Hi, Bash. How’s that darling girlfriend of yours?”

“She’s fine. You can’t even be arsed to ask me how I am?”

She shakes her head, her ponytail swinging back and forth. “I was getting there. How are you?”

“Good. Good.”

“I’m sorry it’s taken me so long to call. It’s been busy. But Harriet mentioned hiring someone to run the farm, said you offered to pay.”

“Yep. What do you think?” I ask, my heart racing.

“I think it’s a great idea.” I exhale. “But I’m also thinking about selling some of the back acreage.”

“What?” I all but shout.

She holds up a hand. “Apparently, the farmer who owns the adjacent land is looking to expand. Harriet and John think he might also be interested in the southeast field.”

“Mum …” This is what I was hoping to avoid. This year it’s one lot, next year it’ll be another, and then pretty soon, we won’t have anything left. My family’s legacy will be gone.