Page 77 of Marcus

“I just left yesterday,” she said, “and you miss me already?”

“How can I not?”

Cella bit her lower lip, murmuring, “Same.”

“Is Tiffany—”

“At her pre-K classes. I’m going to pick her up for lunch. I promised her those awful burgers she likes so much. Which means I’ll have to grab a second lunch for me, but whatever makes her happy.”

“Now that is unconditional love.”

Her laughter colored up the quiet office. “Something like that. So, over the next couple of weeks, I’m going to work on finalizing the details for the remaining rooms in the penthouse. The other rooms that need their flooring and painting will be finished next week—I’ll send over the details for the contractors so you can go in and check up, if you want to.”

“Sounds good to me. What kind of timeline are we looking at for everything to be finished?”

“Depends on these last couple of rooms; the playroom will be the one that’s going to take the longest, probably.”

“She’s going to love that, though,” he said.

Cella nodded. “I think so, and the kids, too.”

“Of course. Can’t forget those little monsters.”

“And I’ll make the trip to see the rooms that will be ready to finish in two weeks, just to give the okay. They could send pictures, but—”

“You want to come,” he interjected.

What was the point in lying?

“You do seem to make that trip worth it every time I make it, Marcus.”

His dark, husky laughter had a heat warming her cheeks, and while he didn’t know it, the sound alone was enough to make her shift in her seat to soothe the sudden ache between her thighs. Not that it helped.

Nothing but that man between her thighs helped with that. It was both a blessing and a curse, but not one Cella would complain about, honestly.

“I can’t convince you to come back sooner?” he asked. “Because I am sure you could get the same work done here that you do there.”

“You know I have other clients, right?”

“I do know this. You’re very much wanted everywhere you go, Cella. And while I might want you for other reasons than your clients do, that doesn’t change the fact I still want you.”

God.

This man.

“So,” he added, tone lowering to that sexy drawl she loved so much, “if there is literally anyway at all that I could possibly convince you to come sooner—say this weekend—then please let me know because I will happily make it happen.”

She wanted to say yes.

So badly.

Cella had every reason to agree, and without a doubt, Tiffany wouldn’t mind at all. In fact, for the entire drive home the day before, her daughter continued to ask when they would be going back to see Marcus again all the while holding her father’s pillow because she was so happy that he had managed to fix it for her.

Thing was, Cella felt like she had been neglecting the people she cared about here as well. The job in Toronto had taken a lot of time away from her other clients that she had already been working with before she agreed to take the penthouse contract on. So, she worked on her other contracts during the weekends and weeks when she wasn’t traveling.

When did that leave her time with her family?

Basically never.