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"Sorry for keeping you away from work today."
"Hey, I wouldn't have missed the chance to celebrate with all of you for anything in the world."
I melt a little under the covers, giddy with happiness that we rank on the important part on Christopher's scale.
"Do you like your job?"
"Yeah. Sure, there are days when I get fed up with it, but that's normal."
"Why did you choose the operations side of the business?" I inquire, remembering he's Head of Operations at Bennett Enterprises.
"Funny story. My first internship at the company was in finance. My brother Logan is the CFO, and he took me under his wing, showed me the ropes. During my internship, the head of operations quit, and then two other employees left. They promptly replaced the head with someone else, but the department was in need of more people. As an intern, I became a jack of all trades. Whenever there was something to be fixed, I'd jump in and do it. They gave me the nickname ‘The Fixer.’ I liked it. It was dynamic, always kept me on my toes. Did I bore you to tears yet?"
"Not at all. I love hearing you talk about your job. How did you end up in Hong Kong?"
"We expanded in Asia, and we wanted someone from the family there. Max was in London, and I wanted an adventure so I relocated there."
"Why did you come back?"
He chuckles softly. "I missed my family. I love traveling, but it loses the appeal when you have no one to return home to. My family is big and meddling, and I missed them like crazy."
"That is the sweetest thing I've heard in a long time."
"And you are the first person outside of my family who didn't balk at it. People usually look at me like I've grown a second head when I say it."
"Possibly because I grew up in a big meddling family too. Though I'm starting to think mine isn't half as meddling as yours."
I understand where he's coming from. In college, I was one of the few who was actually ecstatic whenever parents came to visit, and I talked to them on the phone often. Even now in my day-to-day life, I'm always surprised when people seem to go out of their way to avoid their families, or to minimize contact as if the mere existence of an extended family is a chore. I'd give a limb to have my parents back.
"You're one hundred percent right, and to tell you the truth, when I was away, I even missed the meddling," he says.
"As you should. Sometimes it can be very helpful. Sometimes you can end up on a blind date with a douche."
"What?"
"Mom thought I didn't date enough, and that was her attempt to set me up."
"Your mother would have liked my sister Pippa."
"She dabbles in setting people up?"
"Not only dabbles, but she’s also successful. She had a hand in Sebastian’s and Logan's love lives, and Max's too. She's calmed down a notch now, even though I think that's the result of her kids keeping her busy. Every time Pippa questions me about my love life, I'm half expecting to walk into my apartment and find a naked woman in my bed."
"From one to ten, how likely is that to happen?" I ask before I can stop myself, a pit forming inside me as unease coils in my stomach. With a jolt, I recognize this feeling—jealousy. That's when I realize how deep into this I am.
"If I say eleven, does it increase my chances of finding you in my bed?"
"Christopher!" His name comes out of my mouth on a moan, and I hear him suck in a breath at the other end. Instinctively I press my thighs together, a familiar ache already forming between them.
"That came out wrong. I don't just want you in my bed. I want you in my life, Victoria. You're constantly on my mind."
"I don't know what to say."
"Here's a hint. If I'm not constantly on your mind, for the sake of this conversation, pretend I am. There's only so much heartbreak a man can take over the phone.”
His self-deprecating humor paints a smile on my face. He's more man than anyone I’ve dated, and infinitely kinder. Sure, it could all be an act. Men have faked interest in more than getting me in their bed before, and I've fallen for it, but Christopher is different. I can't be that far off base.
"You are on my mind, and I'm not pretending. It's just that after you left my house following your first training session with Lucas, I talked to the kids. Lucas and Chloe are afraid that I'll leave them if I fall in love and… I mean, in their world, dating automatically leads to marriage and children, and they're afraid I'll abandon them if I have my own children."
