Billionaire Romance Boxed Set 2(31)

“It happened really fast,” I said, quickly. “It’s my boss. His name is Daniel.”

“At that…office supply place?”

“No, mom. That was years ago. I’m at a consumer electronics place now.”

They digested this for a moment.

“Well, at least he’ll be able to support you, then,” was my dad’s contribution.

“Yes,” my mom pitched in. “I always hoped you’d find someone who would be able to provide for you so that you could pursue your…art.”

I squeezed my eyes shut. “Thanks, mom. Listen, I have to go. I have a lot to do. But I’ll send you guys an invitation to the wedding, if you want to come. It’s not going to be a big deal, nothing too fancy, but Daniel can take care of your travel costs.” I knew there wasn’t a chance of them coming if they had to pay for it themselves.

“Oh…” said my dad, clearly searching for the right words. “No, honey, I don’t think I’ll be able to get away from work. And your mother’s not supposed to travel, you know, with her hip.”

“Yeah,” I said. “I just thought maybe…well, I’ll send you some pictures.”

“That’ll be very nice,” said my mom.

After I’d hung up, I was left with the distinct feeling I shouldn’t have bothered.#p#分页标题#e#

The next week went by in a blur. I was trying to tie up as many loose ends as I could, finishing projects, or at least getting them to the point where my replacement wouldn’t want to kill me. The H.R. department was taking interviews. I was trying not to think about leaving. As frustrating as my job could be sometimes, it was still going to be strange, not coming in here every day.

On Friday, my desk phone started ringing. Which was…odd. I picked it up.

“Hello?”

“Maddy, hi.” Daniel cleared his throat. “Could you, uh, step into my office, please?”

I could have sworn I heard someone talking in the background. I frowned slightly. “Is something wrong?”

“No, no, nothing’s wrong, just…can you come over here?”

“All right, fine.”

When I reached his office, the door was closed. This time I was sure I could hear voices in there.

“Go on in,” said Alice, from her desk in the hall. “They’re waiting for you.”

They?

I pushed the door open and walked inside.

Daniel was sitting behind his desk as usual, but there was a couple sitting in the chairs opposite him. They were surrounded by baggage on the floor around them. The woman had no sooner looked up than she jumped to her feet and ran over to me.

“Maddy!” she exclaimed, throwing her arms around me. I hugged her back, realizing this must be Daniel’s sister, but why on earth hadn’t he at least given me some advance notice before calling me in here to be ambushed?

She was laughing.

“I’m Lindsey,” she said. “Daniel’s sister. This is my husband, Ray.”

Ray waved, smiling politely. He looked like he wasn’t too terribly thrilled about the ambush, either.

“I’m sorry,” Lindsey said, not looking all that apologetic. “Our flight got in early and we couldn’t check into our hotel yet, so I decided we should come surprise Daniel. I wouldn’t let him warn you.”

“That love of surprising people runs in the family, huh?” I grinned at Daniel, who actually looked…embarrassed? Oh, this was going to be fun.

“What’s this?” Lindsey’s eyes darted between us, a conspiratorial smile on her face.

“Well, the other day…I thought I was going to pick up my car from the mechanic’s, and he’d bought me a completely new one,” I said.

Lindsey burst out laughing. “Seriously? Danny never was one for surprising people when we were growing up, I’m glad to hear he’s starting to see the fun.”

Danny?

This just kept getting better and better.

“We still need to settle in, obviously.” Lindsey’s eyes drifted to the bags on the floor. “But I hope you’re both free for dinner tonight. We’re taking you out to the nicest place in town.”

Daniel cleared his throat. “We were just there not too long ago,” he said. “I think we could use a little variety.”

Lindsey waved her hand in a dismissive gesture. “The second nicest place, then. Or the dive with the greasiest burgers, I couldn’t care less. I just want to get to know my new sister-in-law.”

“Greasy burgers sounds great, to be honest,” I said. “I’d love to eat someplace where I can wear jeans.”

“Perfect!” Lindsey went over and clasped Daniel on the shoulder, jostling him gently. He flinched a little, and then smiled. “What do you think, Danny? Jerry’s Grill? I bet it’s just like the one back home.”