Katee Robert - Make Me Need

Looking dazed, she took it and allowed him to guide her off the table. He finally managed to relax a little once her feet were both firmly on the floor. Trish gave him a suspicious look. “Why are you being so agreeable?”

“Contrary to what your brother thinks, I can see reason on occasion. I was worried about you falling again, and so I overreacted. But you’re right, I’m your boss.” He almost choked over the words—the reminder—but powered through. “Talking to an employee like that isn’t okay.”

“Exactly.” She still didn’t look convinced this wasn’t some kind of trick.

That made two of them.

Cameron...didn’t do this. He didn’t do interpersonal relationships. Too damn bad. Going to have to figure it out as you go, and it’s one hell of a learning curve. He didn’t move from his spot. “I respectfully request that you either hire out for the painting or wait until after hours when I can help you.”

Trish opened her mouth like she was going to snap back but seemed to consider. “It’s an unnecessary expense to hire such a small job out when I’m more than capable of handling it. For that matter, there’s no reason for you to take time away from your...whatever it is you do for leisure...to help me. I have it covered.”

She had it covered all the way to an ER visit with a broken arm. Or worse.

He met her gaze steadily. “When are you buying the paint?”

Cameron could almost see the gears whirling in her head as she tried to find a way out of this. He could have told her there was no way out. He wouldn’t let her paint this room by herself, and her little stunt this weekend had shown her hand—if she thought she could get away with it, she’d do it behind his back to avoid dealing with him.

If she was anyone else, he would have found her independence a relief. It meant he could focus on his job and let her do hers. But Trish wasn’t anyone else—she was Trish. He needed to keep her safe, even if that meant keeping her safe from working herself to the bone.

Finally, she sighed. “I’m going to pick it up after work.”

“Pick it up tomorrow.” He didn’t bother to keep the command out of his voice. If she went and got it after hours, she’d be right back here the second he wasn’t looking.

She’s not a wayward puppy, asshole. She’s a person.

Yes, she was. A person who had excellent work ethic and showed every evidence of being just as stubborn as her older brother—the same older brother Cameron would have to answer to if something happened to her. That was all. It was simple, really. Not in the least bit complicated. He certainly didn’t have any ulterior motives.

Trish narrowed her eyes. “You can’t tell me what to do after hours.”

“It concerns this job, so I sure as hell can. We’ll take a long lunch tomorrow and paint the damn boardroom. You can pick up the paint late morning beforehand.”

For a moment, it seemed like she’d keep arguing, but then she gave him a brilliant smile. “Sure thing, Mr. O’Clery.” Trish turned on her heel and marched out of the room.

Okay, that was definitely a trap.

TRISH ALMOST SAID to hell with it and bought the paint anyway. She got so far as to leave her apartment and start in the direction of the store... But common sense reared its ugly head. Cameron might have been kind of an ass with his command for her to wait, but he’d also apologized and he wasn’t being completely unreasonable with wanting to help. It might even be kind of nice for the job to go faster.

Honesty, Trish.

She huffed out a breath and turned in the opposite direction. “The honest truth is that I’m pissed that when he said we’d talk, he meant he’d treat me like a child instead of kissing me again.” She shot a look around her, half expecting Cameron to melt out of a nearby shadow and call her on her idiocy. There was only the normal foot traffic at this time in the early evening, and they were obviously all NYC natives, because they didn’t so much as blink at her talking to herself like a crazy person.

She grabbed dinner from the little Chinese place a few blocks down and carted it back to her apartment. Behind locked doors, she finally sighed. Okay, my pride was hurt. I let it get the best of me. We both agreed that the first kiss was a mistake that shouldn’t be repeated...but that doesn’t stop me from wanting a repeat.

The trilling of her phone drew her out of her thoughts. When Trish saw it was her mother, she almost deliberately missed the call. It had been a long day and she didn’t have the energy to reassure her mother—and through her mother, her father—that she was doing just fine in the big, scary city. She knew for a fact that Aaron hadn’t been subjected to these worried phone calls when he moved here.

She took a deep breath and put as much smile into her voice as she was capable of. “Hey, Mom.”

“Trish, there you are! I was worried when you didn’t pick up.”

That was her mother. The eternal worrier. She’d been born and raised in Lake Placid and had always harbored a hope that her daughters would do the same. Trish’s older sister, Mary, had followed that path. She’d married her high school sweetheart and settled in after college to become an elementary school teacher. Mary was practically perfect in every way. She didn’t keep her mother up at night, worrying herself to death.

No, that role had always fallen to Trish.

She kicked her cheerfulness up a notch—the only way to combat her mother’s concern when she got like that. “I was just about to sit down to dinner.”

“Dinner? Trish, it’s after seven. You haven’t been working this whole time! Aaron said that partner of his was a good boss, but if he’s got you working twelve-hour days, that’s abuse!” Her voice took on strident tones.

Trish repressed a sigh. “Mom, you’re getting worked up for no reason. I’m eating late because I stopped by Aaron’s to see my new niece and got distracted with her adorableness.” There’s no need to lead an army down here to haul me back home. An army of three—her mom, her dad and Mary—but no less fearsome for its numbers. Though her mom hadn’t been happy about her needing to move back home after college, she hadn’t exactly shed a tear to have her youngest daughter under their roof again. Now she was treating this move like Trish had left for college all over again.

And was just as helpless and out of her element as she’d been at eighteen.

“I worry about you. That city—”

“Mom.” If she didn’t do something drastic, her mother would end up on an hour-long spiel about all the ways she could get mugged or worse in New York. It didn’t matter that Trish had found an apartment crazy close to where she worked or that she’d pulled it from a list that Aaron himself had put together. New York City terrified their mother and she would spill that feeling over at every opportunity, whether she meant to or not.

Unless Trish distracted her, she’d be up all night running scenarios—each more terrifying than the last—and her mother would call tomorrow and be a total mess. She cast a longing look at her cooling Chinese food and resigned herself to a reheated meal. “Did Aaron send you the pictures he took of Summer? She was especially cute today. He says she can’t really smile yet, but I swear to God she was smiling at me.”

The distraction worked. Her mother went on to gush about how Aaron did a video call with her and the baby, and wasn’t his fiancée the sweetest thing, though goodness, they should be married by now if they’re having babies. Through it all, Trish’s mind wandered...right back to Cameron.