Page 14 of Only for the Season

“Trust me. I’m saving you.”

I frown. “Saving me?”

He checks his watch. “I expect my brothers and their partners and children to arrive any minute.”

My brow wrinkles. “No one mentioned anything about swimming today at Thanksgiving yesterday.”

“Probably because my brothers think they’re clever and can sneak into my house.”

“Don’t you have security?”

“Anyway.” He motions to the door. “You should get out of here before someone cranks on the heat without realizing you’re in here.”

“But this is the only quiet place in the house.”

“Sorry. Stephanie has colic.”

I blow out a breath. “No, I’m sorry. You kindly allowed me to stay here and I’m complaining about the noise. I’m an ungrateful guest.”

“It’s fine.” He waves away my apology before sitting across from me. “Why are you working anyway? I thought you came to Smuggler’s Hideaway for a break?”

“I did.” I realize I’m scratching my neck and drop my hand.

He raises an eyebrow.

“Fine. I haven’t finished the coding on the Synq app yet.”

He rears back. “What? Synq is launching at the start of the year.”

“Yeah, I’m well aware.”

“Why are you working on the coding? We have a whole team of developers.” He holds up a hand before I can answer. “Never mind. I already know the answer. Mr. Control Freak strikes again.”

“As if you’re any better.”

“At least I’m not hiding in your sauna trying to code when I should be enjoying a long weekend off work.”

“It seemed logical when I came in here.”

“Everything seems logical in the middle of the night.” He stands. “Come on. Let’s get some coffee and figure out a solution.”

“There’s nothing to figure out. I need to finish the coding. End of story.”

He strolls out of the sauna and I chase after him. “Give me my laptop back.”

“After you’ve eaten breakfast.”

“Are you seriously holding my laptop hostage?”

“Wouldn’t be the first time.” He winks at me and I groan.

“Not fair. You can’t bring up stuff that happened in college.”

“Why not? It’s fun.”

“It wasn’t fun when I had to beg Professor Nightly to let me re-take the final.”

“You wouldn’t have had to re-take the final if you hadn’t locked me out of our dorm room.”