Page 111 of Outlier

“Right. Boundaries, okay?”

I nodded.

“No more buying me stuff.”

“Hmm.” I bit my lip, thinking that the new industrial circular saw in his workshop might be a problem.

“I mean it, Vicky,” Mike told me, his voice intense as his hand came up to my jaw to lift my face and look into my eyes. “I want to look after you. Not the other way around.”

I frowned at him before I lowered my head to his bare chest, loving the feel of his skin under my cheek.

“You do look after me,” I whispered, listening to the strong beat of his heart under my ear. With perfect timing, the alarm on his phone went off. “You make me eggs just the way I like them.”

His low, rumbling laugh vibrated under my face. “Making eggs is not buying a van and a whole bloody house.”

“No, it’s more. It’s everything. It’s love.”

Epilogue

An overbearing, interfering pain in the arse?

Vicky

“Did I do something incorrect?”I asked Lottie as I stared at the typed letter she’d just handed me.

“Of course not, hun,” she said gently. “It’s just time for me to move on. You know I’ve completed my psychology degree now, and the next step whilst I train to work with children is going to take up far more of my time.”

I frowned. “I will double your income. Effective immediately.”

Lottie laughed. Clearly, she was not in tune with the grave seriousness of this situation. “Vics, babe, you’ve already doubled my income over the last two years. It’s not about the money.”

I shook my head in denial. “Well, I need you, so you simply cannot leave. I will not accept it.”

“You were fine when I was on maternity leave.”

“That was different. I knew it was a temporary arrangement.”

Lottie sighed. “Vics, you want me to be happy, don’t you?”

“Of course I do. You’re happy working for me.”

“I love working for you, hun. But I want to work with children. Help them overcome trauma, in the same way those counsellors helped Hayley. It’s my calling.”

“Ineed your help,” I grumbled.

“Victoria Mayweather,” Lottie said sharply, and I looked up from the letter to make eye contact with her. Lottie rarely used a sharp tone with me as she was well aware that I was sensitive to it, and she knew I disliked the formality of my full name. “You donotneed me.”

My eyebrows went up. “That is a lie, and I am extremely disappointed that you would attempt to deceive me.”

Lottie tilted her head to the side. “Why do you think you need me?”

I frowned at her. “To stop me going into hyperfocus mode, to stop me insulting people, to read the room for me, to help me discern if people are lying.”

“Okay, okay, the lying thing I get. Thatismy superpower. And Felix needs me as much as you do in that regard. I’ve promised that I’ll sit in on the occasional meeting where necessary, as being able to read the room does give you guys an advantage in business. But as for me stopping Vicky from being Vicky, quite frankly, that’s bullshit.”

“You swore.”

Lottie smiled at me. “I’m aware.”