The Sweetest Gift - Scarlett Cole Page 0,34

a balm.

Georgia’s fingers ran along his sensitive skin, a steady caress that prolonged the peace.

“Thank you,” Georgia whispered against the crook of his neck.

He pressed a kiss to the side of her face, unable to find words.

An hour later, Lennon found himself seated across from Randall. Being a petty asshole, Lennon had still not forgiven Randall for the way he had stood beside his father instead of with Georgia when their father had sued her over the rights to her grandfather’s New York apartment.

Gia took the seat next to him but didn’t open the menu.

Randall straightened the collar of his preppy short-sleeved shirt. “Merry Christmas, you two.”

“Thanks, and to you. Where are Meredith and the kids? We brought their gifts,” Gia said.

Randall shrugged, and something about the action made Lennon uncomfortable. “I figured we could talk first.”

Lennon leaned forward. “About what?”

“I want to offer Georgia the Head of Neurology position I currently hold. I want you to replace me.”

Lennon’s stomach dropped, but Gia immediately placed her hand on his thigh, soothing him.

“What are the terms?” Gia asked. Randall grinned as if he saw something positive in her answer, but Lennon knew Georgia well enough to notice the slight shift in her posture. Her back was now perfectly straight. And she brushed her hair off her shoulders so it fell straight down her back like a waterfall, something she did when she was about to argue with him.

They listened as Randall reeled off a whole list of perks that beat her current position at Sick Kids. But the way Gia kept moving her jaw from side to side, ever so slightly, told Lennon everything he needed to know.

She wasn’t moving… He just didn’t know why not. Yet.

“That sounds impressive, doesn’t it, Babe?” He turned to look at her and grinned. When she looked up at him from beneath her eyelashes, he could tell she was up to something.

“It does, doesn’t it?” she said. “Almost too impressive. What’s the catch?”

Randall shook his head. “Catch?”

Lennon raised an eyebrow. On a scale of one to what-the-fuck-was-Gia-doing, he had no clue what she was up to.

Gia sighed and reached for Lennon’s hand beneath the white tablecloth of the restaurant. “I already know you’ve been tasked with finding your own replacement. I happen to know that you contacted one of my former colleagues for the role before me. So, why me? I’m definitely not your first choice.”

Randall leaned forward. “Honestly, you are really a year or two away from this job.”

Lennon coughed. “No, she’s not.”

Randall glared in his direction. “Because the drummer knows brain surgery.”

Lennon laughed, clearly the opposite reaction to what Randall wanted. “I know fuck all about brain surgery. But I know how good Gia is at what she does.”

“Boys,” Gia said, as the neighboring table looked over.

“What’s the catch?” Lennon asked.

Randall sat back in his chair and crossed his arms. “I’ve been offered a bigger role in New York. I’m willing to recommend you take my place in Atlanta, if you sell me the apartment in New York for fifteen million.”

“It’s worth at least twenty, and not for sale,” Lennon said.

“Neither am I. He knows it’s worth twenty. The five million discount is payment for fast-forwarding my career a couple of years,” Gia said. “I’m not going to buy my way into your job, Randall. And please, don’t even pretend to me that you want to live in the apartment. You complained about how cold it got in winter and hated the greenhouse. I’m sure this is a scheme by Dad to get his hands on it. You buy it for fifteen from me, he buys it for twenty from you. That’s how you get the five million out.”

Lennon could see the moment Randall realized how badly he’d misplayed the situation. “Gia. I’m not trying to buy you. And, Dad…he—”

“Stop.” Gia stood and Lennon immediately stood with her. “I’d love to see my nephews. I want to be a part of their lives. But I don’t know how to do that if it means I have to be around you. Good luck with the move to New York.”

Lennon followed her but then turned to face Randall. “My sister died when I was young, and I would give my other arm for her to still be a part of my life. Your sister is the most incredible woman, surgeon, lover, and sister-in-law to my brothers, and yet all you want to do is take advantage of her, belittle her, and force her out of