me. I felt strange ditching my connection to the company, European and American-based offices, but when I reconnected with Alex during my late night and his afternoon, all was fine. In fact, we both determined it might work for me to have a few days of not being glued to a phone or computer. I could check-in during the evenings when I felt Avery was okay with me disappearing, and if there were anything important to handle, Alex would contact me on my other personal line. The line that wasn’t connected to my email or business.
God only knew how I’d handle this disconnect. I was a control freak with that company, and even though I knew that Alex could run it well, I had my concerns about pulling back like this. I didn’t honestly know why I felt compelled to take this time away from work. I wasn’t burnt out, but Avery had brought to my attention the fact that I was chained down by the phone whether I was inside the office or outside, and fuck it if she wasn’t right.
It was why I didn’t have a life. It’s why I had a driver take me everywhere, and it’s definitely why I wouldn’t be able to learn jack-shit else about this woman who seemed to lighten me up when I was around her. So, that was it. I was checking out, taking a mini-vacation, and actively trying to get to know this woman who’d captured my attention.
My morning sprint came to a halt when I spotted her, running on one of the hills. She seemed to stop at the same time I did, and we both jogged through the meadow of my hundred-plus acre estate.
“Did a ghost chase you out of the house?” I asked with a smile, catching my breath.
She laughed, leaning over on her knees. “Why would you ask that?” She turned her head up and squinted at me, smiling.
I loved her sexy, scratchy voice. “I believe it was you who called me a poor host to allow you to sleep alone in what you believed was a haunted room?”
She rose and laughed again. “That was the booze talking.”
“And to think, I almost fell for it and took advantage of you while under the influence.”
“Well, I wasn’t that drunk. I might have been half-serious in wanting more than just your badass cooking.”
Fuck me. “Don’t tempt me.” I smiled. “As I said, I hate to fail, and to fail in my new role as a host would piss me off.”
“You’re too much, Jim.”
“Seriously, though.” I looked around at the morning sun, spreading its light over the peaceful land. “What are you doing out at seven in the morning?”
“I was up at six, and I took off for a run if you couldn’t tell by the sight of me.” She looked around. “It could be the best morning run I’ve had in my life.”
“Looks like morning runs are another thing I’ll be sure to join you on.”
“Yeah, of course. I’d like that.”
“Here,” I said, leading us over to a walnut tree. “There’s nothing like experiencing a sunrise in the country.”
We sat next to a tree, and I reclined against it.
“So,” she said, not feeling ashamed to sit on the grass and dirt next to me. “I wonder what the history is with all this land. Like, if you could put on binoculars and travel back into time and see what was happening out in those fields.”
“Time-traveling binoculars?” I chuckled.
“Why not?” She shrugged. “You look through them and see what was taking place during a certain period in time.”
“Which time-period would you wish to look out and see on those lands?”
“They mentioned Henry the Eighth reigned in the 1500s; was he out here?”
I smiled. “Of all England’s history, you seem to be fascinated by the tyrant King Henry the Eighth, eh?”
“Well, I think he wasn’t horrible in the beginning,” she said. “He just turned awful at the end.”
“He wasn’t horrible before or after he sent his first wife away in shame?” I smirked.
“I’m looking through my historical binoculars,” she looked pointedly out to the lush hills. “It’s the year 1500 and Henry,” she pulled her lips up on one side and grinned—a grin so cute I wanted to capture it with my own lips, “sent his first wife away.”
“Very well, then.” I softly laughed. “Henry would have been young and fit, and since he enjoyed taking his court with him in his travels, he would have most likely been in