Designed for Love by Erin Dutton

today.”
    “I’d hate to think I’m boring.”
    “Certainly not.”
    “Good. Come here.” Wil pulled a pillow onto her lap. She coaxed Jillian to lie down, then stroked her hair off her forehead.
    Jillian rested her cheek against Wil’s stomach and wrapped her arms around herself. She looked up at Wil and wondered how she’d come to feel so comfortable with her. From the moment they’d met, Jillian hadn’t been herself. Anyone who knew her would be shocked by the fact that she’d slept with Wil the second time she’d seen her. Not normally a physical person, Jillian found herself constantly inventing reasons to touch Wil, even casually. Now here she was letting Wil see her at her absolute worst. But it didn’t matter because Wil had taken care of her, made her feel secure, and though her head still throbbed, she felt better.
    Just then, she didn’t want to leave Redmond. But she needed to eventually—maybe sooner than she’d planned.
    “I got a call from a competing firm,” Jillian said. Her sluggish mind muddled through the offer again, but she knew she wasn’t in any shape to make a decision.
    Wil’s fingers paused in her hair. “And?”
    “He made me an offer I shouldn’t refuse.”
    “Don’t you mean can’t refuse?”
    “No. Shouldn’t.” It was a sweet deal. Only two weeks ago, the thought of going back to Cincinnati and helping them surpass her former employer would have inspired her bloodlust. Maybe when she was feeling better, thinking clearly, she wouldn’t dread taking the job. “It’s conditional. He wants me to start in three weeks.” She chuckled. “I think he’s afraid if he doesn’t get me signed on quickly, someone will make me a better offer.”
    “Is it a good firm?”
    “They’ve got a great reputation and are doing a lot of high-dollar development deals. There’s potential for me to make a ton of money.”
    “Sounds like a perfect fit for you.”
    “It is.” Jillian nodded slowly. Or it would have been two weeks ago.
    “I thought you were tired?” Concern darkened Wil’s eyes to the color of new denim.
    Jillian reached up and traced Wil’s jaw. “I am.”
    “So, sleep.” Wil’s fingers skated over Jillian’s brow, then she caught Jillian’s hand and held it.
    Turning on her side, Jillian cradled their joined hands against her chest and closed her eyes. “You’ll stay?” she murmured, though she was too drowsy to wait for Wil’s response.
     
    *
     
    “I need to pull your crew off the Sealy job.” Wil’s father didn’t wait for her to get settled in the chair across the desk from him before he broke the bad news.
    “For how long?” She sat slowly, not panicking. It wasn’t unheard of for a crew to be shifted for a day or two to help finish another project. Then if they kicked things up a notch, they could easily make up any time lost at Jillian’s.
    “A couple of weeks. Three at the most. Alton’s crew isn’t going to have the school renovation done in time. I need you to go over there and help them catch it up.” He twirled a pen in his fingers and with the other hand flipped through a stack of papers.
    “You’ve got be kidding.” Now she was panicking. “We’re on schedule. Jillian’s going to be pissed.”
    “We’ll have to give her a break on her rate or something. The school is one of our biggest accounts, and it’s got to be done before the new school year starts up.”
    “Dad, this just looks bad.” She understood the need to complete the school project. But they’d made a commitment to Jillian’s job, and Wil’s mind raced for a solution that would allow her to honor it.
    Her father sighed and threw the pen down on the desk in front of him. “I know. We’re overextended and this one got away from me. I’m going to have to do something about those lazy college boys on Alton’s crew. But for now we need to clean up their mess.”
    “Let’s split my crew. I’ll send Tracy and Patti to the school. If we work our