Free I’ll Be There by Samantha Chase

father thought it would be helpful for me to start working again and sent her here to help me get back into the swing of things.”
    â€œBy the lack of enthusiasm in your voice, I’d say you’re less than thrilled with the situation.”
    â€œThat’s the understatement of the year.”
    Alex sighed and thought for a minute. “We can go one of two ways—we can work your sessions into your work day. One session in the morning, one in the afternoon.”
    â€œWon’t it be inconvenient for you?”
    With a shrug, Alex said, “It’s my job. I don’t mind it at all.”
    â€œWhat’s option number two?”
    â€œI speak to your father and tell him you need to focus all of your time and energy on your rehab, and having your assistant here and being forced to work is hindering your progress.”
    â€œSo you’d lie to him?” Zach asked sarcastically.
    â€œSo it is a lie?” Alex shot back.
    Crap. Zach realized Alex had caught him admitting that having Gabriella around to get him working again wasn’t what was hindering his progress.
    But, amazingly, Alex didn’t push it. “If that’s what it would take to get you to commit to your therapy, then I’d do it.”
    The idea was beyond appealing to Zach. He’d be rid of Gabriella without looking like the bad guy and his family would be off his back because he was finally committing to his therapy. It was a win/win situation for him no matter how he looked at it.
    You’re a coward .
    Oh, yeah, then there was that. Every once in a while, his conscience came out to tell him he was running scared. He’d like to tell it to shove off, but Zach knew better. There was a lot of truth in that statement. Gabriella wasn’t the problem, per se, but she was definitely a distraction. A beautiful, sexy distraction. He groaned.
    â€œAre you in pain? Is something starting to bother you?” Alex asked as he stepped forward.
    â€œNo. Just thinking about…” He sighed. “Everything.”
    â€œAh. Like I said, we can go either way on this. I want to customize our time together for maximum benefit to you.”
    It would be so damn easy to tell Alex to call off the hounds and then he’d be left alone to just deal with his physical rehabilitation in his own way and in his own time. Alex seemed like a decent enough guy, and Zach felt they’d be able to work together without too much confrontation, but was that really what he wanted? Working with Gabriella and getting involved with the company again had invigorated him to an extent. Could he really just step back and let Ethan take over and then ask him to step down when Zach was ready to return full time? That just didn’t seem fair.
    None of this was easy. The only thing that stood out as a necessity was not having Gabriella in close proximity. As much as he knew there was never going to be anything between them—no matter how much he fantasized about it—Zach didn’t want her seeing him like this. He had to push her away. For his own sanity.
    For his own peace of mind.
    Looking over at Alex, Zach studied him for a long moment. “I’m normally a very good judge of character,” he began. “Don’t make me regret trusting you.”
    Alex grinned and pulled his iPad out of his bag. “Let’s get to work on getting you up your next mountain.”
    * * *
    Two hours later, Gabriella was back. She saw Alex’s car was still in the driveway so she kept herself busy setting up the next round of contracts and files for Zach’s approval as well as the video of the proposed new office space. When the task was completed, she did a quick cleanup of the living room and kitchen and even went so far as to take out the trash. When Alex and Zach still didn’t emerge, she settled in to answer emails on her laptop.
    Alex came into the living room some twenty minutes later. “We had