Total pages in book: 70
Estimated words: 73091 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 365(@200wpm)___ 292(@250wpm)___ 244(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 73091 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 365(@200wpm)___ 292(@250wpm)___ 244(@300wpm)
I didn’t have an assistant because I didn’t actually work here. This was a meeting to discuss the fallout from our father’s murder.
I stayed quiet in these meetings. Right now, though, I was nursing a huge hard-on for the hottie with light-brown ponytail. She looked adorably uncomfortable in her suit and stilettos. This was a girl who preferred yoga pants and tank tops, I could tell.
Her cheeks were painted a rosy pink that was natural, not the product of makeup. She had a fresh look that I found very inspiring. Most of her features, by themselves, were merely average—average-sized eyes, average nose, average chin, average light-brown hair. But her fine bone structure took all those average parts and put them together in a uniquely beautiful way, drawing attention to the silvery radiance of her irises. I could make her image come alive on canvas. Show the world what true beauty was, for she shined beauty not just from the outside, but from the inside as well. Through her appreciation of the finer things in life.
She appreciated art, and by only knowing that about her, I already knew so much.
She probably appreciated music, gourmet food, fine wine…
I wanted to know.
I wanted to get inside her head and find out everything about Miss Charlene Waters.
Shit. She was a “miss,” wasn’t she? Luckily, she was holding her phone and typing into it as Lacey spoke, so I discreetly checked out her left hand. No wedding ring.
Thank God.
Not that I was interested.
Except that I was.
I was so bad with women, and getting involved with someone who worked for the company wasn’t the smartest path.
But damn. I wanted this woman. Right here. Right now. If I could grab her and fuck her right on the oblong conference room table, I would.
How to approach her?
Easy. She admired my work. She liked art. I could take her to the Met. Of course, an art lover like her had probably been there numerous times. I could take her to one of my showings. Or I could take her to my private studio and show her what I was currently working on. Afterward, we could have some wine and cheese at a small tavern.
I held back a scoff. To do any of this, I’d have to ask her.
That was the part I sucked at.
Sure, it was fine to talk to a stranger in the lobby about one of my paintings.
But a woman I was interested in?
That didn’t come easy to me.
Not that any of this mattered.
It couldn’t happen for one important reason.
My own mind prevented me from getting involved with anyone seriously. I was a mess, for I held a secret darker and more hidden than anything my painting showed to the most noted art connoisseur. A secret trapped in my subconscious.
And the key she’d been looking for?
It didn’t exist.
3
Charlie
I forced myself to type rapidly into my phone. If only I’d brought my tablet today. Lacey said the company would supply one but I hadn’t gotten it yet. My skin was icy and my pulse in overdrive just from the nearness of Roy Wolfe.
No. Must concentrate.
Failing to document even a few seconds of this important discussion wouldn’t bode well for my first day on the job.
I typed furiously, capturing every detail. The information went in and out of my head so quickly I barely knew what I was typing. I stayed quiet. My job here was to be the conduit of information.
“Charlie?”
I nearly typed “Charlie” before I realized Lacey was addressing me.
I looked up. “Yeah?”
“Could you go down to the lobby? Our lunch is on the way, but they won’t come up here.”
Not even for the Wolfes? Surprising. “Yeah. Sure.” Lunchtime already? We’d started at ten. Had I truly been taking notes for two hours? I rose.
“I’ll go with her.” Jarrod stood. “She may need help carrying everything.”
“Good idea,” Rock said. “Thanks, Jarrod.”
“No problem.”
“Crap,” Rock continued. “Wait. I need you for something else. Terrence, can you go?”
Roy stood then. “I’ll go.”
My body erupted in quivers. I tamped them down as well as I could.
“Okay, that’ll work,” Reid said. “We’re officially on our lunchbreak. No business until Roy and Charlie get back.”
“You mean no business until after lunch,” Rock said. “You’re not dragging me into your ‘I’m too busy to take time off to eat’ thing.”
“That’s why we order in, Rock,” Reid said. “So we can continue working.”
“Well, fuck that.” Rock loosened his tie. “We’ll go out, then.”
“The food has already been ordered,” Lacey reminded him. “That’s why Charlie and Roy are going downstairs.”
“We’re still taking a solid hour for lunch.” Rock eyed Reid. “You need to learn how to take some time for yourself, bro.”
I stood there, mesmerized by the dynamic. Rock, the reluctant CEO, a biker from Montana in the position only because his dead father’s will mandated it. Reid, the youngest brother who’d been groomed to take over but relegated to second fiddle.