Total pages in book: 67
Estimated words: 65489 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 327(@200wpm)___ 262(@250wpm)___ 218(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 65489 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 327(@200wpm)___ 262(@250wpm)___ 218(@300wpm)
Carter snorted. “True for you. No one wants to wait long to get back in your good graces.”
I smiled. “I’m charming. What can I say?”
Ford shook his head. “In all seriousness, is this a good move?”
“You know me. Once I make a decision, I stick with it. No regrets, no looking back.”
“As annoyed as I am by this decision, I have to stand by that policy,” Carter said.
Worth was clearly enjoying our debate. “You could just fuck off from all of it and borrow my yacht for a while.”
“A while? Does that mean you’re going to be in town for more than a week or so?” That was as long as he’s been back for over six months.
Worth sighed. “I told you, my mother is on my ass. So, I’ll be staying in town for a while.”
Ford scoffed. “Don’t worry, he’s prepared. He’s already called up several of his fuck buddies. He wouldn’t want to have to go at night without.”
Carter grinned when I rolled me eyes. Worth was nothing if not predictable. I liked to enjoy myself, and I had my share of lovers. I access to men or women whenever I might want them, but I didn’t need or want someone in my bed every single night. Sometimes I wanted privacy or just a good night’s sleep.
We spent the rest of the evening talking about Worth’s situation with his family and what was expected of him while he was in town, as well as teasing Ford about a guy—a very straight guy —in his tennis league that he was crushing on. We commiserated, and I hoped to hell he wasn’t going to try to push the situation. Ford was the only one of us who really longed for someone who would be there for the long term, but this guy wasn’t it.
Carter didn’t say much. He’d always been the least talkative of the group, but since he left the SEALs, he’d been even quieter than usual. I knew he’d been through hell during his last tour of duty, and I’d never understood why he hadn’t gotten out sooner. It wasn’t like he didn’t have choices. Maybe one day he’d be ready to talk about it.
Around 1 AM, I set down another empty glass. I didn’t want to think about how many had come before it. “I’ve got to call it a night.”
Worth chuckled. “I guess you’ve got to get all your beauty sleep to get ready for your new assistant.”
“Something like that, but he won’t start until Wednesday.” The truth was I was going to be lucky to get two or three hours at this point. I needed to go through the financials I’d been sent and some other paperwork. Only Ford knew that we’d had our worst quarter in years. Hiring Ben was even more risky than I’d let on to the others. The company would start to suffer if we had another big loss, and any proprietary information being leaked—which I was sure was his family’s objective—would be especially bad for our stock prices. I’d be fine if I had to sell off some divisions, but I took the company’s success very personally.
5
BEN
I checked myself in the mirror one final time. Was a white shirt too stark with a blue suit? Was the tie too trendy or did it give me the fashionable look I was going for so I didn’t just fade into the background of an office full of men and women in suits?
I glanced at my watch. It would have to do. I needed to get going. I had every intention of being there well before eight o’clock on my first day. I wanted to have a chance to look over my work area before getting started. I gave my dopey orange cat, Felix, a final belly rub and told him to be a good boy while I was gone.
I had no idea how the day would go. I assumed someone—his previous assistant maybe—would train me. But I was a little worried Mr. Montgomery would expect me to magically know what he wanted. In any other workplace that would be laughable, but nothing was ordinary about this job or the man in charge.
Thankfully, the subway ride went as smoothly as possible, and I arrived at the building by seven forty. The concierge greeted me by name and called the executive elevator without my needing to ask. I was prepared for the fast ride this time. When the doors slid open, I saw Mr. Montgomery in the lobby talking with another man who was almost as gorgeous, though in more of a hot professor kind of way. Mr. Montgomery’s suit jacket was off, and his hair was still wet from the shower. It was all I could do not to swoon.
Do not look at his ass.