Total pages in book: 24
Estimated words: 22588 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 113(@200wpm)___ 90(@250wpm)___ 75(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 22588 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 113(@200wpm)___ 90(@250wpm)___ 75(@300wpm)
“Damn it, Anna-Beth, you don’t just keep giving your money away on hopeless causes. You must learn to invest money.”
“Why are you so dumb?”
“That is not how that works.”
“I’m so disappointed in you.”
“How can I trust you when you do this?”
That last one was because she helped an employee who had been unjustly fired, and she showed the woman what to do. She’d also provided the documentation for her to dispute her wrongful termination.
There might be a teeny, tiny problem her family didn’t know about. She didn’t test well, but she did have an amazing understanding of business law, seeing as she might have studied it. Or was it employment law?
Either way, Anna-Beth refused to be cruel. Her parents had placed her in the HR department as they thought she would do little damage there. She caused them too many headaches.
When people got in their way, they fired them, and it was wrong. Of course, those that did deserve to be let go, she didn’t dispute. The ones who were amazing at their jobs were able to stay. She wondered if any of the people she’d helped still had a job.
It had caused many stressful conversations around the dinner table. She didn’t care, as most of the people who worked there needed their jobs. She was more than willing to help.
Chapter Two
One Week Later
George stared out his office window at the lawn. It was gorgeous outside, and yet, his housekeeper was nowhere to be seen. He’d done this every single day, including Sunday, and Anna-Beth seemed to be avoiding him.
She had his breakfast ready for him in the morning. Lunch was delivered, usually when he was on a phone call, and she would eat her dinner and have his waiting for him. She didn’t spend any extra time with him, and he didn’t like it. He missed her, a lot.
He never thought he’d miss her weird yoga rituals, and dancing on the lawn. A week ago, when he had every intention of joining her in some mad dance-off, that smile had dropped from her face, and he felt like a cloud swamped his whole life. Now, he felt he had to sneak around his home to catch even a glimpse of her, and that sucked big time.
He checked the time, and knew it was getting close to lunch. He’d already called the office and gotten his assistant to change all of his appointments. There wasn’t going to be a single call to interrupt him through lunch.
George knew how insane this sounded, but what was more, he didn’t care. He was used to getting what he wanted, and right now he missed sharing a meal with Anna-Beth. She talked constantly and shared delightful stories of dogs and her time volunteering, sometimes of her growing up with nannies.
Anna-Beth seemed to have lived a different life than he and Malcolm. His friend spent a lot of time with his parents. As the firstborn son, Malcolm had been this welcoming beacon to his family. George had known how loved his friend had been—the son that would take over the company. At the dinners he attended, there was rarely mention of the sister.
Pulling out of his thoughts, he moved toward his desk and pretended to be working, while at the same time focused on the door opening. He wanted to see her. Craved it.
George sat back and ran a hand down his face, wondering what the hell he was doing. He’d never tried to manipulate a woman like this, and he didn’t quite like it.
I want to see her.
There was a light knock on the door before it opened, and there was no time to change what he had done. He watched as Anna-Beth stepped into his office. The moment she saw he wasn’t on the phone, she stopped.
“Happy lunchtime,” George said, getting to his feet. He did a stretch to pretend he hadn’t been standing by his window, looking for her.
He hadn’t been able to work all morning. Since it was his company, he didn’t give a fuck if some things arrived a little later.
“Would you like me to come back another time?” Anna-Beth asked.
“No, no, of course not. I’m starved. What’s for lunch?”
He moved away from his desk and took several steps toward one of his more comfortable chairs. As he did so, he moved past Anna-Beth and got the most intense scent of lemon. Fuck, he loved lemon. The scent of it always made his mouth water, and now Anna-Beth did as well.
He sat down, even as he felt his cock hardening. She was once again in a dress. This one fell to her knees, and the apron she wore over it seemed to curve all the way around her body, and she looked stunning. Every curve was on display, and he wanted her, unlike any other woman.