Total pages in book: 105
Estimated words: 98398 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 492(@200wpm)___ 394(@250wpm)___ 328(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 98398 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 492(@200wpm)___ 394(@250wpm)___ 328(@300wpm)
Who was I kidding?
I wasn’t the one in control. Never had been. I could fight it all I liked. I could talk back and try to walk away but in the end, Harrison was the one in control. And worse, he not only knew it, but he also knew how much I secretly loved it.
I swallowed as I pretended to make a note on my pad. “Are the files behind me?”
“No.”
“Are there any files?”
“No.”
I tried to suck air into my tight lungs. The silence stretched out.
He sighed. “If you don’t turn around, I’ll have no choice but to assume it’s because you want me to push you face down on my desk and fuck you from behind.”
I turned around so quickly I got a head rush.
The corner of his mouth lifted. “Good girl.”
I opened my mouth but he stopped me.
He placed a finger under my chin and lifted my head up. “I have no doubt that feverishly intelligent brain of yours has been turning over every filthy moment from last night and the day before.”
I bit my lower lip, the blush in my cheeks spreading over my neck.
He continued. “And I look forward to the naked mock trial we will be having later tonight when I will successfully refute all your arguments and accusations.”
Naked mock trial? My inner thighs clenched at visions of him cross-examining me with a belt in his hand. I flushed hotter.
“In the meantime, I have several meetings I need to attend. You have two days’ worth of work to catch up on. I will be back late but I expect to find you still here. We’ll review your work and then leave together. Is that understood?”
All I could do was nod like an obedient child.
He kissed me on the forehead before grabbing his leather laptop satchel and coat and leaving. Opening his office door, he threw out, “My black card is in your center drawer. Use it for lunch and dinner. Do not leave this building.”
I bristled at his high-handed order.
As if reading my mind, he paused. “Don’t defy me on this, Eddie, or there will be consequences.”
With that, he was gone.
Well, good morning to you too.
CHAPTER 22
EDDIE
I hadn’t been planning on leaving, but there was a big difference between it being my decision or his.
With an indignant huff, I returned to my desk, muttering about arrogant, domineering bosses who ordered people around.
I lost myself in my work, just shutting out absolutely everything that was happening with Harrison, with the apartment, with my new outlook on what I did and didn’t deserve—all of it.
I turned it all off and focused on my work so intently that I didn’t notice when someone was hovering over my desk until an envelope dropped onto the top of the stack of papers I was working on.
I looked up to see Evil Barbie from the day before yesterday.
“Can I help you?” I asked.
“Yes, you can do your job,” she said with her hands on her hips like she was scolding a small child. “Once Harrison and I are married, I’m going to insist that he get a better secretary.”
“I’m not a secretary.” I smiled up at her. “His secretary is on vacation. I’m a paralegal.”
“As if there’s any difference.” she said, waving off anything I said. “Look, I need you to do something. I don’t care if you think it’s beneath you since I’m just the fiancée, but you need to do it, or I will get you fired.”
I hated this woman with everything I had, but I knew it would be much faster just to smile and agree to whatever it was that she was here for.
“How can I help you, ma’am?”
I may have added the “ma’am” just to annoy her, and with the way her puffed-up Botox lips twisted into a snarl, I knew it worked.
It may have been petty, but I enjoyed the little hint of vindication I got from getting on her nerves. It was catty and a bit mean, especially since I was the woman sleeping with her fiancé, but I never said I was perfect, and I certainly didn’t pretend to be.
“I need to speak to my fiancé.”
“Mr. Astrid is in a meeting.”
“I don’t care if he’s in a meeting. Go get him.”
“I’m afraid Mr. Astrid is not in the building. He took a meeting somewhere else, and I don’t know where he is.”
“How can you not know where he is?”
“Because,” I said evenly and slowly as if speaking to a child. “I am not his secretary, nor am I his mother. Have you tried calling his phone?”
“It’s your job to know where he is.” She stomped her probably ridiculously expensive stiletto at me.
“It really isn’t,” I said.
“Well, I’m not leaving until you tell me where he is. I don’t know why you think you get to keep my fiancé from me. Who do you even think you are? I don’t care if you’re his secretary or his paralegal or whatever. I’m going to be his wife. That means I will always be more important because unlike you, I’m good enough for him. You are probably just some little charity case he’s taking pity on.”