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)
“Oh, so you do have a favorite color?”
“At the moment, green, but not just any green, the deep emerald that’s still so impossibly bright it looks like it cannot possibly be real.”
The way he was staring into my eyes, I knew he was looking at them, looking at me. Just the color of my eyes had such an impact that he’d noticed. It wasn’t my legs, it wasn’t my breasts, it wasn’t even the Cupid’s bow of my lip that he found attractive. It was the color of my eyes.
“You test my control. Do you know that, Eddie?”
I shook my head.
“I am a man of my word, and I said I wouldn’t touch you again, but you test my control.”
The way he was looking at me, the way he made me feel, I couldn’t remember why being with him was a bad idea. How could anything that felt this right be bad?
“What if I didn’t want you to keep that promise? What if those words were said out of anger and self-preservation, and I didn’t mean them?”
“Eddie.” He said my name like a prayer and leaned in like he was going to kiss me again. I wanted him to kiss me. I desperately wanted to feel the press of his lips on mine again.
“Harrison!” A shrill voice came from the bullpen.
We looked through the door and watched his mother and fiancée, both dressed in formal gowns, marching toward his office.
CHAPTER 27
HARRISON
I jumped away from Eddie the second I saw my mother in a formal gown stomping toward my office, with Catherine a few steps behind.
The way the two women glared at me like I had committed some great offense, like turning down a Birkin bag or burning vintage Prada, made me realize I must have forgotten something.
“I think I should go,” Eddie said.
“Yes, quick, run, save yourself,” I said under my breath. She looked at me with the top corner of her lips curling into a smirk.
“You, trampy little secretary, leave immediately,” my mother said, scowling at her.
I stared at my mother, not wanting to give her the impression she had any control in my office. “Apologize.”
Mary’s lips twisted into a grimace. “I’m not apologizing to the staff!”
Eddie struggled to hold the misaligned pile of files and potential trial exhibits in her arms while also reaching for her pen and cell phone. “It’s not necessary.”
I crossed my arms over my chest. “I disagree. Apologize, Mother, or I’ll have you thrown out.”
Mary’s eyes widened.
The room was filled with tense silence for several heartbeats.
Then with an indignant huff and a dismissive twist of her wrist, Mary grumbled. “Sorry, whatever your name is, I didn’t mean to offend your sensitive blue-collar morals.”
I rubbed my eyes as I muttered to Eddie, “That’s as good as it will get.”
“Honestly, Harrison, it’s fine. If you don’t mind, it’s late, and I’m not going to be any more use to you tonight. Do you mind if we pick this up in the morning?”
I knew the question was purely for my mother’s benefit, putting me in a better position of power while still letting her escape whatever chiffon terror was about to go down in this room.
“Okay, get some rest. I’ll see you in the morning, Eddie,” I said.
She called down to the driver as she scurried out the door, pressing herself to the wall to avoid touching Mary and Catherine, who didn’t move to make way for her at all.
Catherine sneered at her as she overtly looked Eddie up and down, then called out to her retreating back. “Harrison? That’s Mr. Astrid to you.”
“What brings you to my office so late?” I interrupted.
“You were supposed to be at the Astrid Foundation Ball hours ago.” My mother stomped her foot and put her hands on her hips.
“I don’t recall RSVPing to any events,” I said. “I have work to do that benefits the people here.”
“You don’t RSVP to an event your family is hosting,” she said between clenched teeth. “Your secretary should have reminded you of your obligation. This was supposed to be one of the outings to further cement you and Catherine as a couple in the public’s eye. Have you even bothered looking at the wedding invitations yet?”
“My secretary is on vacation, and I choose not to have a temp replace her,” I said as I moved back to my desk and started separating the folders. Some would need to be on Eddie’s desk in the morning. Others I would handle myself.
I made a mental note to grab an air-gapped computer. We couldn’t risk it ever connecting to the internet, but maybe it would be better if we could use it to organize files digitally and store them on a hard drive. She was right. Doing this all old school was tedious, and the risk of losing a paper in the wrong file was a little too real.