Total pages in book: 224
Estimated words: 215705 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1079(@200wpm)___ 863(@250wpm)___ 719(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 215705 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1079(@200wpm)___ 863(@250wpm)___ 719(@300wpm)
Reid nuzzles my neck. “Trust me, baby. I’ll handle it.” He strokes my hair. “Sleep. I got you and us.”
I believe him, so I do. I sleep, and I sleep like a baby. No. I sleep like a woman in love and in her future husband’s arms.
Seven days later…
Japan draws Reid and I closer. We work well together. We do the good cop-bad cop routine perfectly, and I feel that I soften him at the right times, and he hardens me at moments when I am not hard enough. We are so good together that we finish up in Japan sooner than expected. It’s nearly nine at night Japan time and Reid and I are eating room service in bed with our bags packed for the next morning.
“Wedding,” Reid says. “We still haven’t picked a date or a location.”
“We’ve picked about ten dates and locations,” I laugh. “That’s the problem. I don’t want Valentine’s Day. It’s too everyone else. Maybe we should do St. Patrick’s Day and dress our cat and dog up in green.”
He laughs. “Only you could get me to dress a cat and dog up.”
“Is that a yes on St. Patrick’s Day?”
“Only if we have green beer and champagne.” His cellphone rings and he grabs it from the nightstand, answering it the minute he sees the number. “Right,” he says, after listening for a moment. “That works. Yes, see you then.” He disconnects.
“Already booked when we return,” I say. “I’m sure Gabe is feeling your absence.”
“Actually, that was for you and me. We have a board meeting the day after tomorrow and you are officially going to be the CEO of West Industries.”
“Oh.”
“Oh? I thought you’d be happy.”
“I am, but you know, I think I need your asshole-ness around. We’re a good team.”
“I’ll always be right here, baby.”
“I know, but I mean West needs you.”
“You’re not giving yourself enough credit.”
“I am,” I say. “I’m good at what I do and what I do is not what you do. I’m not cold-hearted.”
“And that’s an insult or a compliment?”
“A compliment. You do business without emotion. Maybe—could we propose merging West and Maxwell?”
“Do you know the hell our fathers will give us?”
“I don’t think mine will now. And yours—he’ll really feel like he beat my father.”
He sets the food tray on the nightstand and drags me to him, pulling us down side by side, facing each other. “Are you sure want to do this?”
“Yes, I love this idea, but can we sell your brother and the board on it?”
“We just made everyone a shit ton of money together. So, yes, we can sell it.”
“Then a marriage of two families and two companies, and you and me. It’s official.”
He rolls me to my back. “It’s official. We will be one in all ways. I hope you don’t need to sleep tonight.”
“I can sleep on the plane,” I say, and with that, his mouth closes down on mine, and we indeed do not sleep until the wee hours of the morning.
Reid
Carrie and I have just settled into our first class seats the next morning when my phone rings. “My sister,” I tell Carrie, answering the line. “Cat, you never call me. Is something wrong?”
“See that’s what’s wrong,” she says. “That you think if I call you something is wrong. We have to fix that, Reid. Once and for all.”
Carrie is looking at me with fear in her eyes and I cover the phone. “Everything is fine.”
“Oh, good,” she breathes out, sinking into her seat again and it hits me that I have this woman to share every moment, every fear, and every joy with and I like it. “You’re right, Cat,” I say, recognizing that Cat too, is a part of that equation.
“You didn’t even call me after you gave her the ring. You did give her the ring, right?”
“Yes. I did. And now we just need a date and location.”
“Oh yay! I’m so happy for you. I love her and you, but seriously. Why didn’t you call me? Never mind. We’re going to get past this because I just feel like there’s more to us and why we’ve been wrong than I know. There is, right?”
“Yes,” I say, my gut tightening. “But it’s not about you. It’s about me. It’s about something that happened.”
“Bad?”
“Yeah, sis. Pretty bad.”
“Then that’s all you have to say. I know you enough to know if you say bad, it’s horrific. Anyway. We want you two to come to dinner Friday night. Gabe is coming, too.”
“We’ll be there.”
“Good. With the ring on her hand. Safe travels. Tell Carrie I said hi.” She disconnects and I sit there a moment.
Carrie’s hand comes down on my leg. “Reid?”
I look at her. “She helped me pick the ring and I didn’t call her after I gave it to you. I’m a real ass.”