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)
I set the thought aside out of necessity and walk to security. After fifteen minutes of coordination, I’m just about to get on the elevator back upstairs when my cellphone rings with a new number that has my eyes going wide. Elijah Woodson is calling me. Elijah, who is a billionaire that I’ve all but groveled to, to get to invest with us. I step to the side of the elevator to avoid service interruption and answer. “Elijah,” I say. “How are you?”
“I hear you’re the future CEO over there.”
“That’s the buzz,” I say.
“That works for me.”
My heart starts to race. “As in, you’ll invest?”
“In you, yes. For the right project. Find it and make sure it’s really right, Carrie.”
“How much money are we talking?”
“How much are you going to convince me to give you?”
“It’s going to be a large sum.”
“That I better not lose. Send me a contract. I’ll be waiting.”
“Wait,” I say quickly. “Why now?”
“Because your father is gone.” He disconnects and my stomach knots. What was happening with my father that other people knew and I did not?
My stomach knots and I punch the elevator button. I need to set the personal part of this aside. I was just given a gift that makes that financial goal Reid set possible. I need to get the team working on prospects before I consider the implications of the negativity surrounding my father. The elevator doors open and I wait impatiently to arrive back on our floor. My destination is not left toward the lobby and my office, but right, where I enter the offices that house our sales team. Walking down a path between cubicles, I waste no time gathering my best half-dozen to the edge of their cubicles.
“I need your biggest plays for Elijah Woodson and I need them by tomorrow. The bigger, the better, and if you aren’t sure it’s the right project, get me facts and let me decide. Call the investors that know you. Get them interested in whatever we do with Elijah.”
“Hold the name back,” Reid says, stepping to my side, and glancing down at me, those blue eyes piercing mine. “There’s a development we need to discuss first.”
Anger boils inside me but I manage to contain it. I glance at the group. “Get to work. Get me your proposals by tomorrow.” I rotate and start walking.
Reid is instantly by my side, keeping pace but neither of us speak. I’m too angry. He’s too in control. We exit to the elevator banks. “Let’s go to my office,” he orders tightly.
“I’ll meet you there,” I reply without looking at him, aware that I need to cool off before I talk to this man. I cut to the stairwell and exit. I’ve barely made it inside and Reid is there, pressing me into a corner, his big body framing mine.
“Running again?”
I press my hand to his chest. “I’m not running. I’m sparing your life. You do not want to fight with me when I’m this angry. You say I have the chance to be CEO and yet you pull the rug out from under a huge deal I brought to the table. Me. Not you.”
“If you’d hear me out, you’d know your anger is misplaced.”
“My anger? Or my attraction to you that is completely misplaced? I must be a sadist.”
He tangles fingers in my hair. “Let me remind you what keeps you coming back for more.”
“Do not even think about kissing me.”
“Too late,” he says. “I’m always thinking about kissing you. I can’t change that. I’m done trying.”
“If you kiss me—”
His mouth closes down on mine.
Chapter eighteen
Carrie
Reid kisses me and I know I should resist. I’m furious with this man over the Elijah deal, and yet when his tongue strokes past my lips, I moan with the connection. In other words, I don’t resist. I lean into him, I savor the hunger I taste in him, and I tell myself he owes me this. And so I give myself just a few moments to be lost in this man when suddenly, he’s on his knees and my dress is gliding up my hips.
“What are you doing?” I demand, trying to catch his hands.
“Reminding you why you don’t say no.”
“You mean because I apparently like assholes? Anyone could come in here.”
His hand slides between my thighs, cupping my sex. “Then I’d better be fast.” And damn it, he rips my favorite panties off. I yelp with the force and the next minute, his mouth is on me and I try to resist the drugging effect, but the man is really good at this.
I moan, unable to stop the sound from sliding from my throat, and my head falls back against the wall while he licks and explores. He is without mercy, flicking my clit with his thumb while his tongue is delving in and out, over and around. His fingers slip inside me, stretching me, and traveling my sex. My breath rasps from my dry throat and I reach for him, my fingers tangling in his hair. I am not gentle. I want to punish him. He’s punishing me, showing me who owns who and I can’t stop it from happening.