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)
“Tomorrow,” Reid says to whoever he’s talking to. “No, Gabe. I’m not dealing with this tonight. Tomorrow. I’m hanging up now.” I sense rather than know that he does just that, and in a few beats, he is standing beside me, his hand stroking down my hair.
“Problem?” I ask, glancing over at him.
“My fucking brother is always a problem.”
“Gabe?” I ask, turning to face him.
“Yes Gabe. He has no limits. Not where I’m concerned.”
“It’s just him and a sister, right? You don’t have any other siblings?”
“We have a younger brother, who lives in Texas. He’s also completely removed from the family business. He’s a civil engineer which is a blessing. Gabe manages to be a pain in my ass enough as it is.” He pulls me to him, hands shackling my waist. “Forget Gabe. What were you thinking when I just joined you?”
“I don’t think I’ll share that,” I say, my hand settling on his chest.
“Why?”
“It’s my own personal baggage. It’s not for you, Reid.”
“What if I want it to be?”
“But you don’t. You just think you do because we’re in the moment. Tomorrow changes everything.”
“We had this discussion. Tomorrow changes nothing. What were you thinking?”
“I love your view, Reid,” I say.
He narrows his eyes at me. “And you’re comparing my view to yours?”
“Yes,” not sure how he reads me this easily but maybe that’s part of how he’s made so much money, and he’s under forty. He’s a good poker player. He reads people.
“I have years on you, baby. You know that, right?”
“Yes. I do. I know.”
His hand goes to my face and he tilts my gaze to his. “You don’t have to sell your apartment. You aren’t going to lose your job. We’re going to make a lot of money together.”
“I really hate that you had me investigated.”
“It was before we were personal. You know that, too.”
“That doesn’t mean I like it.”
“You aren’t selling your apartment.”
“I am, and I’ll buy another later,” I say, “more like this one.”
“I’ll make your apartment part of the deal when they sign you as CEO. We’ll pay it off.”
“No,” I say immediately. “No, I’m not some sort of kept woman, Reid. I will earn what I get.”
“Kept woman? The board will award it to you and you take every perk you can get. You think that you won’t be earning it?”
“I think you’ll earn it. I think you’ll make it happen. You thought I betrayed you tonight for a reason.”
“What does that mean, Carrie?”
“You know what it means. I had the chance to sweep control and I didn’t take it, but you would have and that’s why you have this apartment and I’m selling mine.”
“You’re seeing this with the wrong eyes.”
“Exactly,” I say. “If you were me, would you have taken it?”
His expression hardens. “Not with you.”
“But with someone else?”
“Not with you.”
The doorbell rings. “That’s our food.” He kisses me. “We’re doing this together for a reason. I can’t do it without you. I’ll teach you how to swim with the sharks and win. And no, you don’t have to be as brutal as I am.”
“Why wouldn’t you demand that I be exactly as brutal as you?”
“Because I want you to stay you and you’ll be better for it.” The doorbell rings again. “I’ll be right back.”
He heads toward the door in nothing but his unzipped pants and I focus on three words he spoke. Not with me. He’s heartless. He’s brutal. He’s spared me. It’s not comforting. What happens if he turns on me? And why am I not running? Because I’m not. I’m not even close to running.
Reid
I walk down the hallway toward the door, out of Carrie’s sight, and before I answer the door, I press a hand on the wall next to it and let my chin dip. What the fuck am I doing? I’m acting like I want things with Carrie that I swore I didn’t want in my life. More. Like I want more than sex when sex is the zone where I keep women. I need to reel this in, but instead, I'm not going to. I'm going eat sandwiches with Carrie and talk to her. I won’t even consider letting her go home tonight.
The doorbell rings again.
Fuck.
I open the damn door.
Chapter twenty-seven
Reid
Ienter the living room with the take-out bag in my hand and Carrie meets me by the couch, my T-shirt swallowing her whole, but damn I like her in it a little too much for comfort. And yet, I pull back from where we’re headed tonight. “Let’s go upstairs.”
Her eyes meet mine. “As in, to your bedroom?”
“Yes,” I say, sensing the tentativeness in her over my room and not sure where that is coming from. “To my bedroom. My favorite place to eat is up there.”
“Now you have me curious,” she says, the tentativeness fading quickly.