Total pages in book: 136
Estimated words: 135847 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 679(@200wpm)___ 543(@250wpm)___ 453(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 135847 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 679(@200wpm)___ 543(@250wpm)___ 453(@300wpm)
When he lifted his head, he whispered, “I’m glad we’re on the same page.”
“Yeah,” I pushed out.
He smiled and said, “I’ll get the menus. Where are they?”
“In the drawer in the kitchen where normal people would store cooking utensils or spices or whatever you use to prepare food.”
At that he laughed, gave me a peck on the lips, pulled us both up but set me on my ass in the couch, then he went to my kitchen.
He came back with an inch thick stack of menus and my wine.
I sipped and watched him sift through them, taking in the stubble on his jaw, the messy hotness of his hair, the way his long fingers moved, feeling my mouth bruised and the wet at the gusset of my panties.
I did this making myself a promise at the same time making a plan.
I was going to hire a new assistant/receptionist.
I was going to promote Zoey.
And I was going to pay more attention to other important things in life. Dad. Fliss. Carole.
Hale.
My life would still be about work, but it’d also be about more.
It was time.
And I was Elsa Cohen.
Which meant, when a golden opportunity presented itself, I wasn’t about to miss it.
I was going to grab on with both hands.
And ride it out.
CHAPTER 12
YOU’RE HIM
Them
Him…
Hale woke the morning after his date with Elsa when his phone rang.
His clock said it was just after five in the morning. He reached to take it off the charging pad, and saw the call was from Elsa.
He smiled to himself and put the phone to his ear while rolling to his back.
“Hey, baby,” he answered.
“Did I wake you?”
Fuck, she sounded good first thing in the morning.
“Yeah, but it’s okay.”
“I’m sorry. I thought you said you were a morning person.”
“Not after getting home at two in the morning from a great night with a beautiful woman who knows where to find perfect Peking duck and lets me steal second base on our second date.”
He heard her soft laughter.
“What are you doing up this early?” he asked.
“I’m always up this early.”
Of course she was.
“Making your mark,” he murmured.
“Absolutely,” she confirmed. “I’ll let you go back to sleep. I just wanted you to know I enjoyed last night.”
In other words, she was as committed as he was to no more miscommunication between them, either way.
“Me too,” he replied.
And he had. So much so, it was hard to leave, and she made it plain it was hard to let him go. But he didn’t want to rush them.
Nope.
He wanted to take his time with Elsa Cohen.
So he left.
But not without making plans to see her again.
He reminded her of that plan, “Text me after your dinner with your dad tomorrow. I’ll head over.”
“Will do.”
“I’ll touch base with you again tonight, sweetheart.”
“Looking forward to it. Have a good day, Hale. And enjoy your time with your family tonight.”
“I will. And you have a good day too, baby.”
After they hung up, he snoozed for an hour before he got up. He made himself a smoothie and some oatmeal, put on some running pants and a long-sleeved half zip, a pair of running shoes, grabbed his phone, stuck his ear buds in, and headed out.
He ignored the photographers that were waiting for him outside his building, and in a few blocks, as usual, he’d outrun them anyway.
He returned, went to the gym that was housed in an upstairs room in his apartment. There, he did some sit ups, pushups, pull-ups, burpees, went to the machine and worked his back, shoulders and chest. Back downstairs to mix some protein powder and grab some water. He took it back upstairs to his bedroom where he showered, got dressed, texted his driver, and headed into his father’s office.
He then endured four hours of Zoom meetings he should have been attending in person, but his change of plans meant he was sitting at a computer, not in a conference room.
He didn’t have a preference of one or the other.
He hated them both equally.
He then had lunch with the executive director of an urban greenspace non-profit who was courting a big donation, then back to the office for another two hours of Zoom meetings. After that, he had a sit down with all three of his assistants to polish the finishing touches on his week’s reschedule, and discuss the next week, and the month beyond. That took two hours as well.
Another two hours of returning emails, texts, and then he was back in the car with his driver and headed to Mika and Tom’s place.
He walked up the steps to their brownstone, more than ready for the only good part of his day to commence (outside the brief phone call with Elsa).
Cadence, Mika’s daughter, opened the door.
“Day made,” he said in greeting.
She shot him a brilliant smile before she fell into his arms.