Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 82767 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 414(@200wpm)___ 331(@250wpm)___ 276(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82767 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 414(@200wpm)___ 331(@250wpm)___ 276(@300wpm)
I dressed in a sensible business suit and looked at myself in the mirror. What had once seemed like the perfect disguise now looked so frumpy and just… not me. I looked like someone twice my age. I took the jacket off and chose a plain white shirt, tucking it into the black pencil skirt. I left the top buttons open and added my own colorful beaded necklace. Then there was the hair. I hated the elegant roll that I usually wore it in for work. After a few hours, my scalp ached, and I quickly found myself longing to take it down and shake my head to release it. I smiled at the idea of doing this in the middle of one of the endlessly boring business meetings that Keegan had to endure. I needed some kind of compromise, so I played around with it for a bit and then settled on a simple fishtail braid, neat enough to look respectable and a lot less painful. I looked in the mirror again, and I was satisfied that although I might not look like my usual hippy-dippy self, I wasn’t quite full Effie Hancock either. It was a middle-ground, and I figured that this was how my attitude was going to have to be too, professional, but slightly warmer than before. That would be easier now that I no longer suspected Keegan of stealing Animagic from Dynasty Games. His so-called ‘criminal’ past had turned out to be a red herring, and I had yet to find anything suspicious in his files. It looked like he was in the clear, and I ignored how relieved and – almost – happy this made me feel.
If Keegan felt any awkwardness after the previous night, he certainly didn’t show it. He was sitting in the lobby when I went downstairs, calmly reviewing the notes for the first meeting of the day.
“Good morning,” he said, eying my change in style appreciatively. “How’s the head?”
“Fine,” I smiled. “I drank a lot of water last night, but it’s time to switch to coffee.”
“Let’s move into the lounge and we can get caffeinated and go over the itinerary,” he suggested. “There is a lot to get through today.”
He got up and I followed him to the lounge area, finding it impossible to resist gazing at his bare arms where he rolled up his shirt sleeves already. There was no doubt that he was incredibly attractive, but ever since I had been so close to him, felt his body against me and his mouth on mine, I had been hyper aware of his physical form. I noticed every detail, how long his legs were, and how his narrow hips led to a taut stomach and deceptively broad shoulders. At first glance he looked slim, but there was strength in his lean form. We sat down at a table by the window, and he passed me the itinerary.
There was a long list of meetings, luckily all happening at the hotel, and I was glad, because it meant I would be busy. It was my job to take notes, to make sure everyone had what they needed, and to make sure that everything went according to plan so we didn’t overshoot our time and wind up late for the next meeting. We drank our coffee in silence, and I read through the information about the people we would be meeting. I realized with a start that the last item on the itinerary was dinner with his parents, and I wondered if I would be expected to join them.
“Dinner with your parents,” I commented, for something to say to break the silence. “Business or personal?”
“Yeah,” he sighed. “There is no divide between business and personal for my parents. The business is about as personal as it gets. Ma will ask me about my personal life, but basically she just wants to know that I’m not hanging around with anyone she would consider ‘the wrong sort.’ Da won’t ask; he gets his updates from Sean.”
“Families,” I said and shook my head, immediately regretting it. It was only a platitude to show some empathy, and he was sure to ask me about mine.
“What’s yours like?” he asked, predictably.
“Complicated,” I lied, and then changed the subject. “I’m going to go talk to the staff about having something sweet brought in with the tea and coffee at the eleven o’clock meeting, just in case the hangover hits. What do you think?”
“I think something sweet would be essential,” he agreed, his eyes twinkling. “Something extremely naughty would be even better.”
I went off to sort it out and closed my eyes briefly as I went, realizing that it was going to be harder than I thought to avoid thinking about extremely naughty things. I was glad that with such a busy schedule we weren’t likely to be alone much throughout the day, but that turned out to be more of a problem than I expected. It started in the first meeting with Mick and the various heads of departments. As they outlined what the plans were for expanding various departments and diversifying, I found myself zoning out and spending my time watching Keegan. I could see that he wasn’t engaged – sure, he was saying the right things and being very encouraging, but his eyes kept flicking to his hands, and he did way too much nodding. Nobody else seemed to notice.