Total pages in book: 103
Estimated words: 97466 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 487(@200wpm)___ 390(@250wpm)___ 325(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 97466 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 487(@200wpm)___ 390(@250wpm)___ 325(@300wpm)
Lesya rolled her eyes, not fooled for a minute. “I said Jay would like to call an all-hands meeting to talk strategy. He has several ideas he’d like to run by you, but I wasn’t sure whether you were planning to handle the Titan acquisition in person—”
“No, I’m taking care of that remotely. Tell Jay to send out the invites and put the meeting on my calendar. I have some social obligations in the city, so I’ll be around for the next few weeks, at least.”
She nodded. “I’m glad. I feel like you’ve been gone more than usual lately.”
I grunted noncommittally. While I loved traveling… I’d reached a saturation point, even for me.
I should probably have known better than to leave Hugh mostly unsupervised during hearts-and-cupids season, but I’d had a factory issue in Jakarta that required a personal touch, and our text conversations weren’t as seamless when they were happening across time zones, no matter how hard we tried. Then, a couple of friends had wheedled me into joining them on a two-week trip to the Maldives—an invitation that had not so subtly hinted at “personal touching” of a different nature, as I’d joked to Hugh, so I could hardly turn it down.
To my friends’ shock and mine though, once I’d arrived, I had turned them down. Repeatedly. I’d spent two weeks working on my tan, brainstorming a few new projects I wanted to work on in the second quarter, and wishing I was back in the city. As I’d told my friend Boone before I left, keeping up a constant string of sexual partners sometimes felt like effort. Sex was sex: always enjoyable but available in unlimited supply. There was no need to chase it like the blue-haired ladies storming the Walmart on Black Friday back in Texas. This was not—absolutely not—because I was feeling melancholy, as Boone had suggested…
A point I’d proven by setting up a night out with my friend James to have a drink and catch up. See? I could be fun and social as much as the next guy. Except it hadn’t been as fun as it usually was. In fact, in a weaker moment, I’d even found myself making a deal with James’s dilettante ex-boyfriend, Richard, that might make my ex-boyfriend Boone want to erase my name from his contacts list—not that he would, of course, since Boone was far too kind, but if Richard fucked things up badly enough as Boone’s ranch hand, the man might be tempted.
At least my texts with Hugh had gone back to normal as soon as I’d returned to the city… but with a decided twist, because while I was away, Louis had gone creeping into Hugh’s DMs, and now every day featured a new story about something Louis had said or done.
I’d learned my lesson back in November, so I didn’t say all the things I wanted to say about Louis—like, “Why the hell would a person who specializes in happily ever afters date a divorce attorney?”—but I couldn’t deny feeling… protective. Protective enough to recommend that Hugh wear his blue button-down on his date tonight, even though his green shirt did amazing things for his eyes and hugged his lean muscles, because I wasn’t sure Louis was green-shirt-worthy. Almost protective enough to send Louis a discreet message warning him that I could erase him from existence if he so much as looked cross-eyed at my Hugh.
At my friend Hugh, I mentally corrected.
“…and then I told Marigold that if we’re already investing in magic mushrooms, we should go all in on fairy tears. Sell out of all other investments, I told her. In fact, sell Oscar’s Bugatti and invest that money too—”
“Wait.” I sat forward so quickly I nearly tipped my chair over. “What?”
Lesya sat back in her seat and smirked. “Welcome back, boss.”
“I wasn’t—” I sighed. “Fine, I might have been a bit distracted this one time. It’s just…” I hesitated. “I’ve been feeling off recently.” I shook my head, impatient with myself, and turned my gaze back to the window. “I don’t know how to describe it. It’s like I’m restless but tired of traveling. I’m bored, but the idea of planning a party or throwing myself into a hobby holds no appeal. Even work isn’t as exciting as it used to be. It’s like I’m trying to ride a bull that’s going one way while I’m aimed in the other—” I heard the words I was saying and whipped my head toward Lesya in shock. “Oh, sweet Jesus, now I’m talking in Texas cowboy-isms. What’s wrong with me?”
“Well.” Lesya pursed her lips, set her tablet on her lap, and folded her hands primly on top of it. “I don’t know for sure, but do you think this might have something to do with your sister getting engaged?”