Total pages in book: 145
Estimated words: 145231 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 726(@200wpm)___ 581(@250wpm)___ 484(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 145231 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 726(@200wpm)___ 581(@250wpm)___ 484(@300wpm)
“Am I a stranger now?” I growl. “Is that why he kicked me?”
Her face heats. “Um… he thinks self-defense means defending other people, I think. He’s really good for his age, so his teacher moved him up to yellow belt with some of the older kids. But I think sometimes the verbal lessons go over his head.”
“Do not!” Arlo stamps his foot impetuously.
Christ, I hope he has a dad to steer him right. I’m so not the man who’s programmed for situations like this.
“Arlo, enough.” She looks at me. “I’ll talk to him. I promise you I’m not the world’s worst mom.”
“Hardly. You’re managing him as well as you can, I’d say.” I glare at the kid as she turns her back. “Never mind karate, though. He needs anger management,” I mutter under my breath.
“You could use a refresher, too,” she whispers as I head back behind my desk—the farthest away from her demon imp as I can get.
I’ll ignore that comment this time.
“Did you find your books?” I ask, hearing the ice in my voice but not caring. “Take whatever you need. I want to lock up and get out of here sometime tonight.”
“Don’t you have staff for that?”
I raise my eyebrows. “My staff don’t stay late just because I do. Only the owners pull insane hours.”
I stand up and turn to the shelves, looking over our small marketing section.
“Here, this one’s a banger. Dex and Archer will agree. We all read The Millionaire Beast Within a few months apart. Not long before we started cobbling together Higher Ends.” I pass her the book.
She looks at the cover and eyeballs it skeptically.
“Thanks, but… I was kinda looking for something more serious on copywriting.”
“I see two books on that in your hands.” I nod at them. “Don’t let the lambo on the cover scare you. The author, Denny Falco, he’s a flashy dude who loves his fancy cars and gold. But he’s giving you a master class in motivation and basic business theory.” I pause, wondering if I should tell her why I really picked the book. “It helped me, Dex, and Archer. I think you’ll find some value. Did you know he was a single dad with twins when he flipped his limo lead business for eight figures?”
Her face relaxes and she turns it over in her hands, skimming the backside.
“Okay, sold. I’ll try not to judge it by the cover.”
“Hell, if the cover matched the content, I never would’ve made it past the first chapter.” I smile. “Give me your book report when you’re done.”
She laughs.
“Sure. Y’know, for a second I was amazed that you do read—and that you decided to be nice. Emphasis on past tense.”
“Yeah, whatever.” Arlo’s loud yawn grabs my attention. “Looks like you’ve got some reading to do yourself after someone’s down for bed. Looks like he’s ready.”
“Am not.” The kid yawns again, clapping his little hands over his mouth.
“Thanks, Patton. You’re okay at this mentoring thing sometimes.”
She shows herself out, flashing a quick smile over her shoulder.
Goddamn.
Every time I start to wonder how drunk I was to have ever had a hot night with this hellcat, she goes and reminds me why.
One more nuisance thought I don’t need in my brain.
Just like the hard-on from Hades I have to sit down to hide.
7
PLAYING CHICKEN (SALEM)
All things considered—and there’s a lot to consider—this gig could be worse.
Good pay, good benefits, I’m handling the responsibility, and there’s a lot of learning every week.
Of course, the downside hasn’t changed, and it’s a doozy.
It begins with Patton and ends with Rory.
One decent moment aside, I’m pretty sure working for him must be punishment for my sins from a past life. The job is perfectly rewarding—and although I don’t want to admit it, the company sitter has come in handy a few times when Mrs. Gabbard wanted to spend time with her new grandbaby—but I just want to gag every time he texts me.
As the weeks drag on, he sends so many.
A few, I could cope with.
The odd request here and there, reasonable things like any normal bossman might ask. That’s fine. I’d expect that from any job, especially one that comes with a solid mentorship attached.
Not that he does much mentoring besides giving me the Falco book. I have to admit, it’s pretty good, an inspiring story about a driven man who worked his way up and carved his piece of the American dream.
It makes me wish I was doing something greater, rather than managing my way through the daily grind. But the book drives home the point that nobody ever gets anywhere without putting in the hours doing the boring crap no one else will.
And Patton Rory is very good at keeping me busy with drudgery.
One day, he wants me to round up data on what’s being used in the rooms. He wants me to make sure housekeeping keeps trying out the imported Egyptian towels he insisted on furnishing in the rooms. He wants shiny new brochures, shoving our growing list of spa services in the guest’s faces to boost profit margins.