Total pages in book: 144
Estimated words: 147415 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 737(@200wpm)___ 590(@250wpm)___ 491(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 147415 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 737(@200wpm)___ 590(@250wpm)___ 491(@300wpm)
Works like a charm every time.
Right now, she probably has a thousand arguments against my knee-jerk reaction.
All the reasons why we should keep an impulsive, self-righteous lick of good looks and appalling manners on.
I have one better reason why we shouldn’t.
It’s a small fucking world.
Not nearly large enough to share it with a woman who interrupted a private moment, a personal eruption.
Hell, a woman who tried to care.
Only eight more floors to go.
The doors ping open and a man looks in. One look at me and he backs up, deciding he’d rather wait for the next ride than join us.
Sensible.
It takes all my willpower not to join him.
Seventh floor.
Sixth.
I set my jaw and finally look at her, casting a suspicious side-eye.
Hannah keeps her gaze dull, fixed on the screen counting down floors. Her eyes don’t even twitch under my scrutiny.
“I could fire you right now, you know.” I tap my fingers against my bicep. “Don’t go thinking your job has divine protection. I’ll explain it to God himself if that’s what it takes to—”
“Of course not, Mr. Foster,” she says blandly. “You’re well aware I earn my keep here every day.”
Damn her, I am.
“I didn’t ask you to follow me,” I snap.
“No.”
“And yet you know I have no intention of bringing it up. Decision made and done. Get her out of the building.”
Finally, she looks at me with one eyebrow raised. “Really, sir? That’s rather impulsive. I think it would be a mistake and you should reconsider.”
If she was anyone else, I would have chucked her overboard years ago for insubordination.
“Miss Cho, I don’t need you to come charging in and questioning my executive decisions,” I growl. “I’m also not sure why I agreed to this Young Influencers gimmick after all. We have an entire team of PR specialists for image concerns. Instead, I trusted your plan and you delivered one hell of a punchline.”
“And you were very rude to the poor girl. Will you at least tell me why?”
My jaw tightens.
Fuck, here we go.
Every time I consider how to explain my ugly encounter with the girl on Alki Beach, it sounds a little dumber in my head.
Yes, I was an undiluted asshole.
Her only sin was persistence.
The first time she came at me with her concerns that I might drown was forgivable. Still, the fact that she continued, and the way she kept watching me as I pushed into the waves...
Whatever.
That’s not the fucking point.
“Did you not see her?” I clip.
Hannah’s cool gaze snaps to mine, unflinching.
“I do have eyes,” she says calmly. “She’s quite attractive. Is that your concern?”
“Ridiculously attractive, yes, but that’s not it, exactly.” I inwardly groan, still unsure how to tell her my beef without sounding like a total lunatic. “Also, Destiny is a ridiculous name.”
The tiniest hint of a smile curls her lips. “Well, I can’t be blamed for choosing that.”
No.
I glare at my reflection.
I wish the attraction factor was just convenient cover.
When Hannah first came up with this idea, I never imagined her selecting someone so goddamn gorgeous. Let alone so annoyingly familiar.
Ridiculous name or not, she’s elegant. Polished. Cool and sleek and so simply, yet fashionably striking that she probably turns grown men to stone when they pass her on the street like a little Medusa.
All blonde hair, slender neck, and frosted blue eyes. Model-perfect with a young body shaped like raw temptation.
On Alki Point, I couldn’t see much beyond a pretty face I wanted to evict from my personal space.
It’s worse today when she’s in my office without the wind tossing her hair and a windbreaker hiding her body.
The dress she wore had one of those tiny black belts around her waist, just in case I missed the way her hips curved. Like any hot-blooded man could ever miss those hips.
Her type of gorgeous has its own gravitational field.
A force of nature I have zero interest in fucking with.
“You saw her pictures,” Hannah reminds me in a tone that suggests she knows I never did more than glance at her résumé and certainly didn’t bother checking out her socials.
“I’m disappointed, Miss Cho. I trusted you to pick someone suitable.”
“And I did. I know you found it—rather unexpected, sir. But appearance was never a qualifier for the position. In fact, I’d argue that her being attractive is an unintended perk.”
“A perk.” I give her an ice-drenched look. “I beg to differ. What about a man? Isn’t there a male influencer somewhere?”
“Not with her followers or qualifications. She’s picture-perfect and squeaky-clean with an innocent, fresh face.”
Innocent? Her?
Bah.
A fresh face, for sure, forever glowing with minimal makeup. Worse, I’m sure Destiny knows exactly how pretty she is.
The last time I banked on any woman’s innocence, just look how that turned out.
“Not to mention her family connections,” Hannah continues. “The Lancasters—”
“The coffee people? Wired Cup? As in Cole Lancaster?”