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)
It all comes back to what she said before in my office, about how money should be used.
We both know I have enough of it.
I’ve also never been brutally profit driven at the expense of all else—and it’s not like Home Shepherd isn’t profitable.
I can afford to take a loss on a single project, particularly if it’s billed as experimental.
In other words, her suggestion has merit. It could be viable.
Still, I have no intention of telling her on the spot, even if I’m impressed by the fact that she’s come up with this after less than two hours in the building.
“Just think about it,” she says.
“I will.”
“You’ll consider thinking about it or actually consider it?” she presses.
I scowl at her, hating that I almost smile.
Coffee brat.
“I’ll consider thinking about your proposal, Miss Lancaster. If you’ll lay off ever thinking I respond well to smart-assed demands.”
For a second, it looks like she’s about to smile, too.
The corner of her mouth twitches, and her eyes warm, and God help me, she’s more magnificent than ever.
Then I had to go and run my mouth.
She turns away, the fragile beginnings of the smile dying as she looks at the floor.
“So, what will I be working on while I’m here then, if I’m not working directly with you all the time?”
Damn.
I don’t know how she keeps doing it, catching me off guard.
At this point, I should be prepared for her bullshit, and the sharp, uncompromising note in her voice when she asks.
“For the corporate end, you’ll be working on grants and featuring a new product line,” I say. “Mark will give you the technical details of how our corporate giving program should work in tandem with our product development team for this.”
“What, because you don’t know?”
I ignore her.
“Hannah will also give you access to the corporate system for the internal templates you’ll use for your proposals.”
She frowns. “Wait, what proposals?”
“The new product line you proposed, Miss Lancaster. You’ve got three days to sell me on this idea, drones for wildlife surveillance. I expect you to show your work in excruciating detail.” I pause to enjoy the stunned look on her face. “If I like it enough, you can present your proposal to the entire board.”
Fuck me senseless.
The way she looks right now with her eyes wide and mouth parted shouldn’t be as enticing as it is.
I allow myself a few more seconds to suppress the intrusive thoughts of the sexy kind before I wheel around and stride away.
Time to escape while I still can.
Five missed calls from Vanessa Dumas that afternoon.
Every time I glance at my phone, another one appears, a buzzing middle finger flicking me between the eyes.
The only reason I haven’t blocked her number is because I want to keep the call logs as legal evidence of harassment or blackmail, should she be so stupid to escalate this further.
She’s been texting me, too, and her messages all range from apologetic to subtly threatening.
Telling me—and her audacity is something—that she knows I wanted it. That I was giving her 'signals' for months.
I should have sued her for sexual harassment the morning after she threw herself at me in the limo.
Then again, I never wanted to make this bullshit messier than it needed to be.
Hindsight is twenty-twenty.
I pick up the phone and bark into it.
“Miss Cho, get Miss Lancaster an access badge ASAP and make sure she has a computer set up in Mark’s office.”
“Yes, sir.”
“I want a complete background check on her. Everything.”
“A background check?” I can hear Hannah frowning.
“Did I fail to make myself clear?”
“No,” she says after a moment. “But may I ask why?”
“Because I’ve entrusted her with a high-level proposal. She’s not an employee. However, she should go through the same scrutiny as anyone else I’ve ever put in that position.”
Because I want to know more about her is what I don’t say.
Also, something doesn’t quite add up.
The Lancasters have money. More than ever, judging by the hyped success of Wired Cup’s big rebranding push years ago.
What I don’t understand is why she, their daughter, is apparently left behind.
Why?
If you look at her Instagram, you might think you’re getting a sporty, down-to-earth, fresh-faced girl who came from an average upper middle-class background in Ballard. Mostly makeup free, enthusiastic, passionate about her causes.
But here in the office?
This was a cool, sharp-witted professional.
Perfectly comfortable in large settings like this, facing down assholes like me who are used to being intimidating.
At no point was she overwhelmed by the scope of what we do. She even took time to research our future endeavors before she walked through my door.
I want to know why she left her family money behind for a life of clawing at charity prizes. Why is she doing all this on her own?
What’s Destiny Lancaster’s real story?
“Have you ever thought you might have trust issues?” Hannah asks blandly.