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)
Although geeking out like this is pretty entertaining.
Not that I would ever admit it to his grumpy face.
He probably thinks this whole conversation is borderline insubordination, what with me low-key asking for spendy miracle technologies when I haven’t even passed the first big test today.
Or maybe he’s already planning on firing me because I kissed him back.
In his uptight world spinning with scandal, that’s a high crime for sure.
A breeze comes blowing off the water, tossing my hair.
I rub my eyes and finger comb it back into place.
I really must be dead exhausted if I can’t keep my thoughts straight, let alone focused on the animals we’re out here to save.
Being horny and sleep-deprived does awful things to a woman’s mind.
I’m three seconds away from insanity.
Then Shepherd abruptly ducks under a low branch, and he doesn’t look like he’s on the verge of firing me.
I haven’t noticed him rifling through his large bag until now. He pulls out a smaller hardshell case with a handle, sets it down gently, and opens it.
Inside, I see the neatly packed drone prototype, so pearly white it glows.
“Whatever the future may bring, letting you drag me out here hasn’t been a complete waste of time. This is an interesting application of our technology,” he says without missing a beat.
Perfectly seriously.
My heart disintegrates into butterflies again.
Just how?
How can a man who’s never met a human smile look so attractive when he’s hunched over his creation like a mad scientist?
His eccentric, grumpy butt breaks all the laws of men.
One guy doesn’t get to be smoldering and cute simultaneously, yet here he is doing it, slaying my heart to smithereens.
I nod sharply, pretending the drone test is all that’s on my mind.
My smile does its best to come out, and I bite it away again.
“You’re right, Shepherd. Super interesting application of technology. Imagine what we could do with the robo-subs and the whales.”
“Are you laughing at me?” He looks at me.
“Nope. Never.” I force my lips into a straight line. “Sir,” I add as an afterthought.
“Smart-ass otter brat.”
“Yes, sir,” I agree.
“Are you trying to sound like Miss Cho?”
Is that how I protect myself from another kiss that rips my heart out?
“I’m showing you a smidge of respect for taking a leap of faith with me today. Don’t let it go to your head. Oh, and I couldn’t ever be one tenth as serious as Hannah.”
He snorts. “Yes, she’s unbearably polite when she insults me to my face weekly. You, Miss Destiny, pull no punches.”
There it is again.
The barest hint of a smile—and is he looking at me fondly?
Oh, boy.
“Are you a bigger dick to her than you are to me?” I whisper.
“It’s a tough contest. I threaten to fire her constantly, but by now she knows I won’t.” He eyes me coldly. “You, I’m still working out how to tame.”
Apparently, he’s on the right track with this innuendo that feels like an uppercut.
“Is that your first priority? Playing mind games with your people?” I ask playfully.
He shakes his head.
“I fucking wish. Hannah Cho is a force of corporate nature. If you want to know why Home Shepherd operates as tightly as it does, she’s the one to thank.”
My eyebrows lift.
Whatever crap I was expecting, it wasn’t that.
He gives credit surprisingly easily, like it doesn’t hurt his ego to admit that someone else has a hand in his success.
God help me, I like that.
I like it way too much.
“As long as you pay her well,” I say, teasing him again.
“Agonizingly well, as she’s reminded daily.”
That does it, I smile.
This is the side of Shepherd he doesn’t like to show.
When he’s talking about endangered animals and charities and how he treats his employees, he’s not half-bad.
Even his stance is different now.
His shoulders are looser, less militantly stiff, the sternness gone from his eyes.
And he keeps almost-smiling when I look at him.
For Shepherd, that’s a freaking lot.
It’s the nicest thing just talking like this.
Like we’re halfway to being friends instead of the iron bossman and his confused shadow.
Somehow, that matters.
Maybe because I’ve fought my whole life for a chance to find my own footing without needing to stake my life on Dad’s reputation and money.
The fact that Shepherd accepts me even though I’m miles beneath him on the corporate ladder makes my toes curl in my shoes and my belly explode with—
Yep.
Butterflies.
I can’t remember the last time I ever felt them.
And all because he’s exhibiting basic human decency after making so many mistakes yesterday. My standards must be hilariously low.
“It’s nice knowing you have a good relationship with your assistant,” I say.
“What? Did you suspect she was terrorized on a daily basis?”
I flash him a look that makes him snicker. “You tried to terrorize me.”
“Tried? How disappointing.”
“Was that another joke, Foster?”
His smile disappears. “No, damn you.”
I burst out laughing, scaring away some seagulls waddling on the shore.