Total pages in book: 114
Estimated words: 106150 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 531(@200wpm)___ 425(@250wpm)___ 354(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 106150 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 531(@200wpm)___ 425(@250wpm)___ 354(@300wpm)
“Rowe, I believe you.”
“And you can ask anyone. I have witnesses. My parents will confirm it.” He paced as far as the window and turned back. “I mean, granted, they have no freaking clue what I was actually doing since they never really paid attention, and I guess they’re not great witnesses since they’re my parents and not exactly impartial, which is the same reason Joey wouldn’t be a good witness either, but— Oh! Bobby and the guys at the Tech Barn! They could vouch for me, at least partly. And one of the hospital administrators—her name’s Tracey, and we got to be friendly when we talked about her office redesign—she could tell you—”
I stood up, blocking his path, and grabbed both of his biceps as he prepared to turn toward the window again. “Rowe. I believe you. I don’t need to talk to any of them.”
Though our corporate lawyers certainly would. They’d want every scrap of evidence they could get their hands on.
Rowe looked horrified by my response. “But you shouldn’t just believe me, Bash. You should demand proof.” He shook his head like he was the old and wise one of the two of us and I was hopelessly naive. “You’re so kind, and I lo—like that about you, but you really need to stop letting people take advantage of your generosity. You know?”
I opened my mouth, then shut it again. It was a novel thing to have someone be protective of me that way, but I kind of liked it… even though it was wholly unnecessary. It was true that I was generous when it came to money, but only because I had more than I could use in several lifetimes. With other things, though—with my time, with my effort, with my true feelings—no. There were very few people I would give those to unreservedly, and even my own parents didn’t make the cut. The short list included Silas, Dev, Landry, Zane, Kenji…
And now, it seemed, Rowe Prince.
The realization made me a little light-headed.
I was a risk-taker by nature, but usually, those risks were carefully calculated based on my own knowledge and experience. This thing with Rowe was like nothing I’d ever experienced before, and there was a cacophony of voices in my head—voices that sounded like Kenji and Silas, mostly—reminding me that I should pull back now, but… I didn’t want to.
Scary as it was to feel this way, it had been scarier still when I’d thought Rowe had walked away from me for good. I wanted a chance with him. A chance to get to know him for more than two quick days. To see if this instant chemistry and attraction—this potential—between us could actually develop into something real.
Landry had reminded me that I had good instincts. It was time I trusted them.
“Come here.” I led Rowe to the sofa and sat down beside him. I wanted to pull him in my arms, but I also knew that once I did, I wouldn’t be letting him go, and we still had a lot more to talk about.
Of course, because he was Rowe, in spite of the seriousness of the situation, he couldn’t help running a hand over the cushion like he was admiring the lines of the furniture. “This is really nice. And I love the color. Someone who really knows your style picked it out. Was it you?”
I shook my head, amused despite myself. “No, Kenji.”
He nodded, then frowned as a thought occurred to him. “Do all the board members have offices here in the building? Is that common?”
Not unless you were more than simply a board member. “No. Only Silas and me, though Silas doesn’t spend much time here these days. Look, Rowe—”
“I’m gonna get my notes and send them to you,” he interrupted. “It’s important to me that you know for a fact I’m not lying, in case later you start to wonder. I… it’s stupid, maybe, but I don’t want you to remember me that way… after.”
“After,” I repeated, not understanding. “After what?”
“After I’m back in Indiana.” He folded his hands primly in his lap and kept his gaze fixed on them. “I mean, if you’re saying someone’s already working on an idea like this… then that’s great. That’s all I really wanted, you know? To have someone care about this and take the time to improve the system. And since there’s no sense in me bringing it to Jus—uh, to anyone else—if Sterling Chase is already taking care of it, then I don’t need to stick around New York anymore.” He shrugged. “It’s not the way I expected things to go, but my parents and Bobby will be thrilled I’ll be home sooner than I planned, and I… I’ll be content.”
“Well, I fucking won’t.” Not with any of it. Not with someone else taking credit for Rowe’s brilliance, and sure as hell not with Rowe being a thousand miles away from me.