Total pages in book: 114
Estimated words: 112701 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 564(@200wpm)___ 451(@250wpm)___ 376(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 112701 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 564(@200wpm)___ 451(@250wpm)___ 376(@300wpm)
He sighs, jaw ticking. “I know. I am sorry I asked. I simply needed to hear from you that it wasn’t the case. Please understand—”
“When did they reschedule to?”
I cut him off, trying to avoid a bigger fight. He has reason to ask, and as much as I want to lash out at him, I can’t. I put the doubt there in the first place.
His head shakes as though he’s trying to clear his mind. “When did they reschedule to?”
“The meeting,” I snap a little too harshly.
“Monday, nine o’clock.” He runs his hands back through his hair, pulling at the roots. A move I’ve seen him do far too often lately.
“We should probably postpone going to the Hamptons,” I say, lowering my voice and looking toward my feet.
“The presentation is ready. We’re going,” he says firmly. “But we should probably limit it to one night.”
Relief swims through me. He still wants to go with me. Despite everything, we’re going to have some alone time.
“That makes sense,” I say, stuffing as much happiness into my voice as possible, considering we’d just been arguing. “Get back late on Saturday and have an entire day to rest before the pitch.”
“You still want to go?” he asks, and it’s filled with hope.
I nod. “Of course, I do.”
He smiles, but it doesn’t reach his eyes. The events surrounding Diosa are surely weighing heavily on him.
“What did Sergio say about the change?” I ask.
“He was concerned. Wanted to know that we could get Holly on board.” He sighs. “Sergio saw the mock-ups, and he’s obsessed with the campaign we’ve created around Holly at this point. If we have to change talent, it will be a hard sell for him.”
“I don’t understand how this happened.”
“Someone in this office is feeding Bauer information. It’s the only way,” he grits through his teeth.
“It’s not me, Charles. I swear it.”
He grabs my hand. “I know you don’t think it’s you, Raven. I’m willing to gamble it all that this has nothing to do with you.”
I squeeze his hands. “How do we figure out who it is? Can we do that?”
“I’ll have the security team comb through incoming and outgoing emails. That will be the best way to snuff them out.”
“Do you have someone?”
He bobs his head. “I’ll make the call to get the data. Price Security has been looking into a few things, but it’s time to dig through and see what they’ve found.” He steps toward me, keeping a few inches between us. “I know our pitch is good. You’ve worked so hard. I’m sorry this is happening to you, as well.”
“This isn’t your fault, Charles. We’ll figure it out. There is no way Bauer can beat us. I’m sure of it. Holly will change her mind after seeing what we have for her. It’s going to be fine.” I take a deep breath. “I will spend every waking moment making sure it’s perfect. You have my word.”
I’m not entirely sure how much I believe my words, but I want Charles to know that it’s at least possible to bring Holly around. Even if we can’t, we’ll find another talent.
Charles smiles. “You’re brilliant at this job, you know that, right?”
“Now, that is something that I like to hear. Praise from the boss man himself.” I grin up at him, just barely refraining from pressing my lips to his. “But you can thank me after we win the talent,” I say with confidence.
“And how, pray tell, would you like me to thank you?” he asks, voice lowered, eyes wide and two dimples popping.
I step onto my toes and let him pull me into his arms, even though we’re in his office. With everything going on, I need his touch as much as I hope he needs mine.
“Well, I’m sure you can use your imagination for that. But I can give you a little glimpse for now . . .”
“Here? Isn’t that against your rules?” he teases.
I reach up and pull his face closer to mine. We’d promised each other that we wouldn’t do anything at work anymore, but it’s hard to resist the odd kiss every now and again.
“To hell with the rules.”
I smile as he leans in and deepens the kiss.
“Charlie Edmond Cavendish,” a woman squeals from the doorway.
We turn around in a panic at the sound of the voice, and I quickly break away from Charles as I see Shelby standing there, watching us in what I hope is mock horror.
“Shelby, I . . . ”
“Got caught kissing the boss?” She smirks.
“It’s not what it looks like,” I say, panicking.
“It’s my fault,” Charles lies, trying to cover for me, but it’s pointless.
Cat’s out of the bag, and the nosiest person in the office bore witness.
“Shelby, I’d appreciate your silence on the matter,” Charles says. “Raven and I have just started seeing each other, and I promised we wouldn’t let it affect work. We agreed to keep things away from the company, and we really should not have kissed in the office. I’m so sorry that you had to walk in on that.”