Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 76527 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 383(@200wpm)___ 306(@250wpm)___ 255(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76527 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 383(@200wpm)___ 306(@250wpm)___ 255(@300wpm)
Then I recognized her.
It was the woman I’d seen leave his penthouse.
Fleur.
She was a model. Of course she was.
I headed inside and took the elevator to his floor.
When I approached his door, I knocked instead of letting myself inside since he was in residence. A weekend had passed and I hadn’t heard from him, and Diane would clean his place again to keep it tidy.
“Come in.”
The door was locked, so I used my key to get inside.
He stood at the dining table, in his usual attire of jeans and a t-shirt. He placed his laptop inside his satchel and grabbed a few papers that he placed on top. The rest was left behind.
He pulled the strap over his shoulder then slid his phone into his front pocket.
I watched him in the morning light, the sun shining in through the windows right behind him. His eyes were brighter because of it, the light striking the strands of short hair. Sometimes, he was so good-looking it was easy to forget he was poor company. It was a shame, that gorgeous men were always assholes. The more attractive they were, the more unbearable they were. I’d learned my lesson the hard way and would never be with a beautiful man again. Personality was much more important than looks.
He turned to me, leaving his papers on the desk.
“Diane will be here soon.”
He ignored what I said and approached the front door.
I held out the coffee to him. “Black—the way you like it.”
He eyed it for a second, clearly surprised I’d retrieved it without being asked. Then he took it. “Thanks.” He moved to the door.
“Derek, you left your paperwork out.”
He grabbed the door handle and sighed in irritation, as if his morning was ruined. “This is exactly why—”
“How about I put it away?”
His eyes narrowed.
“I promise, I’ll put it on the desk and lock the door behind me. It’ll be there when you get back.”
He raised his wrist and looked at his watch, which wasn’t some fancy Omega or Rolex. It was lightweight and cheap, like he didn’t care to have a fancy piece of jewelry. He just wanted something that wouldn’t slide up and down his arm since he used his hands so much.
“You can trust me, Derek. My only desire is to help you.”
He sighed again, like he didn’t have time to have a long conversation. “Fine.”
I was a little annoyed that I didn’t get a single compliment after everything I already did, and I had to exert myself to get him to let me help him, but I reminded myself of what Cleo said—the only validation I would get was the lack of complaints.
He opened the door and stepped out.
I walked with him to the elevator. “If you’re available tonight, I thought we could get to work on organizing your things in the filing cabinet. I can work on that while you write. What do you say?”
He hit the button on the elevator and sighed. “I’ve got a long day today.”
“Tomorrow?”
When he realized this wasn’t going to go away, he just sucked it up. “Tonight is fine.”
“Great. Since we’ll be working through dinner, do you mind if the chef makes me something as well?”
“No.” The doors opened, and he stepped inside.
“Ronnie is in the black Escalade at the curb.”
He leaned against the wall and lifted his chin to look at me, as if he’d forgotten about the private driver. He didn’t say a word as the doors closed and hid him from view.
I let the breath out of my lungs as I headed back to his penthouse to prepare for Diane. Why was he so difficult when he had someone who was just trying to make his life easier? It was the strangest thing. But Cleo believed I could win him over; it would just take time. And the change in salary would be a dramatic improvement to my life. I would be able to support my family in a way I never could before, to take care of my parents when they were completely dependent on me.
I had to make this job work.
I had to win this man over.
I grabbed the paperwork he’d left behind and placed it on the desk in his office. Then I locked the door behind me and let Diane in.
She took a look around as she carried her supplies inside. “Wow, it still looks pretty good. It was so bad before I wasn’t sure what to expect.”
“That makes two of us.”
As she got to work, I went down the hallway to his bedroom to grab his laundry. His bedroom was simple, and I intended to improve its appearance. I’d focused on the common areas because they had the most visitors, but I still had to take care of the rest of the penthouse. I’d wanted to see how he reacted to that job first before I started doing everything else.