Total pages in book: 37
Estimated words: 37751 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 189(@200wpm)___ 151(@250wpm)___ 126(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 37751 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 189(@200wpm)___ 151(@250wpm)___ 126(@300wpm)
TWO
PARK CITY, UTAH
GEORGIA
Two Months Before Christmas
Later that Day
Lean down a little bit more…
If I lean my head any lower, this ink pen will slice through my eyeball and splatter blood everywhere. I won’t beg my coworkers to call an ambulance when it happens, though. I’ll just ask if I can finally leave this boring ass meeting.
I’ve been stuck in this cold conference room since nine this morning, and my eyes are burning from staring at the oversized screen. For some strange reason, I feel like I’m the only one who wants to escape.
Maybe I should stab both my eyeballs instead of just one…
“What do you think about the final proposal, Georgia?” Mindy Sterling, the company kiss-up, foils my mission within seconds. “Georgia?”
“Yeah, um…” I set down the pen. “It sounds super great.”
“Were you even listening to my presentation?”
“Sorry.” I shake my head. “It’s been a really long day, Mindy…”
“Days at Reiss Enterprises are never long.” She sounds offended. “They take as long as they take because we believe in our beloved CEO’s vision.”
My brainwashed coworkers murmur in agreement, and I resist the urge to roll my eyes.
Our “beloved CEO” is the epitome of what it means to be a terrible boss. His only saving grace as a human being is how fucking sexy he is.
“Since you’re the best at hospitality, Miss Grey—” Mindy slides a folder toward me. “When December comes, we need you to handle our incoming business guests from the moment they land at the airport, to the second they arrive at headquarters for our holiday marketing presentation.”
“What if I’m still ‘just a demoted intern’ by then?”
“You will work hard to regain your previous position to ensure that won’t happen.” She narrows her eyes. “Your decor budget is limitless, and we’re all looking forward to seeing that “holiday magic” that you brought from your previous employer. Do you have any other questions?”
Can you please let me go home now? “Not at this time.”
“Great! Now, onto the fourth quarter projections, and how we’re measuring up against the competition.”
I tune out her words and return to thoughts of impaling my eyeballs.
Then again, from the sound of things, that probably wouldn’t get anyone’s attention.
I’ve been working at this company for a little under a year, and I’m officially convinced that corporate life is not for me.
I don’t even know what we “do” here.
The impossibly early mornings, paper-pushing afternoons, and “emergency” evening meetings have broken bits and pieces of my soul. Since every employee is cutthroat and desperate to move up the ladder, bonding with a single coworker outside the office has been impossible. Once, when I brought custom cookies to share in the break room, someone reported me to Human Resources for “trying to poison the competition with gluten.”
If that’s not bad enough, the “beloved” CEO thinks that every person on the planet lives to serve his every waking need. Being the overworked yet empathetic person I am, I’ve decided to take the high road by saying a daily prayer for him.
Dear God, please murder my boss. Thank you so much in advance. Amen.
As Mindy passes out a new set of folders, the entire room falls silent. Heavy footsteps sound behind me, and the woman beside me gasps, which only means one thing...
“Good evening.” Mr. Reiss’s presence spins my heart into a reckless rhythm. Rumor has it that his deep voice alone is capable of making any woman’s panties wet with ease.
Any woman’s panties except mine, of course.
“I hope you won’t mind if I sit in on this meeting,” he says.
“We’d prefer if you put us out of our misery and finally end it.” I mutter.
“What was that, Georgia?” Mindy asks.
“I said, what’s better than having our beloved boss look over our shoulders and watch our every move?”
“There’s nothing better!” She practically trips over herself as she pours him a cup of coffee.
Taking his precious time to walk around the table, Mr. Reiss takes the seat directly across from me. Then he smiles his perfect “I know I’m sexy as hell” smile that makes his chiseled jawline even more pronounced, and my nipples harden under my blouse.
I can’t help but cross my legs next.
No matter how many times I see this ma—in person or in print—my mind veers down a winding, wet lane of forbidden fantasies.
When I first saw him, I thought he was a walking, breathing dream. That the angels above had sprinkled every bit of their “most attractive man on earth” dust on him to cement him as their best work.
But the first time I heard him speak - a mere, “I’m not paying you to stare at me all day, Miss Grey” – I wanted to stab him in the throat.
“Don’t let me derail the meeting,” he says. “Carry on with your presentation, Miss Sterling.”
She picks up without missing a beat, and I try to look away from the devil dressed in black, but I can’t.