Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 87573 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 438(@200wpm)___ 350(@250wpm)___ 292(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87573 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 438(@200wpm)___ 350(@250wpm)___ 292(@300wpm)
I returned to the paperwork Jordan had given me, unable to hide my frustration. It was common knowledge that I took my work seriously. Too seriously. West frequently called me Mr. Responsibility. Harley had laughed at me all summer when I spent the days in my bedroom, staring at a computer. But West was a rockstar in the biggest band in the world right now, and Harley was about to start her sophomore year in college. She might be a genius with a full ride and every intention of becoming an attorney, but things had always come to her easy. Neither of them understood my need for control.
A need that encompassed every part of my life. Home, office, and…in the bedroom.
“No luck,” Jordan said. “Let’s give her a few more minutes.”
“I don’t need a partner. I just thumbed through this. It doesn’t look all that different from what I’ve done in the past. I can do it alone.”
At least then I could guarantee that it was being done correctly.
“This is a big contract. We’re partnering with a local oil family. Do you know Dorset & King?”
The name sounded familiar. “I’ve heard of them. They’re in Midland?”
Jordan grinned. “Yeah, and you’ll need the help. The Kings are a prestigious family. They want the best. So, they came to us. We’re giving this to you because we know you’re good enough. Having a local to partner is a bonus.”
This was my first job after the promotion. I didn’t need someone getting in the way.
I opened my mouth to say that when a woman rushed off of the open elevator and hustled down the hall toward my office in sky-high patent leather heels.
“Sorry!” she gasped. “So sorry I’m late. I had car trouble.”
Eve Houston stood in my doorway, her chest heaving in the white shirt she had underneath a black blazer. Her pencil skirt reached her knees with a small slit up the side. Just enough for my imagination to run wild. Her dark hair was down in waves, and she wore the red lipstick I’d just visualized on her.
My cock throbbed at the sight of her. The way her ample chest jiggled with the exertion from racing here. Those mysterious emerald eyes wide as she took in the room and finally landed on me. Her mouth formed an O, and that did things to me that were utterly inappropriate for the office.
It took everything in me not to adjust my lengthening cock.
“Eve.” I drew her name out across my tongue like I was reciting a prayer.
I hadn’t seen her in weeks, and somehow, she was even more striking than my filthy imagination.
“Oh, Whitt,” she said uncertainly. Her eyes shot between me and Jordan, as if she wasn’t sure who to address.
He wasn’t oblivious to the thick layer of tension in the room. In fact, by the gleam in his eyes, he might have set this whole thing up.
It was at his wedding that Eve and I had danced the night away after all. The night I thought we’d moved past our flirtation to something more. It just turned out that we had different ideas about what more meant.
After her last crash-and-burn relationship, Eve wanted a hookup. And I misread the entire situation and asked for more. I was a relationship guy, and she wasn’t ready for anything like that. No matter our attraction—the attraction I still very much felt—it had all crumbled.
“You were saying?” Jordan muttered in my direction.
“Never mind,” I said to him with a shake of my head. “This will do.”
Jordan laughed. “I thought you might say that.” He extended his hand toward Eve. “Welcome, Eve. It’s good to have you on board.”
She breathed a sigh of relief and put her hand in his. “Thanks, Jordan. I’m glad to be here.”
“Whitton was just saying how excited he was to have a partner for this new project.”
“Was he?” Eve said. She took a step into my office and held her hand out. “That doesn’t sound like you.”
Only Eve would call my bluff like that. The girl was as fearless as she was brash. For people she didn’t like, she could come off as abrasive. For her friends, she was as straightforward and loyal as they came.
“We didn’t know you had car trouble.”
I took her hand in mine, felt the calluses across her palm from weight lifting. A spark flared to life, and she extracted her hand quickly, as if worried she’d get burned.
“I had to take an Uber.” She turned to Jordan. “Thank you for this opportunity.”
“You earned it. You both did,” Jordan said with a smirk in my direction. “I’ll leave you to it.”
Then Jordan strode out of my office, leaving me alone with the girl I’d just envisioned having in this space. I’d been all indignant and prepared to trash whoever showed up late to our first meeting. Jordan had known it, too. He’d known all of it. And now, she was here, and there was nothing to do but gesture for her to take a seat.