Total pages in book: 72
Estimated words: 66453 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 332(@200wpm)___ 266(@250wpm)___ 222(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 66453 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 332(@200wpm)___ 266(@250wpm)___ 222(@300wpm)
I shrugged, uncomfortable again. My fingers found each other in my lap, twisted. “It’s not that I’m waiting for some sort of celestial stamp of approval. It’s just that…I’ve waited this long. I might as well wait for the right guy.”
“I guess I’m in no position to tell you about how great and consequence-free having sex is,” Christi said, rolling her eyes at herself and rubbing her still-flat stomach. “I just don’t want you to be afraid of it. You know, when the right man comes along.”
I reached over and patted her knee. Despite her flippant tone, I could still hear the echo of fear in her voice. The fear that had made her voice shake when she told me last month that she was pregnant, that her boyfriend had left, that she didn’t know what to do, that she’d thought about not having it, but damnit, she couldn’t do it.
But she didn’t know if she could do this either.
The fear that had pulled me back across the country like a summoning spell, and now here I was. Living in a squalid, cave-like apartment, about to go to work for the wintry wealth management king of LA.
“There’s nothing to worry about,” I murmured, but I wasn’t sure if I was saying it to reassure Christi or myself.
5
DOMINIC
Selena Sinclair’s background check came through in less than a week, and she started the following Monday. I fully expected to forget she existed by Friday–junior associates didn’t spend much time on the executive floor. I hadn’t counted on the fact that Albert was mentoring her himself, though. The mid-level associate between them was out for the rest of the month on maternity leave, and Albert wanted to make sure she got started on the right foot.
After I passed her in the hall twice, I went into his office to talk to him about it.
“You’re telling me there’s no one you trust to mentor her?” I asked, trying to keep the exasperation out of my voice. “I’m not paying you this much to babysit.”
Albert adjusted his glasses. “I wouldn’t call it babysitting, Mr. White. I’m making sure an extremely promising associate gets the right guidance before taking on a tricky client. Unless you want to risk losing Jupiter Banks, Inc. as a client.”
I ground my teeth. Jupiter Banks was a notorious pain-in-the-ass. If she wasn’t worth nearly two billion, we probably wouldn’t put up with her. She made Mrs. Kloss look downright reasonable. “Fine,” I gritted out. “Just get her up to speed as soon as possible. She needs to spend more time with the other new associates.”
Incredulity spread across Albert’s face before he schooled it back into a neutral expression. “Absolutely. Will do.” He hesitated, “Just out of curiosity–why does she need more time with the new associates?”
So I didn’t have to keep exchanging tense pleasantries with her every time I saw her. Something I wouldn’t feel compelled to do with any other junior associate, but I couldn’t just walk past Jake’s best friend without a word. “I don’t want them thinking she’s getting preferential treatment because she knows my nephew,” I snapped. That was true enough, not that any of them had any reason to know there was any connection between Selena and Jake.
Albert considered pointing this out, then wisely chose not to. He knew me well enough to see I was feeling bad tempered. He didn’t know why, but he wasn’t going to push. I didn’t know why either, but I knew it had something to do with Selena Sinclair. I didn’t like catching the faint scent of vanilla when I passed her or hearing her laugh chime out of Albert’s office. What the hell was so funny anyway? Maybe she wasn’t serious enough about this job. She sure as hell didn’t look the part, even in her smart, tailored blazer that didn’t manage to hide her lush curves or make her look a day over twenty-two.
Not that I was looking at her that closely.
I went back to my office and closed the door. I was taking Mrs. Kloss to lunch at noon, and I wanted to make sure I was armed with all the evidence I needed to convince her she couldn’t hold her annual Christmas ball. Not unless the charitable proceeds were going to her instead of the children. She wasn’t impoverished yet, but her assets wouldn’t last her another five years if she kept going like this.
Noon came and went. I switched to another account–one that didn’t make me want to tear my hair out–and waited. Mrs. Kloss wasn’t known for her punctuality. She frequently mixed up meeting dates or came an hour late. I’d accounted for that. Even if she didn’t get here until 1:30, I had time for lunch. Convincing her to pull out of this event now was imperative if she was going to recoup her deposits.