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)
My muscles were tensing up again just thinking about it, but this time, it was for a very different reason. I wasn’t irritated when I thought about touching Selena. I was…
Fuck, I was overdue to get laid. I pulled out my phone and began flipping through my contacts. Over the years, I’d established a few fairly reliable no-strings-attached partners. Women who had too much of their own shit going on to want a relationship. I called Sharon first–someone who I actually liked talking to as much as I liked fucking. I glanced at my schedule. Maybe we could even grab a late dinner, and then–
“Dominic?” she answered the phone with a question in her voice.
I frowned, that wasn’t how it usually went. Generally, she answered with a declarative statement– either, “Not today, I’m busy,” or, preferably, “I’m free around seven.”
“Didn’t you get my text?” she asked.
I started to say I hadn’t, but then I remembered that three months ago she’d sent me a short and sweet message. Thanks for the good times. I’m engaged now.
“Shit, sorry,” I said.
I hung up and called Cindy. She’d moved to Paris, hadn’t I gotten her message?
Finally, I made a plan to meet up with Molly. We’d grab a drink at the bar below her building and, it was understood, go back to her place.
I hung up and waited for the vague frustration and disquiet to settle, but for some reason, it didn’t. For some reason, I couldn’t stop picturing Selena’s eyes, wide and staring up into mine, the delicate bones of her wrist wrapped in the grip of my fingers. She’d been surprised and unnerved, but there had been something else in her gaze. A spark. Heat. She’d have fought back if we hadn’t been in a public place with Mrs. Kloss whispering in the bathroom.
And I had a feeling that if she had, I would have enjoyed the show a little too much. I had less than zero interest in shrinking violets. I needed the snap, the sizzle, the fire. Selena was good at suppressing hers, but I’d seen it. It was there, and something about me brought it to the surface. If she were anyone else, I’d have enjoyed lighting her up and watching her burn, but she was my employee.
Worse, she was Jake’s ex and best friend.
Impulsively, I called my nephew under the pretense of finding out what had gone down with the Ferrari after I left. Was it on the scrap heap, or had Marjorie put a boot on it?
“Worse,” he said. “She’s driving it. I’ve got her old car.”
I couldn’t help laughing. “Of course she is. I saw the look on her face when the driver dropped it off. Is she ever going to give it back?”
“Considering she named it Freya and got a vanity license plate that reads MarsCar, I don’t think so.” Jake didn’t sound bothered though. Not much bothered my nephew. He was probably just glad the car got to stay in the family, even if he was now stuck in Marjorie’s Nissan.
“Hey, how’s Selena doing?” he asked suddenly. “I haven’t had time to talk to her.”
This was why I’d really called Jake–to remind myself that he meant everything to me and I couldn’t keep thinking about his friend as anything other than an employee.
“I don’t interact with her much, but I haven’t heard any complaints,” I answered. The second part was true anyway, and the first part should be true. As a rule, I didn’t take junior associates on business lunches. I did well to remember their names at company functions, and that was the extent of my involvement. If it wasn’t for Mrs. Kloss’s interference, it would be the case with Selena as well.
Jake had to go a minute later. He said he’d call me back, but he had class for the next six hours and then a shit ton of homework to get through before his shift the next morning. I knew I wouldn’t hear from him for a week or so, and that was fine. In a week or so, I’d have forgotten why I even needed to call him today, why I needed to remind myself that a junior associate was off limits.
At the end of the day, I headed off to meet Molly. A couple drinks, a couple hours in her bed, and Selena Sinclair would be a distant memory.
8
SELENA
I realized pretty quickly that I’d bitten off more than I could chew starting a new job and agreeing to help Mrs. Kloss. Insisting on helping her, rather. I only had myself to blame for the fact I was burning the candle at both ends. Normally I’d have worked late hours at Marks Wealth Management to get a handle on everything I needed to know, but I quickly realized that wasn’t an option until the Christmas ball was out of the way. Mrs. Kloss liked to have her car pull up outside the building right at 5:30, then she’d whisk me off to some absurdly cute cafe or bistro or just a straight dessert place to plan. The woman seemed to subsist entirely off sugar and spice.