Total pages in book: 153
Estimated words: 155903 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 780(@200wpm)___ 624(@250wpm)___ 520(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 155903 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 780(@200wpm)___ 624(@250wpm)___ 520(@300wpm)
Was she asleep?
It was two-thirty in the morning. Of course she was asleep. But she’d see the message in the morning.
Then he remembered that he’d told her to sleep in. Hmm. Fine.
Reuben: Correction, I’ll send a car for you at midday. They’ll knock when they arrive. Sleep.
Suddenly, three dots appeared. So she was awake.
Faith: There’s no need. I can get myself to work. On time.
Oh, he didn’t think so. His eyebrows rose at the audacity of her answer.
Reuben: You’ll do as you’re told or you’ll be punished. 12. Your place.
Faith: You realize you’re taking being the boss to a whole new, crazy level.
Reuben: I’m not just the boss. I’m your boss.
Faith: I want to pretend I don’t understand the distinction. But I’m scared that I do.
Reuben smiled. She didn’t understand the full level of his crazy.
But she would.
17
Faith knew she was going to be in trouble.
Her stomach was rolling as she placed her handbag into the desk drawer.
She wanted to peek into his office, but she knew he was probably here
He always got to the office before her.
Sometimes, she worried that he slept here.
No. Nope. She didn’t worry about him. Reuben Jones wasn’t a man that you worried about.
He was a man you avoided.
That didn’t feel right, though. Especially not after last night. She’d never expected him to take care of her like that.
Even if she was slightly worried that she might have agreed to something without meaning to.
Oh, you meant to.
You’re just trying to tell yourself that you only wanted one night.
Only there was a part of her that wanted that. For him to take over.
Urgh, it was all these thoughts that had kept her awake most of the night. She’d barely gotten any sleep. And then Eric had been making so much noise this morning. Slamming doors, stomping around.
Asshole had been doing it on purpose, of course. She got it. She felt bad for waking them up. So maybe she deserved Eric thwarting her efforts to sleep in.
Anyway, unable to take it anymore, she’d gotten up and come in to work.
Moving to the kitchen, she turned the coffee machine on. Not Estelle. She still sat gleaming on the counter. Nope, Reuben had told her to go buy a machine she could operate.
So now she had Barry who was way nicer than Estelle. He just sat there, dripping coffee into his pot.
And thank God she could use him because she was going to be living on caffeine this morning.
Once she had Reuben’s cup of coffee just the way he liked it, she carried it carefully into his office. She had talent with flowers, not carrying coffee.
Knocking, she entered when she heard him call out.
If he was surprised to see her, he didn’t let it show.
And that instantly made her trepidation grow. She hated not being able to read him.
“Here is your coffee.” She set it down on his desk and took a hasty step back. Did she think he was going to grab her?
Maybe.
“Could you cancel the car you arranged to pick me up? Or if you let me know who it is, I’ll call them. I don’t want them to be there, waiting . . . um . . . are you going to say anything?”
He leaned back in his chair, his hands interlocked over his firm stomach.
Do not look.
But it was hard not to when she knew what he looked like under his shirt.
So sexy.
“What would you like me to say, Faith?” he murmured.
Oh darn. He was back to using her first name.
And now she was starting to sweat. He had a way of making her feel guilty, even when she hadn’t done anything wrong.
It was a truly evil gift.
“Maybe good morning or how are you or just say thank you for the coffee?”
Urgh. Why did she say any of that? Why hadn’t she just left the room after delivering the coffee?
Because you seem to be a glutton for punishment.
“Good morning, Faith. How are you this morning?” he drawled.
Danger. Danger.
“I’m good, thank you very much. And you?” Darn it. She shouldn’t have asked him that.
“I find myself irritated.”
Red light. Red light.
“Irritated?”
“Yes. You see, I like obedience. Did you know that?”
“Oh, I had some idea.”
“You did? Because I thought you must have missed that. Otherwise, why would you disobey me this morning?”
“I’m not disobeying you.” Why was her voice pitched so high?
She took another step back. His eyes narrowed, the only sign of emotion on his face.
“Are you scared of me, Faith?”
Her instinct was to tell him no. But he seemed to know when she was lying.
“I think I’d have to be crazy not to be, uh, wary of you.”
“Do you think I’d physically harm you?” he asked.
There was a tenseness to him that actually made her feel bad. She took a step forward. “No, I know you wouldn’t harm me. It’s just . . . you’ve got a really diabolical mind.”