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)
That wouldn’t do.
Reuben stared at her, daring her to raise her gaze. But she didn’t. She simply slid her hand into the pocket of her skirt and drew out his credit card.
“Here you are. Thank you.”
Always so polite.
He reached for the card, but instead, he grasped hold of her hand. “Blossom.”
She stilled.
“Look at me.”
Her gaze rose to his. Her lips tried to form a smile, but they trembled slightly. Reuben took her in, the paleness of her skin, the dark marks under her eyes she’d tried to conceal with makeup.
He didn’t like that one bit.
“What’s wrong? What’s happened?”
Surprise filled her face. “Happened? Nothing happened.”
Relief filled him. “You’re all right?”
“I’m fine.” She raised her hand to touch her temple and he saw that it was visibly shaking.
Fine.
Sure she was.
Did she always lie this much?
Or was it that she was so used to ignoring her own needs in favor of everyone else’s that she really didn’t notice how exhausted she was.
“Did you get everything you needed?” he asked.
“Yes, thank you. I need to get to work now.”
He frowned as he studied her. “All right. Did you drink your water?”
“Yes.”
“Good girl.”
Her eyes lit up at that. She liked being his good girl.
She practically stumbled as she walked out to her desk. Yeah, that wasn’t going to work for him. Grabbing his phone, he ordered some food.
Faith was going to have lunch, then he was putting her down for a nap.
22
God, her head was throbbing.
She just needed to get rid of her headache so she could focus. Reaching into her handbag, she rooted around for some painkillers.
Fudge knuckles.
She must have run out.
“Hey, Faith.”
She glanced up with a smile to see Lou walking in.
“Hey, Lou.”
“Got some food for the big boss man.” Lou held up the bag.
“Thanks. You didn’t have to bring it up; I’d have come down.”
Lou shrugged. “I wanted to check in on you. How did you like that last scone flavor?”
“It was interesting,” Faith said hesitantly.
“Just give it to me straight,” Lou said. “It was gross, huh?”
“I’m just not sure that blue cheese and lime is a good combination.” Although it was actually better than the lemon and ham one.
She reached into her handbag and grabbed her wallet to give Lou a tip.
They chatted for a few moments until the door to Reuben’s office opened and he stepped out.
Lou startled, giving Reuben a worried look. “Hey, Mr. Jones. Here’s your, um, your, um, your . . . ”
“Food,” Faith supplied.
Yikes. Had she ever acted that nervous around Reuben? That was just embarrassing.
He reached out and took the food as poor Lou started to back away. “It took you a while.”
“Thanks, Lou,” Faith said pointedly as she glared up at Reuben.
He just raised an eyebrow, then reached into his pocket. He drew out twenty dollars and passed it to Lou.
Okay, at least he tipped well.
“Oh, t-thank you.” Lou rushed off.
Huh. She’d just been tipped twice, but she deserved it for putting up with Reuben.
“You could try being a little less . . . scary,” she told him.
Jeez. She really was getting braver, wasn’t she?
It probably wasn’t a good thing.
“Why?” He gave her a look filled with confusion.
Dear Lord.
Sometimes, he could be such hard work.
“Come,” he commanded.
Standing, she winced the throbbing in her head got worse. What she really wanted was a nap. Still, she followed him into his office.
“What can I get you? Coffee? Do you need me to do something?” she asked.
“Yes, I need you to sit.” He gestured at the sofa.
Putting the bag on the coffee table, he started to pull out containers.
Her stomach grumbled, and she placed her hand on it. That was embarrassing. She’d forgotten her lunch today, but she figured she should work through anyway.
Actually, she’d forgotten to have breakfast as well.
That could be another reason why you’ve got a raging headache.
Most likely.
“You haven’t eaten lunch, have you?” he grumbled at her.
“Um, no. I was going to work through my break,” she said without thought.
“That’s unacceptable. You need to take your breaks and eat.”
She gave him a surprised look. “But you often work through meals.”
“That’s me. And I always eat. You will stop and eat every lunchtime.”
Right. She better not tell him about breakfast, then.
He eyed her for a long moment.
Oh, shoot.
“You didn’t eat breakfast, either, did you?”
How did he know? She swore he could read her mind sometimes.
“Why bother asking if you know the answer?” she grumbled.
“Don’t get sassy with me. No skipping any more meals and you need to drink water regularly. I don’t want you to get dizzy.”
It wasn’t that she purposefully skipped breakfast. She liked food. But it was hard to eat in that house. She’d started keeping food downstairs since she hated going upstairs. Plus, Eric ate everything she bought anyway.
“I’ll try not to.”
“You won’t just try, Little Blossom,” he said as he handed her a container.