Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 89666 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 448(@200wpm)___ 359(@250wpm)___ 299(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 89666 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 448(@200wpm)___ 359(@250wpm)___ 299(@300wpm)
“There are times when he can be so insufferable. Like because he’s his own boss and runs his own company, he’s smarter than the rest of us,” Kaylan raged. But the fire that blazed brightly one second went out in the next. His entire body slumped, and he hung his head. “At the end, we were both shouting and saying things we didn’t mean. I stormed out and started driving. I was almost to Columbus when I realized if I didn’t turn around, I’d be late for work.”
I pinched the bridge of my nose and held in my sigh. Columbus was two hours north of Cincinnati. It was a lucky thing he’d come to his senses prior to reaching Cleveland.
“You need to go home and get some sleep,” I stated, squeezing his shoulder.
His head popped up in an instant. “I can’t. Sebastian said it’s all hands on deck for our recovery planning meetings. You’re going to need help compiling the reports, and Kate in design asked for my input on some Japanese packaging she has to get over to legal for review.”
“You need sleep first. I can tell Sebastian you’re taking a sick day.”
Before I could continue, the sound of footsteps stopped the words in my throat. That wasn’t Sebastian’s cadence, and no one bothered to come up to this floor this early without an appointment except for the CFO. Yet, that didn’t sound like Declan Foster either.
“Kaylan?” It was a loud whisper, as if the person were trying to be quiet but still needed his voice to carry to the hidden nooks and crannies.
“Arden?” Kaylan shot to his feet and was out of the break room faster than I could offer to talk to Arden for him. I followed right on his heels, prepared to stomp a mudhole in Arden’s ass if he continued to hurt Kaylan.
To his credit, Arden didn’t look any better than Kaylan. His hair and clothes were a rumpled mess, and his eyes carried the same dark circles. He was also carrying a gigantic bouquet of white daisies and a bag of food from Kaylan’s favorite breakfast restaurant.
“Oh, thank God you’re here!” Arden exclaimed when he caught sight of Kaylan.
“What are you doing here?” Kaylan stopped several feet away, his arms folded over his chest.
“Looking for you so I could apologize for being a giant asshole. I went to your place last night, but you never came home. I tried calling you, but you turned off your phone. Honey, I’ve been worried sick about you.”
“Why? Afraid Sebastian’s secretary can’t take care of himself?” Kaylan shot back, and I winced. That was a solid hit.
Arden hung his head and even dropped to his knees in front of Kaylan, making the man gasp as the paper bag of food crinkled and the flowers rustled against his jacket.
“I’m sorry. I should never have said that. It was wrong and so fucking out of line. You are so much more than I implied. Besides, even if you were a secretary, there’s nothing wrong with that. I have no right to criticize your life. The only thing that matters is your happiness, and I know working here makes you very happy.”
Damn. Arden was very good at apologizing.
Unfortunately, I didn’t get to stay and enjoy the show. As Arden finished speaking, the elevator doors opened, and Sebastian stepped off with his bodyguard Neil. Not good timing. Nothing killed a mood like your boss showing up.
I slipped past the couple and briskly walked toward Sebastian, whose breezy smile turned into a confused frown as he stared past me. I held up one hand and made a spinning motion with my finger, indicating that he should turn around.
“What’s going on?” Sebastian whispered as I reached him at the bank of elevators. “I thought proposals were on one knee, not two.”
“That’s not a proposal. It’s an apology,” I corrected as I gave both Sebastian and Neil a little shove into the elevator car. “We’re going to the café at Fountain Square to give them a moment of privacy.” Thankfully, I had my phone on me and could access my notes for the day.
“What happened?” Sebastian asked as soon as the doors closed and we started to descend.
“They had an argument, and Arden said some unwise things, such as calling Kaylan your secretary.”
“Bullshit. I need to go up there and set him straight.” Sebastian stepped forward and reached out to punch the button for the top floor, but I caught his hand, stopping him.
“No.”
“What?”
“No. Kaylan is more than capable of handling Arden without your help.”
Sebastian huffed and dropped back against the wall. “How dare he not properly appreciate Kaylan! Does he not realize how critical that man is to our day-to-day operations? How many departments he’s coordinating to make sure everything is running smoothly? Does he not know how hard it is to manage me? Arden has no idea how fucking lucky he is to have found Kaylan.”