Total pages in book: 158
Estimated words: 160684 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 803(@200wpm)___ 643(@250wpm)___ 536(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 160684 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 803(@200wpm)___ 643(@250wpm)___ 536(@300wpm)
It’s also none of your business.
“Effie, do you think you’re capable of being my assistant?” Grady asked. “Can you answer the phone, keep track of my calendar, organize stuff, and just generally do whatever I ask you to?”
Fuck yes.
Well, she’d need to be careful because sometimes she went into her own head and got lost in there. But not this time. She needed to stay in the here and now.
“I can do that! I can do the shit out of that!” She smiled wide.
Steele still seemed bemused. Oh no, was he going to say no? She stared at him, willing him to agree.
“When can you start, Effie?” Grady asked.
“Now.”
His face softened. “I like that you’re eager, sweetheart. But after the night you just had, you need to go home, put a heat pack on your back, take some painkillers, and get some rest.”
“How come she hasn’t already taken some painkillers?” Steele asked, surprising her.
Grady’s face hardened.
“It’s all right,” she said hastily before Grady could snap. Which is what he looked like he was about to do. “I’m fine.”
Now, both of them turned to look at her. And whoa, their attention made her legs go weak. She started moving back and forth to relieve the pain in her back.
“I think I’ve told you how I feel about you lying, Spitfire.”
“My back really isn’t that bad anymore. I actually have some painkillers in my bag. I was going to take them on the way home.”
“You’ll take them now,” Steele ordered, getting up from the sofa. “And you’ll sit.”
She thought it was wise not to argue.
No one will like you if you argue all the time.
Thanks, Nan. Although, this time, she thought that not arguing might be the best idea.
Winning a fight against Damon Steele seemed pretty impossible. He definitely looked like he’d fight dirty.
She moved to the sofa and sat as Steele disappeared into an attached bathroom.
“If she had stayed where I put her, then she’d already be sitting down,” Grady commented.
She wanted to glare at him and tell him she wasn’t a darn dog to be told to stay. But he was her new boss.
Be nice. You need this job.
Steele returned with a glass of water. She gave him a surprised look. Even Grady stared at him funny, so she knew this wasn’t normal.
“Where’s your bag?” Steele asked as he handed her the drink.
“Um, over here.” She turned to where it sat on the floor. But he got there first, opening her bag so he could search through it.
“Hey! What do you think you’re doing?” she demanded.
“Looking for your painkillers.”
“You can’t just go through my handbag.” She gaped at him, aghast as Grady groaned and ran his hand over his face.
“Why? What do you have to hide?” Steele asked.
“I don’t have anything to hide,” she fired back. “But that still doesn’t mean it’s okay to go through a woman’s handbag. My handbag is my life. It’s private. It’s sacred. And it can only be held by a man when necessary. Like when you’re doing some shopping and you have your arms full of clothes and no room to hold your handbag. But still . . . it should never be breached by a man’s giant paws.”
Steele just stared at her for a long moment. Was that too much honesty? Then he shook his head and handed her the bag. “Get your pills out.”
She frowned as she searched through her bag and found the bottle. He took them from her, looking at the label.
“Steele,” Grady said warningly.
“These are strong. And they say that you shouldn’t take them on an empty stomach. Or while drinking alcohol. Have you done either of those recently?
“I don’t really like alcohol.”
And did a cup of noodles at lunchtime count as eating recently?
Please do not rumble, stomach.
“I’ll be fine.”
“You lying about being fine?” Steele asked.
“I think we should stop staying fine,” she suggested. “It’s starting to sound weird to me. Fine. Fine. Fine.”
“Okay, I think that’s enough,” Grady suggested.
Probably wise.
“You’re not swallowing these until you eat,” Steele dictated. “I’ll go get you something. Grady, make sure she stays.”
She gaped at him as he stomped out of the room.
“You were right, I was wrong.”
“That could pertain to many things, sweetheart,” Grady drawled. “Exactly what are you talking about?”
“The fact that he’s bossier.”
“Hmm. He is. But I have to say that he’s being even bossier than usual.”
“Really?” she whispered.
“Yes.”
“That doesn’t seem to be a good sign.”
His eyes zeroed in on her. “I can’t be certain, since I don’t know you well, but I think you might need some bossing.”
“I do not.”
“And since I’m about to be your boss, you won’t be able to argue with me when I boss you.”
“I don’t think that’s how it works.” But she knew she’d take it. She’d take whatever was thrown her way as long as it didn’t involve rollercoasters, going out on a boat, any food starting with s–especially vegetables–or selling her body or soul. And to be honest, she’d consider the last two at this point in time.