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)
“Uh. Um. Yes?”
She was back to stumbling over her words and looking unsure, but he was too upset to care right then.
“You’re not paying.”
“I, uh, I’m not?”
“If I didn’t let you pay for those slippers on your feet or the shoes, you’re definitely not paying for your steak and overload of sugar.”
Grady sighed. “I’d actually like her to agree to work for me, you know.”
Like Steele would allow her to say no. Now, he expected her to apologize for having the audacity to think that she would pay for her own meal. And then give in graciously.
“About the slippers—”
“No.” Dear Lord. Was she trying to give him a stroke?
She frowned. “No? What do you mean, no?”
“I mean that we are not speaking of the slippers. They are yours. As are the other shoes.”
“What other shoes?”
“The ones he was supposed to wait to give you until you got home,” Grady said stiffly.
Grady was getting pissed at him. It wasn’t noticeable to anyone else. But he could see it in the slight twitch in the other man’s fingers.
“You bought me other shoes?” she asked.
“Those ones that look like a clown threw up on them,” Steele told her
“W-what?”
“Or like a unicorn farted on them. That seems more accurate.”
A small groan escaped Grady.
“A unicorn farted on my shoes?” she said as the server cleared his throat, reminding them that he was still standing there.
“Shall I come back?” he asked.
“Nope. I’ll have the steak, baked potato, vegetables. Grady will have the seafood risotto. And Effie will also have the steak with a baked potato and salad.”
“No salad!” she said quickly. “It’s an S word. And I want mashed potatoes. Thanks.”
Lee nodded and took away the menus.
“Well, that wasn’t that hard to decide, was it?” She smiled widely at them both.
Yep. She really was nuts.
Effie grew slightly nervous as they drew closer to her apartment. She knew the polite thing to do would be to offer them a drink.
But the only drinks she had were pop, hot chocolate, and coffee. Men like this probably drank fancy things. Like Scotch.
She might have some peach schnapps somewhere. But that would be the best she could do.
And anyway, it didn’t matter what she had to drink because the main reason she didn’t want to invite them in was because of her apartment.
And Brooks. She wasn’t ready to introduce him to her new bosses.
Because, yep, she’d signed the contract. As soon as she’d seen what they were paying, she knew there was no way she could ever turn them down.
It didn’t matter much to her what she had to do. She would be making nearly three times as much as she had been at her old job. Which might mean she could get into a nicer rental in a better part of town.
Maybe a two-bedroom place. That would be amazing.
She could see how their life was going to improve.
“Effie? Effie?”
She snapped back to attention as Grady spoke to her. Of course, she had to focus and pay attention in order to keep her job. But she was going to do this. She was going to be the best assistant that she could be.
Maybe she should bring cookies. That seemed like something the most amazing assistant in the world would do.
Right?
“Effie?” Grady repeated.
“Sorry?”
“Are you all right?” he asked.
“Yes, sorry. I’m just a bit tired. What is it?”
“We’re here.”
“Oh.” Now, she felt like a complete idiot. “Wait, where’s Steele?”
“I got sick of him so I left him behind at the restaurant.”
“What? No, you didn’t. He was in here with us.”
Wasn’t he?
“That was a joke, sweetheart,” he said gently.
She covered her face with a groan. “I’m such a doofus.”
“Not a doofus. Don’t call yourself that.” The scolding was light but with a hint of steel. Seemed these guys weren’t real big on her saying bad things about herself.
“I was just joking around,” she said.
“It can still hurt. Whether you were joking around or not.”
“I’d never say it about someone else.”
The door suddenly opened and Steele stood there. “Come on, babe. Walk you to the door.” He sounded gruff, impatient.
Shoot. Had she done something?
You’ve got to focus and stop daydreaming.
“I’m sorry,” she blurted out.
“Huh?” Steele frowned down at her, a blast of cold air filling the car.
Get it out quick, Effie.
“I’m sorry I said you need glasses and implied that some parts of you weren’t in excellent working condition. I won’t do that again.”
“What the hell? Grady? What’s she going on about?”
Grady was studying her closely. “Effie, that wasn’t what I meant.”
“I should let you both go. It’s late and cold.” She slid out of the car. “Thanks for the slippers and the dinner. I’ll see you Monday.” It was only Thursday night, but they said there was no point in starting work tomorrow. She understood that even if she was keen to get started straight away.