Total pages in book: 224
Estimated words: 215705 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1079(@200wpm)___ 863(@250wpm)___ 719(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 215705 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1079(@200wpm)___ 863(@250wpm)___ 719(@300wpm)
“You know Gabe, and Cat’s someone you’ll get along with. She’s independent, hard-headed, intelligent, and fiercely protective of those she loves. In other words, you two are alike.”
“And yet you and I are—compatible. I get the idea that you and your sister aren’t close. Actually, you made it sound you aren’t close to anyone.”
“If there was anyone who knows me, it would be Gabe,” he concedes. “We’re alike in ways that aren’t obvious on the surface.”
“What ways?”
“What makes us tick.”
“Which is what? Money? Power?”
“It’s deeper than that, and I know you know that.”
He means the parts of me that are about my mother. I don’t push him to explain. Those are the inner demons we all battle privately. “And Cat. Does she get you like Gabe does?”
His jaw sets and he reaches for his wine. “We’ve had problems.”
“For how long?” I ask.
“A decade.”
I blanch. “Ten years? You’ve had problems for ten years?”
“Give or take. I’ll spare you the questions. I was an asshole to her and that’s how we got where we are now.”
“Were?”
“I remain an asshole.”
“Have you apologized? Because I know you know when you’re wrong, Reid.”
“I have not.”
“Why?”
“I have my reasons,” he says, giving me nothing more.
The waiter appears. “Hot plates!” he announces and then sets a monstrously wonderful looking entrée-sized macaroni n’ cheese in front of each of us.
We chat with the waiter just a minute and when he finally leaves, as much as I want to try my food, I don’t want it as much as I want to say something else to Reid. “Fix it with Cat,” I say. “She’s your sister, and like your mother, you could blink and she could be gone.”
His jaw sets hard. “That’s the point. That’s always been the point.”
My brow furrows. “What does that mean?”
He studies me for a few beats. “I’m going to the party, Carrie,” he says, avoiding the question. “We’re going. I wouldn’t have in the past—attended, much less taken anyone with me. Let that be enough.”
“Right,” I say. “I’ll leave it at that then.”
His knee connects with mine under the table and he reaches out and covers my hand with his, “For now, Carrie.”
His expression is hard, jaw firm, but there is a softness to his voice, a plea that promises his shutdown is not forever. And this right now is him telling me I’m pushing his limits, but he’s not unwilling to be pushed. And so I say, “For now.”
“For now,” he repeats. “Tell me what you think of the macaroni n’ cheese.”
“I can’t wait to try it,” I say, picking up my fork and poking the bubbly, wonderful layer of cheese.
Reid picks up his fork too and I have this moment of realization; this is our first restaurant meal together. His eyes meet mine and I read the same in him. We are no longer hate-fuck buddies. We are something more, something I cannot name, but I don’t feel the need to either. He motions to my food and together we take a bite. “Mmmm wow. Okay. I believe our waiter now. This must be world famous. This is amazing.”
His eyes warm with my reaction. He’s pleased. I’m not sure Reid is ever pleased, but he is now. “Good,” he says softly. “I wanted you to like it.”
“I do,” I reply. “I mean, this is the kind of dish you come back for.”
“Then we’ll come back. Just you and me. No Grayson on the menu. We’ll finish the weekend we planned.”
“I’d like that,” I say, warmth spreading through me. “And for the record,” I reach for my glass, “I like your wine choice more than Grayson’s.”
He laughs as the waiter reappears to check on us and by the time he’s gone, Reid and I have managed to down half our glasses of wine, and the macaroni is now cool enough to eat more heartily. We dig in and start eating and for a few moments, we both watch the ocean crash against the shore. “It’s beautiful,” I murmur.
“It is,” he says. “I like the city, but it’s been a while since I remembered the benefits of just getting away. Maybe it’s time to remember. Tell me something else I don’t know about you, Carrie.”
“I’m not complicated. I live for my job. Despite working for my father, I’m not one to lean on him or anyone. I make my own way and I like it like that. West Enterprises is everything to me. It’s where I always knew I would be.”
“Then we understand each other, as all of those things apply to me with our company. Let’s win Grayson together for both our families.”
“With Japan? I don’t like Japan, Reid. You know how Asia’s burned me and no, that has nothing to do with my brother living there, as well as presently fucking my ex-best friend, or any past history with him. The regulations and money are both hard to manage from afar.”