Total pages in book: 109
Estimated words: 104471 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 522(@200wpm)___ 418(@250wpm)___ 348(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 104471 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 522(@200wpm)___ 418(@250wpm)___ 348(@300wpm)
“The best man is giving Randall a run for his money in the looks department.” She fans her face with her hand. “He’s so handsome, Evie. I seriously think this could be the guy for you.”
I glance toward the entrance of the restaurant and immediately recognize Randall from the framed picture Lottie showed me. As he approaches us, a smile covers his lips, and the joy in his face is evident. From where I’m standing, he’s a man head over heels in love.
My gaze drifts over his shoulder. My heart thunders in my chest when I catch sight of the man right behind Randall. I rub my eyes to make sure I’m not seeing things.
I take another look, and there’s no mistaking that my boss is the man walking through the restaurant less than a foot behind Lottie’s fiancé.
It’s Mr. Hunt.
Please let him be here meeting someone on a date.
I wait with bated breath for Mr. Hunt to breeze past our table as Randall slows to a stop next to it, but that doesn’t happen.
My boss stops, too. He glances briefly at Lottie before his gaze lands squarely on my face.
It stays there while Randall gathers his fiancée into his arms to hug her. “Charlotte, my love. You look ravishing.”
I can’t help but swoon a little because this man clearly has it bad for the woman he’s set to marry soon.
After they share a kiss, he steps back to look at me. “You must be Evie.”
“Evangeline,” Mr. Hunt says in a low tone. “Her name is Evangeline Starling.”
Lottie’s eyes widen. “Wait. You two know each other?”
Randall chuckles his way through a similar question before anyone has a chance to answer Lottie’s. “You know Evie, Reid?”
“I work for Mr. Hunt,” I whisper. “I’m his executive assistant.”
Pointing directly at Mr. Hunt’s face, Lottie lets out a squeak of a giggle. “No way! He’s the one you’ve been telling me about, Evie? Randall’s best man is the boss from hell?”
My stomach drops, but I bite the bullet and glance at my boss to find a smirk on his face.
Straightening his tie, he keeps his gaze on me. “That’s me. I’m the boss from hell.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Reid
Before my assistant can offer an explanation for bestowing me with the title of boss from hell, Charlotte continues with the awkward introductions.
She elbows her way past Miss Starling to get to me. “I’m Charlotte Rushing.”
I recognize the name but not the woman.
Charlotte Rushing is the sole heir to the Emmel family fortune. Any person with even a limited knowledge of the wealthiest people in the country would know that.
I’d heard from several reputable sources that she’d recently moved to New York City while contemplating the future of her family’s business. Vidori doesn’t have the liquid assets to buy her out, but with some carefully crafted ass kissing to some of our major investors, we could hammer out a deal that would level up my personal financial portfolio in a big way.
“It’s good to meet you, Charlotte.” I offer her a hand, too, but she wants more.
She wraps her arms around me. Being the gentleman I am, I hover a hand over the center of her back while I keep my gaze pinned on Evangeline.
“Let’s sit,” Randall suggests. “I’ll take the seat next to my bride-to-be. You can settle in next to…”
“I think I’ll use the ladies’ room before dinner,” Evangeline interrupts.
She starts walking away before anyone can stop her.
“She’s exactly as you described,” Randall says to Charlotte. “She moves with the grace of a ballerina.”
A ballerina? Miss Starling?
I glance to my left to catch a glimpse of her almost falling forward as a waiter carrying a tray tries to get the hell out of her way since she’s practically running through the crowded restaurant. He pivots to the left. She skirts to the right.
She ends up in the arms of some guy wearing a bespoke navy blue suit. It doesn’t quite put the one I’m wearing to shame, but the man holding onto my assistant does have great taste in clothing.
This entire evening has to be a goddamn joke.
“Evie studied dance for years when she was a kid,” Randall tosses information at me that I’ve never heard before.
Charlotte adds to it, “I’ll never forget the look on her face when we were in Paris a couple of weeks ago. She had tears in her eyes when we walked past the ballet school she was accepted to.”
Miss Starling went to school in Paris?
Before anyone is hired at Vidori, an extensive background check is run on them. I’ve looked at Miss Starling’s file more than once because I wanted to know what day her birthday is (February 1st), and I was curious about where she lives (in a shitty building in Murray Hill).
Since her full educational record was included in that, I know she graduated high school in Connecticut before starting at NYU just a few months later.