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)
She flashes me a grin before she grabs my hand to yank me out of the truck’s path and back onto the sidewalk across the street.
My hand is dropped before I can enjoy touching her.
“We’re going to Pickled Dish, aren’t we?” A light, breezy laugh accompanies those words. “It’s just around the corner.”
“Busted.” I raise both hands as if I’m surrendering. “I thought you might enjoy sampling their offerings.”
“Oh, I will.” Her eyes widen. “I’m going to order exactly what you did when you sent me here to get hotdogs.”
“I’ll order the same,” I tell her as we round the corner to find a line running outside the door of the popular eatery.
“Oh, shit,” she curses again under her breath. “It looks like we’ll have to wait.”
I don’t mention that the founder of Pickled Dish was a close friend of my grandfather. Back then, the restaurant had a different name, and the menu selection was limited to ten items, but the quality of the food was second to none.
Ownership has passed from one generation to another since, and along with the name change to Pickled Dish, the menu has expanded so it not only satisfies the long time regulars but it attracts new diners.
I could easily cut the line by sending a quick text message to the current owner, who happens to be the founder’s grandson. Pulling strings in this city is easy for me because I’ve built countless relationships from the ground up. Many of them were forged by my grandfather’s connection to the dozens of New Yorkers he met daily.
“I guess the bright side is that we can talk about Randall and Lottie’s wedding gift while we wait.”
And I can stare at her while we do that, so it’s a win-win for everyone.
“We have all the time in the world,” I lie since I have a meeting back at the office in less than an hour.
She stares at my face. “Are you really you, sir?”
I can’t contain a laugh, so I let it out. It’s loud enough to turn the heads of the people waiting in line with us.
She playfully slaps my shoulder. “You know what I mean. The last few days have been nice. Seeing you outside of the office has been eye-opening for me.”
I won’t tempt fate by asking her what the hell that means. I’ll take it as a compliment.
“You do have a meeting at one,” she reminds me. “Do you want me to push it back a bit?”
I don’t want her attention to leave me, but if she does reschedule it, it means more time like this with her. “See if they’re free at two.”
“On it,” she answers as she tugs her phone out of her purse.
She has the client on the phone in no time flat. As they speak, she gives me the thumbs-up, signaling I get an extra hour to spend just with her.
This day just got a hell of a lot better.
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
Evie
We exit Pickled Dish at fifteen minutes to two with the intention of parting ways. My boss has a meeting in the financial district, and I’m heading back to the office to carry on with the list of tasks he emailed me this morning.
Surprisingly, not one of them involves me racing around the city finding items for him. Most days, I feel like I’m on a timed scavenger hunt, so this is a welcome break.
“I should be back at the office before you leave for the day,” he says, but his gaze is stuck on something over my left shoulder. “If this meeting runs long, I’ll touch base before quitting time.”
“Quitting time” is a fleeting concept in my world. My contract doesn’t specify a time that my workday ends. That’s always been at Mr. Hunt’s discretion.
“You expect to be back by six?” I toss the question out there as if that’s the time I typically break free of the office.
“What was that?” He raises his hand as he asks the question.
I know the gesture isn’t directed at me, so I glance over my shoulder and curse under my breath. “Goddammit.”
Magnus Brewster is on the approach, and since I don’t want him to see my face, I quicken this goodbye so I can get out of his line of sight as soon as possible. I don’t need him to tell my boss that we slept together even though we didn’t.
I didn’t think the exchange I had with Mr. Brewster on the subway would come back to haunt me.
“I’ll talk to you later, sir,” I toss those words out as I brush past him to make my way in the wrong direction.
“The office is that way, Evie,” he calls after me, but I don’t turn back.
I can’t because if I did, I’d have to explain why I lied to one of his former clients, and although I don’t think Reid considers Magnus a friend, I know he values every deal he’s handled.