Total pages in book: 57
Estimated words: 53671 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 268(@200wpm)___ 215(@250wpm)___ 179(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 53671 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 268(@200wpm)___ 215(@250wpm)___ 179(@300wpm)
It’s all walled in, and I crank open the closed door without thinking to knock. Why would I knock? It’s my meeting, after all.
I stop dead in my tracks when I see my boss sitting at the small oval-shaped blonde wood table. He’s smiling. He’s looking all shiny-eyed, bushy-tailed, and in a good mood. But it’s not a promotion giving mood. He’s wearing one of those—the world as you previously knew it is seriously fucking over, and I’m okay with that, but you might not be—kind of looks.
And sitting right across from him is Kayden Deroy.
Kayden Deroy!
Kayden—Serial Billionaire Dater, which is a nickname straight from the headline of a magazine, by the way, big business tycoon and corporate takeover specialist. He only has one dimple in his right cheek, but he only needs one. One is definitely enough. He’s sitting down, but his posture is maddeningly at ease yet powerful, which is so contradictory that it’s frustrating. In short, even though he’s sitting, he gives off a lot of standing vibe. He’s perfectly upright, his back ramrod straight, but he might as well be leaning against the corner of a building with a bad boy scowl on his face, drawing everyone in.
Kayden sucks all the oxygen out of a room without even trying. Or maybe that’s just me because my lungs feel like deflated bags, and I’m pretty sure it’s not from my frantic run from my car to the boardroom.
My palms go damp, and even though I’m standing across the room, I can feel the heat that Kayden’s emanating. Yes, heat. Not shade. He’s perfectly composed, as though he’s never seen me before in his entire life, which I happen to know has been a good few long years. I know a lot about Kayden. Like when his birthday is—May twenty-seventh—what his favorite food is, or at least used to be—tacos—how his face lights up when he holds a puppy, how he has a secret weakness for babies, how he is wickedly smart and can solve any math problem, and what he looks like without clothes on.
Fuck. So not going there ever again.
I also happen to know for a fact that I’m the reason the guy—who, by the way, truly is god’s gift to womankind with his broad build, chiseled features, mahogany hair, and eyes to match—is a serial dater.
Not that I keep tabs on him or anything. It’s just hard not to notice when someone’s taking over pretty much the whole world and eludes to one ‘evil dragon of a woman from college’ in interviews he’s given. I’m not just blowing my own horn on this one, and I’m also not delusional. I really am the dragon who wrecked the guy. I know this for a fact because I was the only one Kayden dated in college. And right before we graduated, I broke his heart by breaking up with him. I know I broke his heart because he told me so the night it happened. It went a little like this: ‘Don’t do this, Rea. You’re breaking my heart.’
Yeah. So…
If he’s here, I know I’m in serious trouble. There ain’t no promotion happening today, boys and girls. I’d say my entire career just went straight down the crappiest of crappers.
I lean weakly against the wall and wait for my doom. If Sadie were here, she’d probably tell me that my day just went from seriously shitty to a heck of a lot worse—carrots and cucumber style.
CHAPTER 2
Kayden
Watching Rea lean weakly against the wall, I observe two things. Neither of them is how beautiful she looks even though she’s wilted, frazzled, and has something wrong with her face. She looks like she crawled through hell and back to get to this meeting. I’ve steeled myself against any and all of her possible charms—fire breathing dragon, damsel in distress, a fairy in the woods, fairest of all fair maidens, the most sought after beauty in the land, temptress incarnate. Whatever the fairy tale—Rea could fit them all—she’s not getting through the invisible armor I came wearing to this battle.
I immediately notice that Rea looks like she’s in her vampire slaying, ass-kicking of all assholes mode. Don’t fuck with Rea when she’s taking no prisoners. She probably thinks I’m here for revenge, and she’s getting ready to defend herself.
She has no idea why I’m here. It’s a long, complicated story set off by a random and not so random chain of events. Ultimately, my breaking point came six months ago when the woman I was attempting to date at the time told me that whoever broke me had done a real fine job of it, and I was therefore unfit for any other human.
Everyone knew my reputation. I was never going to settle down. Everyone also knew about the fire breathing dragon from college. I’d unwisely made a joke about it to the lady interviewing me for some story about my singleness because she was nervous, and bam! The next thing I knew, it ended up in print. I always thought I’d get over it—one day. The fire breathing dragon, I mean. Not the interview.