Total pages in book: 83
Estimated words: 81843 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 409(@200wpm)___ 327(@250wpm)___ 273(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81843 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 409(@200wpm)___ 327(@250wpm)___ 273(@300wpm)
“I’ll take that under advisement.”
Her eyes sparkle as she settles against her seat, awaiting the next move in my latest situation involving my boss. Our back-and-forth amuses Brandi. It amuses me, too.
Jason and I met the summer I turned seven. My parents had just divorced, and my mother began housekeeping for Jason’s mother, Rory. Rory was kind enough to allow Mom to bring me with her. I spent those long, sunny days romping through the vast Brewer property with the two youngest kids, Bianca and Tate.
It was the best summer of my life—especially one scorching July afternoon.
Tate was making me pitch a baseball to him in a grassy area next to the pool. My arm was getting sore, but I wasn’t about to complain. I wound up, launched the baseball at the makeshift plate, and stepped on a bee.
I screamed bloody murder.
Then, out of nowhere, one of Tate’s older brothers scooped me up in his muscled arms and carried me like a princess into the kitchen. Through my tears, I committed everything about Jason to memory—the scent of his sweat, the kindness in his eyes, and how safe I felt with him. He was my hero, and I’ve been slightly smitten with him ever since.
I tap my raggedy fingernails against Brandi’s desktop. “What are the odds that I could get you to lie to him for me? Tell him I had to go to HR for an emergency. Or that I got up here and got violently sick and had to head home for the greater good of humankind?”
“What in the world did you do this time?”
I grimace at the memory. “Can’t tell you. But rest assured, it was something I’ll have regret dreams about for the rest of my life—”
A buzzing sound cuts me off. Brandi snickers as she pushes the speakerphone button.
“Yes, Mr. Brewer?” she says.
“Don’t tell him I’m here,” I whisper.
“Did I just hear Chloe?” he asks.
My eyes go wide. “What the hell? Do I not have any privacy today?”
“Get back here,” he says.
His tone is firm and rough. Yet a hint of mischievousness is embedded in the words, making me smile—and raising my temperature.
“Yes, sir,” I say sweetly, turning toward the hallway leading to his office. I’m stopped by a tissue being thrust at my side.
Brandi hits a button, and Jason’s call is disconnected.
“Wipe your mouth. You have a tiny blue stain in the corner right there.” She touches the side of her lip. “I can’t let you go back there looking like you sucked off a cartoon character.”
I take the tissue from her. “This is why you get paid the big bucks.”
“Sure.” She laughs, holding out a small wastepaper basket. “You can repay me by telling me what this is all about.”
I drop the tissue in the trash and head down the corridor. “I can’t do that. Think the worst, and you’re probably on track.”
“You’re no fun.”
Jason’s oversized door looms ahead. But instead of going straight to the end of the hall, I make a slight detour and stop in my office. Jason is silent on the other side of the wall connecting our spaces.
I flip on the light and pull a mirror from my desk. I'm ready to see him after a quick once-over and a fresh coat of lip gloss.
A pulse of excitement races through my veins. It doesn’t matter that I’ve worked for Brewer Air for three years, spent seven months as his EA, and have known him most of my life—or that I consider him as much a friend as I do my boss. There’s no real way to prepare for those green eyes and sexy smile.
I smooth my dress, straighten my powder-pink cardigan, and set my shoulders back.
Here goes nothing …
“You wanted to see me?” I ask, swinging our adjoining door open without so much as a knock.
He leans against a wide desk crafted from the same dark wood as Brandi’s, with one arm crossed over his thick chest. The other hand reaches his mouth, his thumb feathering against his lips as he waits for me to approach him.
My God, he’s handsome.
His expression is controlled and unreadable. It’s a game he plays. He tries to throw me off with his aloofness.
He should know by now that it won’t work on me.
“You’re already getting on my nerves today,” I say.
This earns me a slight, crooked grin.
“Nickie says there’s a rumor that we’re preparing for a layoff,” I say, moving across his office to the windows overlooking Nashville. “I assured her it was just gossip.”
“I heard.”
I look at him over my shoulder. “You heard the gossip?”
“No, I heard you telling her it was gossip.”
“Eavesdropping is a nasty habit, Mr. Brewer.”
He smiles cheekily. “So is telling your coworkers you would do anything for your boss.”
My core melts as I absorb the heat in his eyes.