Total pages in book: 42
Estimated words: 40867 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 204(@200wpm)___ 163(@250wpm)___ 136(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 40867 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 204(@200wpm)___ 163(@250wpm)___ 136(@300wpm)
Light laughter filled the room as I opened the door and then shut it. Heading back to my office, I tried to keep my hands from shaking.
I sat at my desk, pulled up the Word document I’d been working on earlier, and quickly finished it. By the end of the day, a new chapter in my life would begin. Again.
• • •
Pacing back and forth, I went over everything a million times in my head. My gaze caught on the resignation letter on my computer screen. I enjoyed this job. Loved being a part of Maxwell and Locke, so was I really ready to step away from it because I couldn’t control my feelings for Mason?
Chewing on my fingernail, I walked over to the wall of windows. I’d run away from the last problem I’d had with a man, and I’d vowed I’d never do it again. But things with Mason were so different. My feelings for him were not the same as with Ron. Maybe it was because nothing had ever really happened between us. The attraction might simply be because I knew he was out of reach.
I heard a light knock on my door and I turned to face it. “Come in.”
Ashley walked in with a basket of fruit and a huge balloon that said, Thank You, tied in the middle.
“What’s this for?” I asked with a chuckle.
“Mr. Quinn asked me to get them for you for helping him out today.”
A lump formed in my throat. He could be such a great guy when he wanted to.
“With everything that happened with his niece and sister-in-law last night, he appreciated you stepping up for him.”
I drew my eyebrows together in confusion. “Mason…I mean, Mr. Quinn has a niece?”
Ashley smiled. “Yes. His younger brother and his wife Kris have a little girl. Almost two months old. They christened her this past Saturday at Saint Patrick’s church.”
The memory of Mason standing on the church steps this past weekend flashed through my mind. Was the baptism what he had been running late for that day?
Smiling, I asked, “I might have seen them when I was out for a run. What does his sister-in-law look like? Do you know?”
“Yes, Mr. Quinn has a picture of them on his desk.”
My brows rose. I’d never seen it. How had I missed it?
“She’s about my age. Dark hair and a total knock out. So is his younger brother,” she added with a waggle of her brows.
I let out a light-hearted chuckle.
“I feel terrible for her, though. Mr. Quinn said their heat went out late Sunday night when his brother was out of town, so he drove in and picked them up and helped them get settled into the Ritz while they waited for their heat to get fixed.”
I gasped, positive I had a befuddled expression on my face. Wait. He was with his sister-in-law? Both times, I’d thought he was with some hookup. Does that mean? Maybe he? Maybe we?
My mind started running in a million different directions.
“Ms. Night, are you okay?”
Lifting my eyes from the spot on the rug I’d been staring at, I gazed at Ashley. A huge smile moved across my face.
“Is Mr. Quinn in his office, Ashley?”
She nodded.
“Just set those on the table over there,” I said. “I need to speak with him.”
“Oh. Um. Okay, well, let me see if he—crap you’re moving fast!” She rushed over, set the fruit down, and tried to get ahead of me. “Let me call to make sure he—”
“This won’t take long, Ashley.”
After walking to Mason’s door, I didn’t bother to knock before I stepped in. I stopped in my tracks when I saw him standing there, gazing out over the city, lost in thought.
Glancing over my shoulder, I winked at Ashley who lifted her brows in surprise and then covered her mouth to hide her smile.
I quietly shut the door and made my way closer to him.
“My whole life this was what I thought I wanted.”
I stopped walking when he spoke.
“I watched my father build a successful company in London and then in Chicago. He worked his ass off until my mother finally talked him into retiring and heading back home to London. Did I ever tell you I was born in England, Saylor?”
My breath caught. How in the world did he know it was me? He’d yet to turn around.
I cleared my throat. “No, but I heard you were, and I can hear a slight accent sometimes when you get angry.”
“Or drunk,” he added with a small chuckle. “I’m not sure if this is what I want anymore.”
With a confused expression, I asked, “What do you mean?”
He turned and stared directly at me. I had to reach out and take hold of the leather chair to steady myself. No matter how many times I looked at Mason, he always seemed to take my breath away.