Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 94279 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 471(@200wpm)___ 377(@250wpm)___ 314(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94279 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 471(@200wpm)___ 377(@250wpm)___ 314(@300wpm)
“Do what?”
I jumped. “You scared the crap out of me.”
Elijah leaned against my office doorway. “Sorry, I thought you were talking to me.” His brows furrowed. “Who the hell were you talking to?”
“Come in, come in.” I waved impatiently. “Shut the door behind you.”
I lifted my phone and used two fingers to zoom in on the Instagram photo for a better look. Confirming what I’d thought I’d seen, I shut my eyes and blew out a deep breath. “I posted a nip-slip pic.”
“A what?”
“A photo with a nipple that slipped out!”
“Of you?”
“I wish! It’s one of the bridesmaids from Saturday night. I took a few photos for the magazine’s Insta. I’d completely forgotten I did it until I got the message from Bill.”
“The boss noticed it?”
“I’m not sure, but he messaged and said he was coming down in a little while to talk to me with the big boss. I thought it was about the coat closet, which would be bad enough. But then I saw the magazine’s Instagram had gained a lot of followers, so I took a closer look. I don’t even remember posting anything.” I turned the phone around and held it out to Elijah.
His eyes widened. “That’s a whole-ass nipple. How did you miss that thing?”
I dropped my head into my hands. “I was drunk. I made out with that guy in the coat closet and then—”
“Whoa! Back up. What guy in the coat closet?”
“Wilder. The guy with the ridiculous blue eyes.”
“Him?” Elijah’s lips curved to a dirty grin. “Nice!”
“No, it’s not nice! It was a stupid thing to do. One minute we were having drinks, the next we were eating cupcakes.”
“Cupcakes? I didn’t see any cupcakes?”
“I don’t even know where Wilder got them. After they cut the cake, he asked me if I wanted a piece. I said I preferred cupcakes to cake, and a little while later, we were eating cupcakes in the coat closet. Then we were making out. The mother of the bride walked in on us—and she’s friends with Ted Hayes, the CEO of Hayes Media, the guy who owns the company that owns this magazine!” I pulled my hair at the roots. “Now I don’t know if they’re on their way down to fire me for that or the nipple pic.”
“Give me your phone,” Elijah said. “Let’s get rid of the evidence.”
“It’s the internet. Nothing is ever really gone!”
“We can at least limit the damage. It will look better if we get sued.”
My eyes grew wide. “Sued! Oh my God. You think the woman is going to sue us?”
“Damn…” Elijah said as he pressed buttons on my phone. “This thing has eight hundred thousand likes. Do you usually get that many?”
“No!”
“Oh.” He frowned. “Sorry. Maybe no one’s noticed.”
“Why do you think it has eight hundred thousand likes? I haven’t been able to get more than ten thousand the last few months. My stats have been awful since I lost my mojo.”
“I didn’t mean no one, no one. I meant Bill or Hayes.”
“Then why are they on their way down here?” I yelled. “The CEO doesn’t stop by to chitchat with me on Monday mornings!”
“Well, at least there’s one good thing.”
“What could possibly be good right now?”
“You’re not going to have to wait long to find out.” Elijah lifted his chin toward the hall. “Because here they come now…”
“Fuck.” I opened my desk drawer and tossed my phone inside, as if hiding it would help.
Bill, the managing editor of Bride magazine, knocked and peeked his head in the door. I forced a smile and waved him in. “Hey, Bill.”
“Morning, Sloane.” He entered and stepped aside for the gentleman behind him—the one in the expensive three-piece suit. “Have you met Mr. Hayes yet?”
I shook my head. “No, I haven’t had the pleasure.”
“Ted Hayes.” The CEO stepped forward, extending his hand. “Nice to meet you, Sloane.”
This guy is polite when he fires someone. We exchanged a firm handshake, and I stayed standing after.
Elijah excused himself, slinking out as fast as he could. Over his shoulder, he gave me a look that said Sorry I didn’t stay and join you in front of the firing squad.
Yeah. Thanks for the support, buddy.
“So how was the wedding this weekend? How was Piper?” Mr. Hayes asked.
“Oh, it was very nice. The bride was, uh, sweet.”
Mr. Hayes busted out laughing. “Really? Because she’s usually a spoiled brat. Or maybe you’re just being kind because you know I’m friends with her parents?”
I smiled. “The wedding venue was lovely.”
He nodded. “That’s more like it. And my son? I hope he was hospitable?”
I hadn’t gotten to talk to him aside from the introductions, because I’d stupidly been preoccupied with a certain blue-eyed jackass. So I gave a generic answer.
“Yes, Ted was very nice. I can see the resemblance.”
Mr. Hayes snickered. “He’s usually a bigger ass than Piper, especially when he’s around all those douchebags from Harvard. Went to state school myself, got a fine education. But you know how it goes. You do for your kids—and make them into the very people we thought were assholes growing up.”