Total pages in book: 124
Estimated words: 113717 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 569(@200wpm)___ 455(@250wpm)___ 379(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 113717 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 569(@200wpm)___ 455(@250wpm)___ 379(@300wpm)
After I’d started well on the road to panic, I finally saw someone holding up a cardboard with my name on it.
Odd; aunt Marion must’ve asked someone to pick me up, because the person holding my name was most definitely male and not just any male. I stood like a statue and I’m sure my mouth was hanging open as well, as I took in his male beauty.
He was simply gorgeous; dark hair that curled around his ears and piercing green eyes that even from this distance looked captivating.
I’d read that word in one of my books long ago, now I knew what it truly meant as it took a lot of effort for me to drag my eyes away from his.
I made my way over to him a bit hesitantly at first; maybe there was some mistake.
“Are you waiting for me?”
He pulled the sign down in front of him and looked me over. There wasn’t a speck of interest in his eyes, and no wonder. I must look a sight after days on a train with a few bathroom wash-ups as my only grooming. “Are you Gabriella?”
“Yes sir.” I looked down at the ground feeling more inadequate than I’ve ever felt before in my life. His voice was like a dream; I bet he had some kind of training to sound like that.
“I’m Cal, Marion asked me to pick you up, something came up last minute and she couldn’t make it.”
“Oh, sorry to be such a bother.” I’m sure he had better things to be doing with his time than running to the train station to pick up a little nobody like me.
“It’s no trouble; is that all you’ve got?” he pointed his chin down at the threadbare bags at my feet.
“Yes sir.” My face heated up and I felt very gauche in front of this obviously sophisticated man who had to be the most beautiful human being on the planet.
“The name’s Cal sweetheart.” He grabbed my bags and turned to walk off and it took me a few seconds to get my tail moving.
***
CALLAN
This was going to be trouble; I could see it plain as day, poor kid. Marion was expecting a little hayseed hick as she’d been bitching and moaning to me about for the last couple of weeks. “If you feel that way then why did you agree to have the girl come here?” I’d finally broken down and asked, not that I really gave a fuck.
“Well it’s my good deed for the year, plus it looks good if people know that I reach back and help others in need.
You know they’re doing that story about me in the times and giving me that award; and what better way to drum up some good publicity than to let the world see how charitable I am. Besides I need this after the lies that hag told about me when I had to fire her.”
“Which hag would that be?”
“Don’t be cute Callan. Anyway this little plum fell into my lap just at the right time. How could I say no? I’ll have her here until she realizes that every little hayseed from the sticks doesn’t have a Hollywood rags to riches story and then she’ll be on her way.”
“You really are a piece of work.” That’s why I’d called it quits with her a month or so ago. She might be nice to look at, but once you get to know her she’s…well she’s a stone cold bitch.
I maybe could’ve overlooked her shallow, overbearing and pushy ways, if it wasn’t for the fact that she tried to dominate me in and out of bed. That was never gonna happen, so why prolong the agony?
I’d told her that it wasn’t going to work out between us, and though she’d taken the news rather well, I’d seen the look of fury that had flashed through her eyes a split second before she covered it.
I wouldn’t want to be one of her subordinates, I’d heard the stories and was more than convinced that they were true, but she’d always known better, even at her worst, not to fuck with me.
“Well we can be friends still can’t we?” that was her comeback as we sat in the restaurant where I’d taken her that last night to break things off. I didn’t want a scene and wasn’t interested in recriminations.
Her last stunt had been the last straw for me. I’d told her I wasn’t interested in something and she’d tried to make an end run around me then tried to play it off. I don’t have time for games and if you can’t trust the woman you’re fucking, well then, you ought not be fucking her.
I’d done things as amicably as I could, since there was still a working relationship of sorts, and I didn’t need the headache; but no amount of pleading on her part had been able to sway me.