Total pages in book: 83
Estimated words: 75783 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 379(@200wpm)___ 303(@250wpm)___ 253(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75783 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 379(@200wpm)___ 303(@250wpm)___ 253(@300wpm)
Looking up from my food, I notice the way Harper tries to stifle a yawn. “Late night?” I ask.
“Nothing I can’t handle,” she replies. This girl really wants to go to art school, doesn’t she? Somehow, she even manages to sound pleasant—almost perky.
Which of course makes me want to test her. She thinks she can handle anything? We’ll see about that. “What do I have on my schedule today?”
When she sets down the iPad, I know this is it. This is when she confesses to not having the first clue how to access my schedule or manage any of the tasks she’ll be responsible for.
“You’ll be in catch-up meetings with four senior executives to get their thoughts on a potential merger before your lunch meeting with Richard Belmont at La Strada. That will take place at noon and is slated to last for two hours. After that point, you have a video call at two-thirty back in your office, and your schedule is blacked out until four o’clock.”
She recites all of that without so much as glancing down at the tablet, and once she’s finished, she picks it up, one finger hovering over the screen. “Is there anything you need me to add?”
“I don’t think so.” All right, so she memorized a single day’s schedule. Not exactly a Herculean feat, though I can appreciate her eager attitude. “You must have worked all night.”
“I was busy,” she admits, going back to her scrambled eggs.
“That must be why you look so tired,” I muse, wrapping my mouth around a piece of toast to conceal the grin I can’t hold back at the way her head snaps up. Come on. Tell me what a dick I am. I know she’s dying to. Just like yesterday, when all that self-righteous rage hung around her in a cloud of heat. I want to see how far that fiery temper will take her and also have the pleasure of reeling her back in.
There’s no time to revel now. “Let’s move,” I murmur, expressing my thanks to Maggie before heading to the front door, where my briefcase is waiting. I expect Harper to scramble around, trying to catch up, but she’s ready to go.
Fine, so I’m slightly impressed, but it’s going to take a lot more than being attentive on the first day to convince me there’s anything remotely worthwhile in having her support me.
Because the pleasure of watching her hips sway as she walks on those mile-high heels can’t be the only benefit. I’m still not completely sure this isn’t a test from Dad to see if I can handle my new responsibilities while juggling a new employee. I only know there’s no room for failure here.
Which is why, getting out of the limo, I murmur, “Don’t embarrass me today.” Her jaw tightens, but she doesn’t say a word, settling for a firm nod. Probably can’t trust herself to say anything. She’s already shown more self-control than I would’ve given her credit for. It bodes well, not that I would offer her the compliment.
She hasn’t earned it by the time we emerge from the elevator, so I can lead her down the long hall, which divides the building’s top floor. It’s a well-oiled machine up here. No chit-chat in the break room, no bullshitting over fantasy football or whatever these people use to fill their free time. Aside from a few soft murmurs of recognition from passing staff, there’s nothing but pleasant buzzing in the air as everybody works.
“This is your office.” I wave an arm toward the open door a few feet down from my own at the far end of the floor.
She stops in the doorway, and her mouth falls open before she can stop herself. “I have my own office?” she asks with disbelief.
“That’s the general idea.” She can pinch herself later. “And this office is mine.” I continue on, and soon the sound of her rapid footfalls rings out behind me.
It never fails. I walk into my office, looking down over the city, and a mixture of pride and satisfaction swells in my chest. Mine. It’s all mine.
And she knows it, which somehow sweetens the feeling.
“You are my general beyond these walls.” Going to my desk, I set down the case containing financials related to this potential merger. “Meaning you let no one through unless they have my approval. I don’t care how hard they cry about an emergency. If I don’t want to see them, they don’t exist, understood?”
“Got it.” The uncertainty in her voice is clear. Hell, it might be fear. I like the sound more than I should.
“Good.” Sitting down, I open my MacBook and tune her out without another word. She’s quick, I have to say, leaving the room once she knows she’s been dismissed. It’s not until I’m ten minutes into my first meeting of the morning that it hits me: the silent dismissal is one of Dad’s patented moves. She’s probably seen it before now.