Total pages in book: 106
Estimated words: 102479 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 512(@200wpm)___ 410(@250wpm)___ 342(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 102479 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 512(@200wpm)___ 410(@250wpm)___ 342(@300wpm)
Miles: Just wanted to say how proud of you I am for not letting the jackrabbit ruin your night. Also, I hate my homophobic father more than ever because he wouldn’t let me try out for the cheerleading squad like I wanted to in fifth grade. Otherwise, I’d have pom-poms and would be waving them around right now because I’m your biggest cheerleader. Love you! XO
Damn him. I sniffled back the stupid tears that threatened. Now I couldn’t skip the bar, pick up a pint of Ben & Jerry’s Half Baked, and go home and eat the entire thing in bed like I was three seconds away from doing. I had to suck it up and do better. And I didn’t want to. Grrr.
Taking a deep breath, I managed to make myself walk the rest of the way to the bar on the ground floor of what’s his name’s building. The last time I was at the Copa it was busy, but tonight it was packed. And I was pretty sure it was mostly Apex employees. I recognized a few faces as I made my way to the bar. Even if the last ten minutes hadn’t packed a one-two punch, I usually needed a little alcohol to take the edge off of mingling with strangers. A glass of wine made my inherent awkwardness feel slightly less clumsy.
Eyeing an empty spot at the far end of the bar, I made my way over. The same bartender who’d been working the last time I was here approached and put down a coaster. “How you doing? What can I get you tonight?”
“I’ll take a merlot, please.” The image of Jagger touching the tall blonde’s back flashed in my head, and I lifted my hand just as the bartender went to walk away. “On second thought, I need something stronger. How about a cosmo instead, please?”
He nodded. “Coming right up.”
I surveyed the crowd as I waited. A few minutes later, the bartender came back with a frosty silver shaker and martini glass. He shook before pouring red liquid to the brim.
“You here for the Apex happy hour?”
“I am, actually.”
“What’s the password?”
“The password?”
He nodded. “They give out a new one each month so we know who we should put on the running tab and who we shouldn’t.”
“Oh. I didn’t realize that. I just started at Apex this week.” I lifted my purse. “No big deal. I’ll just pay for it.”
I was still digging for my wallet when a hand touched the middle of my back. I knew it wasn’t Jagger because I didn’t have goosebumps and the little hairs on my arms weren’t standing up. But also because this hand placement was more innocent and not on my lower back—where Jagger’s had also been with his date earlier.
“Hey there.” Jack smiled. “Glad you decided to come.”
I forced a smile back. “Yeah, me too. Thanks for telling me about it.” I finally produced my credit card.
Jack pointed his eyes down to it. “The drinks are free.”
“I didn’t know the password.”
“Oh, shit. Sorry about that. It’s Hercules tonight.” He looked to the waiting bartender. “She’s with Apex.”
He nodded. “I’ll add it to the tab.”
“Thanks.” Jack leaned an elbow casually on the bar, facing me. “So what did you think of your first week?”
“It was a little overwhelming. Loads of meetings, but I learned a lot.”
“The data-science department is pretty big. Do you want to be a financial analyst?”
I shook my head. “I like the backend side of finance. My master’s is in mathematical and computational finance with an emphasis in quantitative algorithms.”
Jack sipped his drink and grinned. “I don’t even know what that means.”
“It’s just a fancy way of saying I’m a math geek who’s good at building computer models that help simplify quantum trading.”
Two guys I hadn’t met before walked over. One slung an arm around Jack’s neck. “Are you hiding in the corner trying to hog the pretty intern all to yourself?”
Jack rolled his eyes. “I’m going to apologize in advance for these two boneheads. They lost a bet at the office and have to do shots every half hour.” He sighed and gestured between us. “Mo and Larry, this is Sutton Holland. The three of us work together in the legal department,” he explained. “Mo is in compliance, and Larry handles employment issues.”
The taller of the two held out his hand. “Ryan Seeling, and I’m actually the senior director of compliance, which is more superior than Jack’s mere director position. I’m also single, have no children, own my own apartment, and have an eight-ten credit score.”
I laughed. “What, no credit report for me to review?”
The other guy held up his hand. “Please. He has that and the results of his last physical saved in his phone. But I warn you, it’s in the same folder with his dick pics, and I’m going to poke my eyes out if I accidentally see that little thing again.”