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)
“Four shots,” Jagger corrected. “I asked the bartender, right before I fired him.”
“What? Why would you do that?”
“Three men standing around one young woman like they’re waiting to pounce, and he’s letting them get her plastered?” He shook his head. “Not happening.”
“He wasn’t letting anything. I’m an adult.”
Jagger put his hands on his hips. “There’s a back door at the end of the hall. We’ll go out that way so people from the office don’t see you like this.”
“See me like what? I’m fine now.”
Jagger’s eyes dropped to my shirt. I followed his line of sight and found vomit splatter—bright red, just like my cosmo. I shut my eyes. “I’m mortified.”
He put his hand on my shoulder. “Come on. Let’s get you out of here.”
CHAPTER 11
* * *
Sutton
I didn’t ask questions as we stepped into the elevator. Jagger slipped a keycard into the panel, and the door closed. I felt his eyes on me as we began to move.
“You feel okay?”
“My stomach, yes. My pride? Not so much.”
He smiled. “You’ll survive.”
The elevator car picked up speed. “Where are we going?”
“I live in the building. I’ll give you a shirt to change into.”
“Oh.” I nodded. “Thank you.”
Jagger Langston didn’t just live in the building. He occupied the entire top floor. My mouth dropped open as I walked into the marbled foyer. I wasn’t a stranger to nice New York City apartments. My mother and Edmund lived in a three bedroom off Central Park, but this—this was something else. Floor-to-ceiling glass lined one entire wall of the spacious living room. The New York skyline was so crisp and perfectly on display, it made me question whether there was actually a barrier.
“Wow. Your view is incredible.”
He held out a hand for me to walk first, and I went straight to the window, forgetting all about my puke-stained shirt.
Jagger came up behind me. “It’s all one piece of glass—twelve feet high by thirty-two feet long. The previous owner had all the individual windows removed—he didn’t want any panes or interruptions to the view. Sometimes when I stand here, I feel like a betta fish in a fishbowl.”
I snort-laughed. “Wouldn’t you be an alpha fish?”
Jagger raised a brow and smirked, shaking his head. “I’ll go get you that shirt.”
He came back to the living room with a pressed white dress shirt on a hanger in one hand and a T-shirt in the other. “This is the best I can do.”
I reached for the dress shirt. “Thank you.”
He pointed. “Bathroom is the first door on the left. Help yourself to whatever you need.”
The guest bathroom walls were covered in sumptuous textured wallpaper, deep brown with raised gold cherry blossoms that shimmered in the lighting. I was so caught up in the impressive space that I almost forgot the reason I was in it—at least until I got a load of myself in the mirror.
Oh my God. I leaned forward and cringed. Not only was there a giant splatter of red on my shirt, but my hair was a disheveled mess and mascara streaked down one of my cheeks. No wonder he’d whisked me out of the company event. I spent the next five minutes trying to clean up as best as I could. But I remained a train wreck, and I dreaded going back out there.
Then came a soft knock at the door.
“You okay?” Jagger asked.
“I’m fine. Just…mortified after seeing what I look like.”
“Even makeup down your cheeks doesn’t make you less attractive. Trust me, it pisses me off.” He paused. “Open up, if you’re decent. I have an extra toothbrush, if you want it.”
I unlocked the door and took the toothbrush and toothpaste. Jagger looked down at my shirt—his shirt on me. I’d tied it at the waist and rolled up the sleeves. He shook his head and grumbled, “Looks better on you.”
A few minutes later, I emerged with a scrubbed face and minty breath. I found Jagger staring out the window with a glass of amber liquid in his hand. His feet were set wide in a power stance I really liked. He looked lost in thought, but more than that, he looked lonely. It made me wonder if he’d even enjoyed his time with the blonde. I walked over and stood with him. “Where did your date go?”
“What date?”
“The tall blonde?”
He squinted at me before recognition dawned on his face. “You mean Marla?”
I shrugged. “I wouldn’t know her name.”
“If you’re referring to the woman I walked into the building with tonight, her name is Marla Emerson. She runs the London Apex office. We keep a guest apartment in the building for when executives from our other offices come to town.”
“Oh.” As if vomiting on myself wasn’t bad enough. “Sorry. The way you touched her seemed familiar, and I just thought…”
“It should be familiar by now. Marla and I have known each other for twenty-five years. My mother had some mental-health issues when I was growing up. She went in and out of the hospital a lot, so Marla’s parents became my foster parents. I stayed with them during the times my mom wasn’t able to take care of me.”