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)
Jagger smiled. “I used to get excited about quant models, too.”
“Used to? What happened? Did you get burned out or something?”
He shook his head. “I don’t have that kind of free time anymore. These days I go to a dozen meetings a day instead.”
“You’re the boss.” I shrugged. “Just don’t go to the meeting.”
He smiled. “You make it sound so simple.”
“Or…” I pointed my fork at him. “You’re making it more complicated than it is.”
He laughed. “Maybe you’re right.”
We managed to keep things light while we finished eating. After, I insisted on cleaning up. His dishwasher was empty, but I wasn’t ready to leave that fast, so I washed the dishes by hand before drying them.
“Any good plans this weekend?” he asked.
I folded the hand towel. “Not really. I need to find a gym I can join for a few months.”
“There’s an Equinox right near the office.”
“Let me rephrase that. I need to find an affordable gym for the summer.”
Jagger smiled. “Apex employees get a pretty good discount if they join.”
“Oh really? Maybe I’ll check it out. What about you? Any plans this weekend?”
“Work all day tomorrow, hit the gym on the way home. Nothing too exciting.”
I nibbled my bottom lip, debating asking what I really wanted to ask. Screw it—I’d asked this man if I could snoop around his apartment and then got caught doing so. Though I felt a heck of a lot more sober after eating, so I wasn’t as brazen. I could still probably blame it on the shots. “No date?”
Jagger’s eyes met mine. He shook his head. “Not this weekend.”
A stab of jealousy hit. If he didn’t have any dates lined up, wouldn’t he have just said no? But “not this weekend” alluded to him having one another weekend, didn’t it?
“What about next weekend?”
“What about it?”
“Do you have one then? You said not this weekend.”
“I’d have to check my calendar. But I don’t believe so.”
“Oh.” I looked down, suddenly feeling awkward—like I’d overstayed my welcome. “I guess I should get going.”
Jagger’s face was impassive. I had no idea what he was thinking. Yet I waited to see if he’d suggest I stay for a while. When he didn’t, I felt deflated.
“Okay, then,” I mumbled and checked my watch. “Is there a back exit to the building? Happy hour is until eleven, and I wouldn’t want anyone to see me coming off the elevator and get the wrong idea.”
“You’re concerned about what people might think of you?”
I shook my head. “Not me.”
“I told you, I give no fucks what people think of me.” Jagger lifted his cell phone and texted while he spoke. “There’s a service entrance, but you’re not taking it. Sam will drive you home.”
“It’s fine. I can take the subway.”
“Sam,” he said firmly, “will take you home.”
Something inside me stirred at the sternness of his tone. I liked it. A lot. Though I also found that confusing. If I’d told Brendan I was going to do A, and he’d told me to do B, it would’ve only made me want to do A more. Yet I found myself nodding and liking the smile on Jagger’s face when I didn’t put up more of a fight. “Okay.”
“Good. He’ll be here in five minutes.”
Too soon, he walked me to the door.
“Thank you for saving me from making a fool of myself tonight,” I said. “And for dinner.”
“Not a problem. I enjoyed the company.” He paused and caught my eye. “A little too much.”
I tilted my head. “Is there really such a thing as enjoying yourself too much?”
Jagger smiled ruefully. “There most certainly is, Ms. Holland.”
CHAPTER 12
* * *
Jagger
14 years ago
“Oh my God. What the heck did you do?” Lexi demanded as I walked in. She was sitting on the couch in Zane’s garage while Zane and Ryder played pool.
It was eleven o’clock in the morning, and we were all supposed to be in school, but Zane’s father had a new girlfriend and didn’t give a shit about much else. He’d been sleeping at her place the last two nights.
Lexi walked over and rubbed my stubbly head. “I loved your hair. Why did you shave it?”
“I didn’t have a choice.”
“Did you lose a bet or something?”
That was a good guess since Ryder’s eyebrows hadn’t fully grown back in yet—the result of a wager we’d made about who would win the Knicks game last month.
I shook my head. “I joined the Marines.”
Lexi’s eyes bulged, and my two buddies’ heads swung toward me, their game forgotten. “What?” they all said in unison.
I shrugged. “Fucking Judge Hanover. He gave me two choices—prison or the military. I’d rather be the government’s bitch for four years than the bitch of some three-hundred-pound biker named Viper doing life.”
“But…but…what about us?” Lexi whined.
I liked Lexi. She was fun and up for anything, but the two of us weren’t going anywhere except the backseat of her car. “Sorry. But you’re better off. Maybe you’ll meet a nice guy who isn’t a fuckup.”