Total pages in book: 84
Estimated words: 79963 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 400(@200wpm)___ 320(@250wpm)___ 267(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79963 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 400(@200wpm)___ 320(@250wpm)___ 267(@300wpm)
I shook my head free of those memories. I was determined to forge ahead with life and not focus on the things that had gone wrong. Moving back home was a recurring nightmare that I had no intention of making into a reality.
“It’s fine, honestly. You know I’m happy to do it. Plus, I’m starting a job on Monday.”
“Really?” she asked, perking up.
“It’s only temporary, but...”
“Oh well, the offer still stands.”
“Thanks, Mom, but you know me. I love my space.”
“I know,” she said and patted my hand with affection. “You’ve always been so independent. Much more than Rose.” She frowned. “Have you spoken to your sister lately? How is she?”
“I spoke to her yesterday. She’s fine.”
She looked sideways at me. “And Dylan and the girls?”
“Fine too.”
We moved our cleaning stuff to the next room.
“Did she say anything about getting a job?”
“You know the answer to that,” I told her gently as I wiped down a lamp. This was a big bone of contention between my mother and sister. Their conversations frequently ended in shouting matches with Rose accusing Mom of making her out to be lazy. Rose and Dylan had decided that she would stay home until the twins went to school. That didn’t sit well with Mom, but I was with Rose on this one.
“A woman should have something of her own,” Mom grumbled. “You never know when things can change. Dylan earns enough now, but he could lose his job.”
Mom had always been an optimistic person. It was the reason why Henry had managed to convince her to hop onto his dream. But these days, she saw the glass as half-empty, and who could blame her after the financial wringing she had gone through?
“He’s not going to lose his job,” I said. “And even if he did, dentists are in high demand in New York, everyone wants to have a brilliant smile.”
“That is true,” she conceded. “So tell me about this temporary job.”
I told her about Maximus Frost and how he had built his enterprise from scratch. I’d have told my “old mom” about how horrible he was and the bet, and she would probably have wanted in on the fun, but not now. It would probably piss her off that we were taking life so casually by betting on something as important as a job.
Life had become precarious for her. It saddened me to see her worry about everything, but there was nothing I could do about it.
After spending the morning cleaning the house, I made a salad and we sat down to eat lunch together. She regaled me with harmless gossip from the doctor’s office where she worked as an assistant. More than helping with the mortgage, the job kept her busy enough so that when she came home in the evenings, she didn’t dwell too much on what she had lost.
I left after lunch and headed to the farmer’s market to buy veggies for the next week as I’d be at work… working for Maximus Frost.
Chapter 3
Max
“Your coffee, Sir,” the waiter said, placing a cup of steaming black liquid before me.
I grunted a response and took a sip. It was my third cup of the day and it was only nine in the morning. Next week, the plan was to reduce it to a maximum of two cups a day.
Chris, my best friend and second in command joined me, and we briefly discussed the three new companies we were trying to acquire for the next twenty minutes.
Afterwards, we took the short walk back to our offices. Chris got off on his floor and I carried on up to mine. As I got out of the elevator, the security guard who manned my floor called out a morning greeting. Ignoring him I headed straight towards my office. After all this time, he still didn’t get it. His job was not to brown-nose me. His job was to guard the damn premises.
I ground to a halt at the sight of a woman sitting at the desk in my outer office.
“Who the fuck are you?” I barked.
She looked up, her wide blue eyes as calm as a blue lake on a hot summer day and… fucking smiled at me. Standing up, she straightened her pencil skirt as if I had all day to wait for her. She grated on me before she even opened her mouth to speak.
“Good morning, Mr. Frost. My name is—”
“I didn’t ask your name. I asked you what the fuck you’re doing here.” I snapped, cutting her off. I wasn’t interested in what her name was.
“I’m your new personal assistant,” she said, that eerily calm smile never leaving her face.
Robotically calm women gave me the creeps. I narrowed my eyes as I jogged my memory. I didn’t remember the temp agency emailing to let me know that they would send someone. I was just getting used to the peace and quiet.