Total pages in book: 153
Estimated words: 155903 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 780(@200wpm)___ 624(@250wpm)___ 520(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 155903 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 780(@200wpm)___ 624(@250wpm)___ 520(@300wpm)
Oh yeah, his hand itched to do that.
“Does she? I thought you fire her,” Juliet said.
“I’ll sort it.” Fucking hell. Why hadn’t he taken a minute to check with Juliet first? But his sister was a hot spot for him.
“You better sort it,” Juliet said. “I liked her.”
That surprised him. It usually took Juliet a long time to warm up to people. Hell, before she’d gotten involved with Brick and Xavier, she’d never called his office and spoken to a stranger.
Although, there was something about Faith that put people at ease.
“Now, enough about my assistant, tell me about this bad dream. And where are your men? Why aren’t they looking after you?”
“Xavier is at the hospital and Brick is at JSI.”
“What? No one is looking after you? Those assholes.” He was going to give them a piece of his mind.
“You do remember I’m an adult, right, Big Bad?”
“Don’t be getting sassy with me. You’re not too big for me to take over my knee.”
“I don’t think Brick and Xavier would be very happy if you did that.”
Like he cared.
“What was the dream?”
“It was about zombies eating your brains. I just wanted to make sure that hadn’t happened and that you’re taking precautions against zombies.”
“Juliet,” he said in a stern voice. “Have you been watching zombie movies again?”
“I plead the fifth.”
“No more zombie movies.”
“Are you being careful?” she asked worriedly. “I don’t want anything to happen to you.”
“Nothing is going to happen to me,” he soothed. All hint of sternness was gone from his voice. “I would never allow that to happen.”
“You promise? I don’t . . . I couldn’t live without you.”
“Hey, you won’t have to. Nothing will happen. I’m right here.”
He heard her take a deep breath and hated how broken it sounded, as if she was holding back her tears.
“I’m going to come visit, Mini. Okay? I’ll get a flight out there tomorrow or the day after.”
“No!”
He blinked in surprise.
“That was actually the other reason I was calling. Xavier, Brick, and I . . . we were wondering if we could come see you.”
Huh. That was unexpected.
“You want to come see me here?” he asked.
“Yes. Is that all right?”
“Of course it’s all right,” he said gruffly. “Just unexpected. You are always welcome to come see me, you know that.”
“I just miss you,” Juliet told him. “And we thought we’d visit you this time. Although, we want to stay at the Boston house. Manhattan is too much for Brick.”
“I can manage that. And I miss you too.”
Faith knew it was wrong to eavesdrop.
She’d just left the building when she realized she still had Reuben’s credit card. The last thing she needed was for him to accuse her of stealing. So, she’d forced herself to come back upstairs to give it to him.
That’s when she’d heard him ask Juliet if she had been watching zombie movies.
And, well, she hadn’t wanted to interrupt. Zombie movie watching was serious business. Besides, she didn’t think he’d like her walking in on a call to his precious sister.
“I’ll give you all the big brother hugs you need. Hear me?”
Dear Lord. Was it wrong that she was now melting for this man? She knew it was.
He was grouchy, bossy, and mean.
But he clearly adored his sister. And it made her miss her own brothers.
Was she being an idiot by cutting herself off from them? But how could she face them when she was so darn ashamed of herself?
Corn and camellias. Corn and camellias. Corn and camellias.
This time, her happy words weren’t bringing her any joy.
Sneaking away, she put the card on her desk and headed to the elevator.
“Faith!”
Come on, elevator.
“Faith!” he called out again.
No. Nope. She was not doing this. She was not.
He reached out and grabbed her forearm. His touch was light, but it still jarred her. Mainly because her stupid body wanted more of his touch.
When it shouldn’t.
“Blossom,” he said in a much softer voice as she shied back. “Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you.”
“You didn’t.” She rubbed her arm. “I just didn’t want you to touch me.”
To her surprise, shock filled his face for a moment. “Did you think I would harm you?”
“No,” she told him. “I just don’t feel like being growled at. I’m leaving. And I didn’t take anything that wasn’t mine. Do you want to check my bag?” She held out her handbag.
“Of course I don’t want to check your bag. I want you to come back to work.”
“No,” she said quietly.
Shoot.
Why did she say that? She wanted this job. Well, it was more like she desperately needed it.
“No?”
“No.” Where the heck was the elevator?
It dinged, the doors opening.
“Blossom,” he said as she stepped in. “Stay.”
“No.”
He moved so the doors couldn’t shut.
“What are you doing?” she asked, alarmed.
“I’m not letting you go until you agree to work for me again.”