Total pages in book: 224
Estimated words: 215705 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1079(@200wpm)___ 863(@250wpm)___ 719(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 215705 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1079(@200wpm)___ 863(@250wpm)___ 719(@300wpm)
“None you want to see I promise you,” she says. “And on that bright note, I’m going to get coffee at the coffee shop. Want one?”
“Yes. Please.”
She departs, leaving me wallowing in my dissatisfaction with our team’s performance, despite the fact that Elijah is out of the picture. Had he been in the picture, we would have failed to provide him with an enticing investment. Elijah who Reid and I never finished talking about, a man on a mission for revenge, that could land right here with this company. I need to know what that’s about. Reid has to tell me.
For now, I set that aside, and I think about the comments about my father. Some people really wouldn’t do business with him, and I think hard about who else is on that list. I look down my prospect list, highlighting contacts that were far warmer to me than my father. Somewhere in this process, Sallie brings me coffee and the little egg white quiches I eat often.
Once I’ve downed my breakfast, I home in on one name: Marcus Phelps, one of the money men behind the New York Rockets baseball team comes to mind. He seemed like he wanted to do business, but something held him back. I dial him and leave a message. He calls me right back. “I was going to call you,” he says, his voice flirty as usual, because he flirts with everyone. He’s a real player. He can’t even stop himself. “I hear you’re up for CEO to replace your father.”
“I am,” I say. “Does that change things for you?”
“Maybe. Let’s have lunch. I’m headed out of town for a week. Let’s set a date for when I get back.”
We set our date and disconnect. I’m about to call through a few other prospects when Reid calls. “Hey, baby,” he says softly.
My stomach flutters with the endearment, and my reaction tells a real story. We’ve gone from me calling him an asshole, to here, and we’ve done it quickly. I wait for this to feel uncomfortable, but I let the man go down on me the night I met him right before I cuffed him. I’m pretty outside any supposed boundaries with Reid.
“Hey,” I reply. “How are things? Did you settle?”
“Not yet. I’m meeting him again at three but we’re close.”
Noting the strain in his voice, I ask, “What has you worried?”
“Who says I’m worried?”
“Worried or weary or something. I hear it in your voice.”
He’s silent several beats and then says, “I’m headed to one of the stockholders’ offices to head off a problem.”
“About Elijah?”
“Yes,” he confirms. “About Elijah.”
“Are you going to tell me what’s between you two?”
He’s silent another two beats and then he says, “We’ll talk,” and moves on. “I won’t be in until after my meeting at the DA. How are things there?”
“Good. I got a meeting set up with a big prospect.”
“You can tell me all about it tonight, naked, in my bed or anywhere in my apartment that suits you. Location is optional. Being naked is not. Did you look around?”
“No. I wanted to wait for you. I want you to show me what you want me to see.”
“Did you now?”
“Yes. I did. I do.” I hesitate. “Reid.”
“Don’t swing this conversation back to Elijah.”
“What if I can pull him out of revenge mode?”
“No.”
“Reid—”
“No, Carrie. I need to go.”
“I’m not done with this topic.”
“But I am, at least, until you’re naked.”
“You’re obsessed with me being naked.”
“I’m just obsessed with you, Carrie.”
My stomach flutters again. “You are?”
“Yes. I am. Everything about you. One partial obsession you’ve stirred in me comes to mind.”
“What obsession?”
“My desire to cuff you to my bed, with the very cuffs you cuffed me with the night we met. You’re going to let me.”
Heat rushes over me. “No.”
“Why? You don’t trust me, Carrie?”
The words tease, but my brow furrows with the certainty that there’s more beneath their surface. “Actually, Reid, I do trust you.”
“Those words will be tested, Carrie. I have to go. Call me if you need me.” He hangs up.
Those words will be tested. He’s not talking about the cuffs. He’s talking about his certainty I will soon hate him again and I want to know what that means. Actually, I want to know a lot of things. Like what’s the story with Elijah and what does everyone but me know about my father. Maybe I’m the one who needs to cuff Reid Maxwell again, but this time, he’ll be naked first, and I won’t be leaving.
Chapter thirty-one
Carrie
It’s nearly four in the afternoon and I’m sitting behind my desk with Sallie in front of me again, when my intercom buzzes and I hear, “My office. Now.” It’s Reid, of course, announcing that he, and the asshole persona he slips into at work, are now present and in the building.