Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 88656 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 443(@200wpm)___ 355(@250wpm)___ 296(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88656 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 443(@200wpm)___ 355(@250wpm)___ 296(@300wpm)
“Guess I just enjoy my food,” he admitted. “Sometimes I—”
My phone interrupted him, playing a ringtone I recognized all too well. “Shit, I’m sorry,” I told Kage with a grimace as I answered it. “Hey, babe. I’m in the middle of a… uh… meeting. What’s up?” I offered Kage an apologetic smile as I listened to Layla on the other end of the line.
“Oh, I just wanted to talk to you, I guess,” she said hesitantly. “But if you’re busy, I can call another time. When is good for you?”
“Uh, let me call you back. I’m going to be pretty busy for the next few days with my new job, so I’m not sure when I’ll have a minute.”
“Okay, papi,” she said sweetly, using her favorite term of endearment on me. That one definitely had me scratching my head, and I had to wonder where her fantastic new boyfriend was while his girl was calling me. Maybe he’d gone home for the holidays.
When I hung up the phone, I noticed Kage was looking out over the other diners on the patio. Trying to give me as much privacy as he could without leaving the table, I suppose.
“Sorry about that,” I said. “My girlfriend.”
He blinked. Didn’t say anything.
I realized that I’d made a mistake, calling her my girlfriend out of habit. But the truth was, I didn’t want to take it back now that it was out of my mouth. If Kage knew I’d been dumped, he’d look at me with pity in his eyes and think what a pathetic loser I was, and that was something I couldn’t stand. So I went with the harmless lie and hoped I’d never have to prove it.
“She’s back home,” I continued. “Or actually back at college. She lives in the same town where I go to school. Where you and I met, as a matter of fact. She’s a cheerleader. Blond hair, blue eyes, pretty. I’m fucking babbling, aren’t I? I’m sorry.”
God, I was a horrible liar.
Kage gave a one-shouldered shrug. “Why do you keep apologizing to me, Jamie? You think I’m gonna fire you if you take a phone call from your girlfriend?”
“I hope not.” I laughed nervously. “I’ll try to keep it professional from now on. She just— It’s hard when I can’t tell her what I’m doing or where I am.”
He didn’t say anything back. Just kept looking at me with that unshakable poker face.
We lingered over our lunch for a few more minutes as I ate the last of my vegetables. I’d never liked tomatoes, but I ate them because I didn’t want to let Kage down. He was so serious about nutrition. Just as I ate the last bite, he tossed his napkin onto the table.
“Ready to go?” he asked, seeming to be in a hurry all of a sudden. The talkative, charming guy who had ordered my lunch and gleefully guessed my underwear size was gone.
“Sure.” I had to practically run to keep up with him as he blazed a trail back through the restaurant and to the business office.
“See you soon.” He left me off at the door with a quick nod, and I didn’t have the nerve to say anything to him. I’d really blown it.
It had been terribly unprofessional of me to let a phone call interrupt my very first business lunch ever. Kage had been too polite to call me out on it, but the guy was radiating disappointment.
I’ll redeem myself, I thought. I’ll be the best damn publicist a fighter ever had.
On that thought I slipped back into the office, hoping to go unnoticed. I should have known that would be too much to ask for. Mark the office sex offender had a well-dressed hip leaned against Cathy’s desk. When I turned around, both of my new coworkers had me pinned in their high beams.
I almost laughed.
Alicia poked her head around the corner, not bothering to try to camouflage herself or her intentions.
“So?” Mark asked bluntly. “How was lunch with The Machine?”
“Huh?” I stared blankly at him.
“Michael “The Machine” Kage.” His sarcastic air quotes and goofy face made it clear that he was not a fan. “That’s what they call your boss man. You didn’t know that?”
“Dude, I just started. I can’t be expected to know everything on the first day.” My tone was flippant, but to be honest, it stung a little that I didn’t know that piece of information. I was representing a fighter, and I didn’t even know his nickname. That seemed like a pretty base level thing to know about a fighter.
It was pride, of course. I wanted to be immune to anything the people in this office threw at me. I wanted to be able to say, Nice try, buddy. But me and Kage… we’re thick as thieves. At this point, that wasn’t possible.